Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty

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Sat 12 Aug 2023 11:31
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Marc cowell
Morning,

So the issue here I have….we had an engine repair light come on so I made an appointment for the car to be booked in, which was the 8th of August at 7.30am, I recieved a phone call at around 9.40 asking for all the service history in the car which was then sent to them via email. The garage was contacted by Perry’s and they then forwarded the invoices to prove that all parts and oil were supplied using Vauxhall approved parts. I then was told that this evidence needed to be sent to the head office to where they would make a decision as to whether the car would be covered through warranty as the car is only 2.5 years old.
I recieved an email 2 days later saying that Vauxhall are not going to agree for the repair to be made at this point and the only way we could move forward was for the stage one repair to be paid for and then they put the claim in and we would have to wait to see whether they would reimburse the money, at a cost of £1284.58. The stage one repair would be a new wet belt and oil pump clean. Stage 2 would be a new oil pump if stage 1 was not to fix the problem and stage 3 would be a new engine, which at this stage they feel we should pay for.
As we are on a PCP the car is not ours, it is on finance through Vauxhall finance, which I let Perry’s know. I have emailed Vauxhall financial with all the above information, I have not at this point had a response and my car is still at perrys with advice for me not to drive!
The question is the car is still under warranty they have all evidence that Vauxhall approved parts have been used, how are they able to even question whether the claim. It seems to me that Vauxhall will be fighting Vauxhall. If anyone has any advice or can give me any information as to why we are having to go through all this, we would truly appreciate it.

Regards
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Sat 12 Aug 2023 12:19
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - John F

This sounds like the dreaded crumbly BIO problem in the PSA 1.2 engine. They must have the correct oil, not just a slurp of bog standard 0-30 from the garage's cheapy oil drum. You do not mention the mileage, which is more important than the age. You will need to prove the exact mileage when the oil and especially the filter was changed, plus the exact make and specification of both oil and filter on the appropriate dated receipts/service record. Without these precise and correct details you will not get very far.

Edited by John F on 12/08/2023 at 12:20

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Sat 12 Aug 2023 13:15
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Marc cowell
The services were actually completed before recommended milage as we had a corse before which required at 10.000 miles.
The oil was also bought from the dealer and they have the invoices to prove it.
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Sat 12 Aug 2023 14:08
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Andrew-T

This sounds like the dreaded crumbly BIO problem in the PSA 1.2 engine. They must have the correct oil, not just a slurp of bog standard 0-30 from the garage's cheapy oil drum..

I would love to know what magic ingredient is (or is not) in the 'bog standard 0-30' which causes the wet belt to crumble - or prevents it from doing so. As everyone knows, oil is just oil, but these days that is no longer the case, and certain engines have to have their recommended diet on pain of failing under load ?

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Sat 12 Aug 2023 12:21
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - catsdad

Is the service history impeccable as regards mileages and Vauxhall genuine parts? “Approved“ parts sound as if they are not actually Vauxhall manufactured parts is that the issue? I am assuming it’s not been serviced by Vauxhall but legally it doesn’t need to be as long as you can evidence it’d been serviced on time with genuine parts.

Edited by catsdad on 12/08/2023 at 12:23

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Sat 12 Aug 2023 13:18
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Marc cowell
Yes all service history is within the expected milage services, all Vauxhall approved parts and oil have been used and the garage where we have the service completed has sent all invoices to prove purchase for approved dealers.
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Sat 12 Aug 2023 14:03
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - skidpan
Yes all service history is within the expected milage services, all Vauxhall approved parts and oil have been used and the garage where we have the service completed has sent all invoices to prove purchase for approved dealers.

The oil was also bought from the dealer and they have the invoices to prove it.

Having read those 2 statements its clear you had the work carried out at a 3rd party garage which in a car as fragile as yours leaves you wide open for refusal of warranty work.

Best of luck getting a successful resolution, my next action would be to contact the finance company since in theory its their car. But first check there is no requirement to use a main dealer for servicing whilst the finance agreement is in operation.

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Sat 12 Aug 2023 14:38
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Adampr

I'm a bit confused. Perry's are mentioned, but I've lost track of the context.

Presumably, the car was bought brand new. Has it been serviced by the supplying dealer? Is it now with the same company for repair?

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Sat 12 Aug 2023 14:53
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - elekie&a/c doctor
Sadly not the first time I’ve heard a similar story . Friend has a crossland , 3 years old with less than 15 k miles . Wet cambelt problem on this Peugeot pure tech engine . Vauxhall have refused warranty repair on the basis that the car has missed a service. Ok , so how many services can a car have in 15 k miles ? Modern junk , if you ask me .
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Sun 13 Aug 2023 08:44
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Lee Power

Stellantis have been spending money replacing Purecrap wet belts & engines where required even outside warranty.

The replacement belt kits are frequently on back order.

If you own a vehicle with one of these engines fitted then do yourself a favour & have it serviced correctly according to the service schedule by the main dealer for the first 6 years from registration then get rid.

Don't give Stellantis any excuse they could use to throw out a warranty or goodwill repair.

