Hi there, I was wondering if any of you knowledgable people could give me some advice please!
I have just bought a used Mitsubishi Colt (05 plate, 8500 miles, registered end of June 2005) as a second car/runaround. I bought it from a 'reputable' dealer with many dealerships nationwide, although not a Mitsubishi garage, and it was just over 13 months old when I picked it up at the end of July.
The garage assured me that it was serviced before I picked it up (although they have yet to give me documentation to prove this), and because it was a little after 13 months old I checked that this wouldn't affect the warranty - I was told it wouldn't, and that the car just has to be serviced within 4 months or 500 miles of the time it is due.
My questions are these:
Is that correct about the service timing and is there likely to be any problems with the warranty?
Is it OK that this dealer has serviced it and not a Mitsubishi dealer?
One of my friends has got me thinking, and now I am a little concerned. The car is just a runaround and not going to do very many miles, but I bought it on the basis that it had nearly 2 years manufacturers warranty remaining. If there is going to be any problems with the warranty, do I have any comeback with the dealer? All the documentation from the dealer that I have clearly states that it is covered by the 'balance of maufacturers warranty'.
Many thanks for your help!
I didn't realise that buying a small car could produce so much anxiety!
{Subject header given a more meaningful title, rather than "Help required...." so as to give readers a clue to as your question - DD}
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Ask for the details required in writing, by writing to them. Remind them that it was part of the contract of sale and if it is not complied with in an appropriate time then they have not hounoured their contract, and what are they going to do about it.
Keep all communication in writing, and ask for them to respond in writing etc!
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You should really have an invoice as proof of servicing but as the dealer you bought it from did it FOC then it makes it difficult for them to generate an invoice without hassle. In my experience a stamped up service book was OK. We have been in the same situation twice, SWMBO having bought a Focus and myself a Mondeo at a time when the first service was required. In both cases we ended up with just a supplying dealer's stamp in the service record booklet (showing date and mileage) and when we enquired at the local Ford dealer they said it was OK as long as the supplying dealer that did the service was a VAT registered garage. I guess the VAT registered thing is just to make sure Backstreet Joe Bloggs down the street didn't service it and on both cars subsequent warranty issues were attended to with no question.
If I were you, I'd check with a Mitsubishi dealer, as they are who you are going to have issues with, if there are any.
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Thanks for your help so far guys...
FWIW the garage have said that they will provide me with proof of servicing I just need to go and see them about it. I'm not sure there is a service book with the car but they said they would give me a printout as proof.
The thing that concerned me really (assuming they aren't telling me porkies and that they HAVE serviced it!) is the timing issue. I heard somewhere that manufacturers wanted the cars serviced within one month of the scheduled time. Now I know that this is litterally a few days outside of that, but I'm just wondering where the figure of 4 months that the dealer came up with came from. Has anyone else heard of this? I should add that they are a main dealer for another manufacturer, so I guess I just took what they told me on face value.
Does anyone else know anything else about this timing issue?
I guess, as I've had the car for only a couple of weeks the sooner I can clarify this the better. I'll give the local Mitsubishi dealer a call tomorrow and see what they say.
Thanks again...
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If the supplying dealer sold the car on the basis it had remaining warranty, then their actions have invalidated the warranty, id give them hell. Get it all in writing which they should do if they have nothing to worry about.
As far as the servicing proof goes, their should be an internally generated invoice detailing the work done on the car as the service department usually invoices the sales dept for the work done.
If you can get a copy of this, its as good as the one you would get if you paid for the work yourself.
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