My Vectra is now due a second year (20 000 mile) service.
The main question is "Do I have to take it to the main dealer to maintain the third year manufacturer's warranty or can I take it elsewhere provided that it is serviced to manufacturer's standards?". I trust my local friendly garage so there's no question of a bad job - probably better in fact
I seem to remember that they cannot force you to the dealership to keep the warranty or am I wrong?
The Network-Q warranty expires at the same time so I thought that I would take it in just in case they find a problem and can rectify it under the warranty.
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There was a similair question posted a few weeks ago and the general feeling was that it must go to a main dealer to maintain the warranty.
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Read a short snippet last week that Office of Fair Trading are now looking at this very question in an attempt to stop the strangle hold of the Main dealers service whilst in Warranty.
DVD
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I was under the impression (without looking at the previous thread) that as long as Vauxhall parts were used then the manufacturer's warranty would stand. I bought my Omega from an independent garage (with no links to Vauxhall) that just supply Omegas. They'd performed the first service at 20K and said the remainder of the warranty would apply through VX Main Dealers.
In fact at the recent 40K service a number of warranty fixes have been made by the VX dealer. Interestingly though I asked for a copy of the warranty and what is covered. I was told that they didn't issue such a thing and that for the first year everything is covered and then years 2 and 3 only cover major mechanicals - no trim or electricals. This was contradicted though when they came back to tell me that 2 electrical items (radio and alarm)would be fixed/replaced under warranty.
Might be a bit different with Network Q though as presumably you get a bit more info as to what is covered under the warranty.
Paul
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Warranty conditions may have changed since you bought the car two years ago, but the warranty for new Vauxhalls is:
"All Vauxhall vehicles are covered by a one-year unlimited mileage manufacturer's warranty. An additional second and third year no-fee customer option warranty is also available in the UK. This additional warranty carries a mileage limit of 60,000 miles ..."
This is identical to Ford's warranty for new cars. I know that Ford's 2nd/3rd year warranty depends on all servicing being done by a main dealer. After all, it's a free, optional, 2nd/3rd year warranty and you can choose not to have it by having your servicing done elsewhere.
I assume, but do not know, the same applies to Vauxhalls.
I think this is completely against the spirit of fair competition and hope the OFT come down like a ton of bricks on the manufacturers.
Ian
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I think some three-year warranties are actually one-year manufacturers warranty and then two-years insurance-backed warranty through the dealer network - its not really 'free' of course. Obviously the insurance-backed warranty can have all kinds of conditions.
Things may change with the alterations to Block Exemption beginning in October. My friend who runs his own independent service 'shop is expecting to pick up a lot of in-warranty service work from then on......
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To maintain the Vauxhall manufacturer's warranty you do not need to have the vehicle serviced at a main dealer, but need to use genuine parts and service to manufacturer's standards. But the disadvantage is that you loose the benefit of AA services, free hire vehicle if you car is not repaired and is not driveable within 24 hours. You will also loose your 6 year anticorrosion warranty if you do not have the corrosion inspection stamped, which has to be done at a main dealer. You could have the corrosion inspection done on it's own, for a small charge. You would also loose the opportunity of any goodwill gestures from Vauxhall, should you have a major problem shortly after the warranty ran out. Would you get a free courtesy car, or free collection and delivery service? You need to look at the whole picture, not just the immediate cost of your next service.
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I see the OFT are onto this, in the news today: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3326917.stm
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