Volkswagen Golf 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalytic converter - replacement issue

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Sun 22 Jan 2012 19:17
Volkswagen Golf 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalytic converter - replacement issue - fiesta1000

Hi all,

some serious advice needed here on a cat replacement from kwik fit. Purchased 2years & 2 months ago, 14,000miles, and costing £530 fitted needs replacing again.

now tell me if i'm wrong but shouldn't a cat last around 50K or 5years +??

I did ask the kwik fit who fitted to check it out 6 months ago as it was rattling on acceleration but they assured me that there were no issues. Then yesterday it started blowing on start up so i decided to take it into another kwik fit without mentioning anything to see what they said.

They had a look at immediately said new cat. i explained that they had replaced the item last time around just over 2 years ago and only 14,000 miles. The gentleman taking a look said that there was no signs of damage to the box and he said to contact head office to discuss. Unfortunately he said in these situations they would probably not replace as out of warranty.

Do i have any legal stance? or do Kwik Fit have every reason to charge me another £530?

Many thanks for your advice and comments in advance.

best regards

andrew

Edited by Avant on 22/01/2012 at 22:23

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Sun 22 Jan 2012 20:29
volkswagon gold 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalystic convertor - replacement issue - RT

Why would a car so young need one catalytic converter, let alone two?

Even keeping cars for 7 years and 100,000 miles I've never had to replace one.

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Mon 23 Jan 2012 00:05
volkswagon gold 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalystic convertor - replacement issue - fiesta1000
Exactly.

It's my wife car and I've never experienced seeing a car which has only covered 45,000 miles needing 2 cat replacements.

Even more worrying to say that the car has only driven 14k on the second cat??
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Mon 23 Jan 2012 03:49
volkswagon gold 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalystic convertor - replacement issue - unthrottled

I doubt the cat is at fault. Being an FSI, I'd have a close look at the injectors. Bad spray pattern and too much fuel and air enters the exhaust. Cat failure is then only a matter of time.

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Mon 23 Jan 2012 09:36
volkswagon gold 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalystic convertor - replacement issue - fiesta1000

Hi Unthrottled,

Thanks for commenting. Do you know if this is a common fault?

Should Kwik Fit not have picked up on this at the time of repair?

thanks

andrew

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Mon 23 Jan 2012 15:00
volkswagon gold 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalystic convertor - replacement issue - unthrottled

I'd say that it is a known problem rather than a common one. I would take it to VW and tell them that the car has gone through two cats, and ask them if they could find the problem. Kwik fit are just fitters, I don't think that they would do much in the way of diagnostics.

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Mon 23 Jan 2012 15:47
Volkswagen Golf 1.6s FSI 2006 plate - catalytic converter - replacement issue - bonzo dog

now tell me if i'm wrong but shouldn't a cat last around 50K or 5years +??

Unless stated as such by the retailer of the cat, what you, I or anyone else thinks is irrelevent. Only the courts can decide how durable a peice of merchandise should be.

In this instance though, even the court would be hard pressed to find in your favour as you would first need to demonstrate the cat had "failed" of it's own accord rather than being damaged by other factors.

If you can prove external factors were not responsible then I would go to small claims court.

Good luck

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