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Can anybody recall when Vauxhall covered their cars for 36 months? I have a late June 2000 Vectra and am wondering what the warranty is on this car. (I am the second owner). Thanks
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I beleive the 36 mth warranty may have started in Sept. 2001? My Corsa is Apr. 2000 and the normal warranty then was 12 mths. Depending on your problem, and vehicle mileage, it may be worthwhile being nice to your local main dealer - to check if any assistance may be available.
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This message is such a co-incidence! I just logged on to ask the following question...
The air conditioning has stopped working on my Jan 2000 Vectra LS. The light comes on but that's it. Over the Winter, I used it a few times, as advised, and it seemed OK.
But the other day, it just hissed for a while, then stopped.
The thing is, the car is going in for a 30,000 mile service next week - do I tell the dealer and see if they can fix it, or do I find a specialist.
Sorry to get off the original question but I think the 3-year warranty came in either late 2000 or early 2001 - typical!
Cheers.
Another Richard
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Sorry to hijack your post Richard P, but Richard B's post got me thinking...
I believe that HJ recommends an aircon service every 2 (?) years or so in the FAQ's. I note that my Peugeot main dealer has recently started offering an aircon service (it's expensive though). Question - Do we trust a main dealer to service this equipment or go to a local a/c specialist - Will our local specialist stock parts for auto a/c units?
Any a/c specialists out there care to comment, as mine's coming up to 3 years old in September.
Thanks
Phil T
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Just rechecked the FAQ's and it appears that there's conflicting opinion on how often a/c needs servicing (lesson: engage brain before submitting post). My question still stands though as to whether I should use a Peugeot main dealer or an a/c specialist if something goes wrong with it? Maybe the main dealers only offer the service and then sub contract to a specialist - Anybody know?
Phil T
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I have points to make here, if there is a up to date Vauxhall service history I believe there is a partial warranty scheme where Vauxhall will pay a % of any claim on a car up to 3 years old 60000miles??.
Secondly when I had a 1997 Vectra the Air Con failed twice due to the same hose puncturing (due to chaffing) I was told by my local dealer that there had been problems with Vectra Air Con hoses, and modified hoses had been introduced.
Certainly I believe it is worth trying to get a partial warranty payment thro' your dealer from Vauxhall
Regards
Andrew
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In an ideal world, the a/c should retain all its refrigerant year after year. But in reality, they leak a bit through the various seals and hoses. If it becomes too low, lubrication suffers, and the compressor has to work harder for the same effect. The other advantage of servicing is that a good specialist will also check for hoses and wires chaffing, a common problem on Vectras, and hopefully stop this sort of thing happening. Obviously, no amount of servicing can prevent all component failures, but some can be avoided. I would say that it's a good idea to get it serviced after about 3 years, then you know how much gas has been lost over this time, and can go from there. When the correct amount of refrigerant is put back in the system, an amount of refrigerant oil is also added to counter any that was lost with the lost gas. It may then be worth having it done every couple of years after that. Dye can also be added making any future leaks that much easier to find first time.
With regards spares, most specialists will hold common parts like seals and switches, but virtually everything else is unique to each vehicle, and can either be sourced from specialist suppliers or the dealers. Common problems with Vectras are the hoses chaffing and cracking, and the compressor shaft seals giving up the ghost. As an example, I can supply genuine new Delphi compressors, fit and recharge, for less than a new compressor from Vauxhall. So there are savings to be had from specialists. Plus, of course, we can take the time to check the rest of it out for potential problems, do you think the main dealer does this? No point in bolting a new hose on for it to chaff in the same place!
The easist thing to do is ask for a free check and see what they say, then take it from there. If you get stuck, come back to this board for advice.
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Dave,
thanks for a very informative summary, I don't think you lost us once there.
I've noticed that my car with air has a double radiator, the rear one for conventional engine cooling and the front one for the a/c. It seems to me that the a/c radiator is vulnerable to flying road debris, and if it suffers a small puncture, would that cause all of the refrigerant to be lost?
Terry
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Terry, you're absolutely correct, it is vulnerable to stone damage. They are made of thin ally and can run pressures of up to 30bar. They are also making them thinner everytime to aid heat transfer. But the biggest problem is corrosion, as all winter the salt and crud sit on it, and unlike a radiator, it doesn't get warm in the winter, so it doesn't dry off. Best idea is to always give it a good jetwash to remove the crud.
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Check out www.autoclimate.co.uk and find your local Autoclimate specialist; they would be far better placed to service/diagnose & repair your air conditioner. The parts would also be cheaper then OE sourced parts, too.
If you are in the Somerset/Devon area, make contact, I could help you out.
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i had a vectra which snapped its cambelt at about 2 years old with relatively low mileage
although out of guarantee vauxhall paid up for the whole repair without any prompting from me...
so if you get a snapped cambelt dont cough up the 2 K they want...
aircon never failed though
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