Warranties and Main Dealer Servicing

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 15 May 2004 20:22
Warranties and Main Dealer Servicing - Halmer
I read in the Telegraph this morning that as from today VW, Audi and a number of other marques are no longer stipulating that you must have full dealer service histories to be able to claim under manufacturers warranties.

Must admit you can see the point of the manufacturers and I would imagine that there are going to plenty of disputes in the future where customers have had work done by a non franchised garage and VW etc. refuse to honour a claim because it is deemed to be sub standard.

Don't know what others think.
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Wed 19 May 2004 13:49
Warranties and Main Dealer Servicing - daryld
I had a spat with Mercedes-Benz about this a few weeks back..I asked about this chnage after reading the OFT report and they told me it was not true: only main dealer servicing will validate the warranty.

So I sent their letter to the OFT..and all hell broke loose: DaimlerChrysler (DC) got spanked by the OFT for telling me porkies. I then got a letter from DaimlerChrysler saying that I can get my merc serviced ANYWHERE as long as the maintenance standards and parts were correct.

So I contacted my local independant (non-franchised) MB dealer; they wrote a letter to me confirming they would service the car in accordance to DC's requirements. I then got DC to confirm the letter and that the warranty would be intact if I used this dealer.

I will save around 50% on the over-inflated main dealer service costs. And the independant offers a better service and quality of care: franchised dealers are not trying hard enough.
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