It was PSA B71 2312 spec oil when I had my Purecrap 130 powered Peugeot 308

Edited by Lee Power on 13/08/2023 at 08:48

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Sun 13 Aug 2023 09:11
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - _

I am not sure that all the information is in the OP's post to give a fully reseached judgement, but, What was the cost of the service the OP had done against the cost of the Vauxhall service?

Saved how much?

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Sun 13 Aug 2023 09:39
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - sammy1

I am not sure that all the information is in the OP's post to give a fully reseached judgement, but, What was the cost of the service the OP had done against the cost of the Vauxhall service?

Saved how much?

May be it was nothing about cost but convenience or indeed in freedom of choice as we are supposed to have in servicing our cars instead of main dealers. Surely if the quality of the oil is the factor in refusing the claim then it could be tested. I try to keep up with cars but I did not know that this car had the notorious wet belt engine. Whatever does the reputation of Vauxhall no good at all with their penny pinching on a relatively new car. Another crossed off my list if ever it was even on there. Cheap cars for a reason.

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Sun 13 Aug 2023 09:59
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - gordonbennet

I've not yet spoken to a mechanic with their own workshops and others who are qualified as mechanics who has a single good word for the decision to run rubber timing belts inside the engine.

Whilst it might be technically allowed to have your under warranty car serviced outside the dealer network its not something i would do, even if they can't wriggle out of warranty you've lost any willing goodwill from both the dealer and maker that might otherwise have been forthcoming.

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Sun 13 Aug 2023 10:07
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - elekie&a/c doctor
The OP says states that all the service parts were supplied by Vauxhall, including the oil . Perhaps they are not good enough for their own vehicles?
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Sun 13 Aug 2023 20:10
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Dave N
The OP says states that all the service parts were supplied by Vauxhall, including the oil . Perhaps they are not good enough for their own vehicles?

He said the oil was bought from the dealer, but ‘Vauxhall approved parts’ whatever that means.
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Mon 14 Aug 2023 09:20
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - skidpan

The OP says states that all the service parts were supplied by Vauxhall, including the oil . Perhaps they are not good enough for their own vehicles?

Just because the oil was supplied by Vauxhall does not 100% guarantee that the oil used by the garage that did the service actually used that very same oil.

I know for a fact the main dealers do not always use the correct oil. When we had the 1.2 K12 Micra it was a well known fact that using the incorrect oil could lead to premature timing chain stretch in some cars. The correct oil was 5w30 semi synthetic, not an expensive product (use that grade in the Caterham, 5 litres £15 from Asda). When ours went in for service on one occasion the chap on service proudly told me they had saved us £2 by using 10w40 mineral oil since we only did a low mileage (about 5000 miles a year). I was not happy and refused to pay and eventually they instructed service to carry out another oil change.

The following day after considering the fact that the garage probably just drove it round the back and did nothing I sucked out the oil with my Pela and filled it with some 5w30 semi synth (only took about 3 litres). Just checked MOT status, car 16 years old and has passed last 2 MOT's with no advisories.

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Tue 15 Aug 2023 10:11
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Brit_in_Germany

Vauxhall servicing has two levels, "genuine Vauxhall parts" and "Vauxhall approved parts", the latter being £60 cheaper for a 3 cylinder major service.

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Mon 14 Aug 2023 09:47
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - daveyjp
Drip drip of info thread.

Who carried out the services?
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Mon 14 Aug 2023 23:12
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - edlithgow
Drip drip of info thread. Who carried out the services?

I'm not sure why this matters, since independent servicing shouldn't invalidate the warranty.

Similarly, it shouldn't matter how much they saved, or didn't

The missing information is Vauxhall's reason / excuse for denying warranty cover, since that is likely to be the focus of any legal case against them

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Tue 15 Aug 2023 09:16
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - craig-pd130

I'm not sure why this matters, since independent servicing shouldn't invalidate the warranty.

You're absolutely right, it shouldn't -- but it's nearly always used by the UK arms of manufacturers as a way of obstructing what should be a straightforward warranty claim, no matter how fastidious the owner is about sticking to schedules and using only OEM parts etc.

In effect, the extra cost and inconvenience of using a main dealer for servicing during the warranty period is like an insurance premium to ensure warranty issues are covered.

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Tue 15 Aug 2023 07:01
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Brit_in_Germany

Maybe the issue is a possible requirement in the servicing to inspect the wet belt for damage? No idea if this is the case but it would be a sensible precaution. Then if your paperwork does not show this to have been performed, Vauxhall would have a reasonable case for refusing the repair.

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Tue 15 Aug 2023 16:13
Vauxhall Crossland - Garage refusing repair under warranty - Lee Power

Maybe the issue is a possible requirement in the servicing to inspect the wet belt for damage? No idea if this is the case but it would be a sensible precaution. Then if your paperwork does not show this to have been performed, Vauxhall would have a reasonable case for refusing the repair.

Could be the reason - someone with Service Box access could look up the official Vauxhall service schedule to see what's listed.

IIRC when I had my Purecrap powered 308, Peugeot added a wet belt inspection for each service.

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