Dealer investigation costs - oof!

[metallicpearl]

I've got a 62-plate Jazz which I bought 'Approved Used' with a 12-month Honda Warranty.

I've got a knock/bang coming through the steering wheel at a certain position in the rotation and it feels like it's coming through the steering column, specifically from the u-joint at the bottom of the column in the footwell but I can't be 100% sure.

My local Honda dealer want me to authorise 4 hours of labour time at £95/hr + VAT just to strip it down and find where the issue is coming from. If the issue turns out to be covered under the warranty, I'll presumably get that back but if not, I'm down circa £500 before any work has been done. I did mention the u-joint but they aren't having any of it and insist everything needs to be checked.

Should I authorise the time and pray that it is covered under warranty or would it be a better bet to get another lower shaft for the column and get an independent to fit it, based on the fact that it could well be the u-joint at the bottom?

Opinions/thoughts appreciated as I'm choking on the cost of the diagnosis.

Ta

[trebor1652]

Found this. I haven't read it all. Hope it helps.
https://www.dealermarketing.com/what-does-approved-used-mean/


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[Jocko]

and get an independent to fit it,

Take it to an independent and get them to quote for diagnosing and repairing it. Then make your decision.

[sparky Paul]

It's warranties again... 

My advice, if the fault is demonstrable, is to insist someone from the workshop comes out to the car and show them the fault - get them to see or feel it for themselves and accept that the fault exists, if at all possible. Then get the service department to use their judgement to tell you if it would be covered by warranty, and if not, explain why not.

It still find it astonishing that they can casually thow a potential £500 bill into the discussion if they "find nothing wrong", or can't find what's wrong, it's tantamount to blackmail. How you are supposed to commit to that without a crystal ball is beyond me.

In any case, four hours to diagnose a clicky steering column? Who's doing the work, Brian off the Magic Roundabout?

As Jocko says, take it somewhere else for a diagnosis first. I know you shouldn't have to, but unless the dealer is prepared the waive the diagnostic costs, it's a lot to commit to without any guarantee of a fix - in fact quite the reverse, you'll pay if they don't fix it!

[Rory]

I think this kind of thing is basically the dealer saying "get lost, we're not interested".

They just want to do servicing and change brakes etc - they can do that very quickly (basic service takes 20 mins) and make loads of money doing it.

[sparky Paul]

I think this kind of thing is basically the dealer saying "get lost, we're not interested".

They just want to do servicing and change brakes etc - they can do that very quickly (basic service takes 20 mins) and make loads of money doing it.

Bit cheeky though, when they've flogged you a warranty, or indeed a car with a warranty at main dealer prices.

[guest4871]

There is a consumer protection law issue here if the purchase was made less than twelve months ago.

Someone with greater knowledge than me will be able to comment.

£500 for a "fishing trip" sounds like they knew, before they sold the car, that there was a problem there which is expensive to fix and they didn't want to bear the cost and thus they are trying to push you off.

[Rory]

Bit cheeky though, when they've flogged you a warranty, or indeed a car with a warranty at main dealer prices.

The different bits of garages aren't connected - the service department will have got nothing from the car or warranty sale.

[Rory]

There is a consumer protection law issue here if the purchase was made less than twelve months ago.

There is for 6 months - any fault is deemed to have been there at the point of sale.  But even then, you could get into an issue where the dealer says there isn't a fault, either because they can't hear it, or because "they all do that sir".

[guest4871]

This link might be helpful:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-second-hand-car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights

If you click on Start you can put in your reg number and work through the questions. It seems to run quite slowly but does get there in the end..

[Ozzie]

Can I suggest that you call Honda UK Customer Services and ask their advice. I have found them very helpful in the past. The dealers want to toe the Corporate line, but the Head Office can adjust the line to accommodate the customer.

Keep us posted of how things progress.

[Rory]

Can I suggest that you call Honda UK Customer Services and ask their advice. I have found them very helpful in the past. The dealers want to toe the Corporate line, but the Head Office can adjust the line to accommodate the customer.

Keep us posted of how things progress.

They used to be helpful.

The last query I had they told me it would take 10 days to answer, then apologised for not answering after 10 days as they were "very busy" (which doesn't bode well).   I chased them up again and they never answered.

The time before that (early worn out brake pad on daughter's Jazz, which it took the dealer two attempts to find) they basically said hard luck and if I didn't like it then go to the Ombudsman (who I gather are also pretty useless).


To be fair, I;ve had a bit of back and forth with VW CS and they're useless too, but you expect that with VW.   Better customer care used to set Honda apart.  I guess they can't afford it now.

[metallicpearl]

Can I suggest that you call Honda UK Customer Services and ask their advice. I have found them very helpful in the past. The dealers want to toe the Corporate line, but the Head Office can adjust the line to accommodate the customer.

Keep us posted of how things progress.

They used to be helpful.

The last query I had they told me it would take 10 days to answer, then apologised for not answering after 10 days as they were "very busy" (which doesn't bode well).   I chased them up again and they never answered.

The time before that (early worn out brake pad on daughter's Jazz, which it took the dealer two attempts to find) they basically said hard luck and if I didn't like it then go to the Ombudsman (who I gather are also pretty useless).


To be fair, I;ve had a bit of back and forth with VW CS and they're useless too, but you expect that with VW.   Better customer care used to set Honda apart.  I guess they can't afford it now.

To be honest, they weren't that helpful when I had the rattling issue. They had 0 sway with the dealer and by the end (before I found and fixed it myself), they stopped getting back to me. Pretty poor, TBH. I went with Honda to avoid issues and have decent Customer Service to back it up if anything went awry and I've certainly not had that experience.

My only previous experience with CS is Hyundai, who were excellent. I had what turned out to be an injector issue and they basically kept the car at a local dealer they nominated, provided me with a courtesy car, replaced the culprit once they'd diagnosed it and gave me the car back with no bill, no fuss.

[sparky Paul]

Bit cheeky though, when they've flogged you a warranty, or indeed a car with a warranty at main dealer prices.

The different bits of garages aren't connected - the service department will have got nothing from the car or warranty sale.

In what way are they not connected? They presumably both work for the same company? In any case, they don't do warranty work for free, they charge it to the warranty scheme provider, or the underwriter of their insurance policy.

If they can't give you an assessment of whether a fault will be covered by the warranty they sold you, without the threat of a £450+ charge for investigative work, there's something wrong.

[Rory]

In what way are they not connected? They presumably both work for the same company? In any case, they don't do warranty work for free, they charge it to the warranty scheme provider, or the underwriter of their insurance policy.

If they can't give you an assessment of whether a fault will be covered by the warranty they sold you, without the threat of a £450+ charge for investigative work, there's something wrong.

In small independant garages it probably works better but in the garages that are part of big groups sales and service usually hate each other and neither is interested in helping the other out.

Service only get paid by warranty companies if they find something that is claimable - so what they won't want to do is spend time investigating a fault that either isn't actually there, or is caused by something not claimable.