I don't think 9 months would ever be considered as a claim. certainly not on an exhaust Either way other factors such as age, mileage, mileage since purchase, purchase price in relation to market value, purchase price etc etc would need to be factored in

Under SOGA the claim is against the supplier (or in some cases the lease company) but if the defect can be shown to be as a result of a defect in manufacture the manufacturer may agree to make a contribution to the repair on a "goodwill" basis -- whereby no fault is admitted.

Such "goodwill contributions" are usually made on the basis that the vehicle was sold by a main dealer and serviced wholly in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines.

By there being no admission of an inherent fault and only of one for the single vehicle no pattern or precedent is admitted or set. In that way they may please their customer by appearing generous (or at least avoid annoying them too much) but the upside for the manufacturer is they avoid a mass recall and/or requirements for a redesign which could prove extremely costly to the manufacturer.

Furthermore each case is on an ad-hoc basis so they only need to deal with the actual failures -- and then only those that complain about them -- rather than the potential failures. If you bought the car outside the dealer network and/or had it serviced outside there is an "opportunity for doubt" so a contribution is much less likely.

Taking the dual mass flywheel (DMF) cases as an example there is clearly a problem with some vehicles but the vast majority do not fail - or at least not within the period of the manufacturers' warranty.

When a failure occurs a significant number will be blamed on a driving practice defect - usually on clutch misuse. Similarly in an older vehicle it might be deemed "normal wear and tear" so the customer picks up the full tab. If the car has been sold outside the dealer network and the DMF fails within 6 months of sale then the temptation would be to blame a wearing part such as the clutch and hence (probably) be billable. It is only if the customer checks out sites such as this one that the garage's advice and opinion as to cause might be called into question.