Volvo V40 - Volvo dealer issue

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
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Tue 4 Oct 2011 23:35
Volvo V40 - Volvo dealer issue - Chris on the road

Hi all,

I acquired a 2004 Volvo V40 a week ago. The previous owner had, in good faith, paid Volvo to look at (and supposedly repair) a ticking indicator switch before selling me the car. The Volvo dealership charged him £130 for a new relay switch - he paid this and I have the receipt. At the time I got the car from him (he was emigrating the next day! - I know and trust him, so I know this to be true!!) the ticking was much less than on my first test drive, but nonetheless after every use of the indicator, for a few seconds. As he had done his best in good faith, I undertook to take up the problem with Volvo.

In the meantime, I asked an independent car electrics specialist to take a look. According to him, the problem is not a relay at all, but the indicator stalk switch. According to him, it will eventually burn out if left unfixed. Unfortunately it is a dealer-only part and he reckons the air-bag and steering column need removed(approx 2 hours labour) plus the switch (approx £130 itself)

My question is: Where do I stand with Volvo? Can I legitimately demand that they offset the value of the initial bill against the cost of the stalk switch repair? Or can I in fact demand that they do the whole job for no extra money as they claimed to have fixed the problem?

Any advice much appreciated....

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Sat 8 Oct 2011 01:20
Volvo V40 - Volvo dealer issue - Avant

As it appears that you bought privately, you don't have any right to claim against the seller, nor do you against the dealer with whom you have no contract. All you can do is to go to the dealer who did the repair and see if they are prepared to look at it again - but you would be relying on their goodwill.

Edited by Avant on 08/10/2011 at 01:21

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Sat 8 Oct 2011 09:18
Volvo V40 - Volvo dealer issue - ifithelps

I agree this will come down to good will.

The dealer works on the car, not the owner.

In a way this is no different to wife taking the car in first time, and husband taking it back to say it's not been fixed.

Even if we assume both parties are male, they could be partners, or the car could be owned by a small business with several users, or any number of other scenarios.

The change of ownership is much less important than the timescale.

If the first work was done some time ago, the dealer may claim it's a new fault.

Garages are known to make best guesses at changing bits and charging the customer each time until the problem is fixed.

The OP's case is stronger the more recently the original work was done.

I would take the car back, present the old bill and simply say the problem is still present.

The first task is to get the problem fixed.

From then it's a matter of negotiation.

I think the OP can reasonably expect a discount off the bill for the new repair.

But proving the original diagnosis was wholly incorrect is impossible, so it will come down to good will.

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