phoenix70
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:06 PM |
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Who should Pay?
Hi Guys,
As the font of all knowledge I thought I would let you ponder this.
Recently I had a problem with my tin top, going to work one day, it suddenly started making a loud grinding noise from the front right corner, this
was accompanied by some serious vibration on the steering, anyway took it to a garage and they diagnosed a problem with the wheel bearing, ok I said
it's under warranty, so they should cover the repair. The garage offered to organise the warranty claim for me (which they have done before), as
it saves me the hassle I let them do it.
Anyway the warranty company wants to inspect the vehicle to check the details and the claim, a random inspection is what they called it. The
inspection is booked for the day they are repairing the car, but the inspector doesn't turn up, and by 3:30pm the garage is wanting to crack on
with the job, so they call the inspector to find out where he is, and he say he it is going to be another 1 to 1.5 hours before he gets to them, they
tell him I'm expecting the car back at 5 (to get me home !!) and can they get on with the job and he can inspect the failed bearing when he get
there, the inspector agrees and the garage crack on with the job.
Now here is the rub, the warranty company are now saying that the inspection report, indicates the bearing had not failed but subject to wear and
tear, which is not covered, so they are not going to pay out. obviously the garage is now looking for me to pay, my argument is that I took the car
to them for a repair under warranty, not to pay myself and as they failed to follow the warranty claim procedure (getting an authorisation number) I
shouldn't be liable.
I'm still chasing the warranty company, as I think there answer is BS, but my gut feeling is I'm going to end up having to pay for this.
I didn't even know how much it was until the garage phoned be to tell me the warranty has refused to pay, £325 to fit a wheel bearing
Rant over, what do you think, should I stick my heels in and refuse to pay, or roll over ?
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jossey
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:13 PM |
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if the wheel bearing had gone due to wear and tear it would have been whinning for months before it sounded like it did so i would suggest getting the
bearing looked at by anyone expert. i would suggest the car company who manufactured the car. eg honda etc.
then i would suggest that you take the warranty company to small claims court as they failed to fullfil what they had agreed to do. eg check the car
out on that given day.
the cost for you to leave your car with the garage can be added to the claim too.
they are a pain and i have had alot of issue with them in the past with a few things but they get scared when you take them to court and send them the
letter your about to send to trading standards.....
:O)
thanks
good luck
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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PAUL FISHER
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:23 PM |
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How old is the car? and how many miles has it done?
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phoenix70
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:25 PM |
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The car is a 56 plate Vauxhall Astra sport hatch 1.9 CDTi (150ps) to give the car it's full title, with 41,000 on the clock
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PAUL FISHER
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:45 PM |
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If the cars only done 41000 miles, I can't see how they can say its wear and tear, these sealed wheel bearing are designed to last for at least
100000 miles, so I would say yours is a premature failure at just 41000 miles.
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jossey
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:50 PM |
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I agree with paul.
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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adithorp
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:50 PM |
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Wheel bearing failure will always be "wear and tear" under aftermarket warrenty. In fact virtually anything that fails will be wear and
tear as far as warrenty firms are concerned.
I'm not saying that the above comments are wrong (I agree in most cases) but warrenty firms are not known for paying out if they can help it and
the list of exclutions usually include anything that is likely to fail.
[Edited on 17/3/11 by adithorp]
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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mikeb
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 03:57 PM |
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Does seem low mileage however stuff doesn't seem to last as long nowadays with our roads 5 years is a reasonable age for one to go.
Unless theres a faulty seal or a manufacturing defect it will be wear and tare.
I think the garage was trying to do the right thing and just wanted the car fixed out the way and you on your way home, if you want to use them again
I wouldnt' push them, but utlimately they shouldn't have done the work without an agreement from whoever was paying!
Perhaps they will have a different price for a non warranty job £350 seems very steep for a wheel bearing, try and negotiate with them. The try and
claim back form the warranty company if you can find anyone to state how the bearing failed....
My advice non manufacturers warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on, buy a car without one (haggle the price stating you
don't want their rubbish warranty) then put the £500 in the bank to fix a few things yourself. If you dont' use it a nice weekend with the
missus or a trip to amsterdam with the lads!
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wilkingj
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:01 PM |
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CC all corrrespondence with the Warranty people to your Local Trading Standards people, and make it clear they (TS) are being inculded in all
correspondence.
A wheel bearing should not wear out in 40K, unless you have been wading in deep water a fair bit.
Premature failure IMHO.
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balidey
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:07 PM |
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Who should pay and who will pay are two very different questions.
As far as I can see, 41,000 is low mileage, but also its a wear item.
I can see you getting shafted here mate.
But as you have been given the run-around about it you may get a good will payment from them, but don't hold your breath.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
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mrwibble
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:09 PM |
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get hold of the bearing!!!!
i hope you have it, or else its their word against yours.
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hughpinder
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:19 PM |
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Also worth asking the garage if you can pay the 'real' price rather than the 'insurance' rate I'd have thought. 1.5 hrs
= £100 labour, +?50 for bearing seems reasonable.
I also think its pretty low milage for a wheel bearing to go. I've driven all of my last 4 cars >130K and the current one >200K and never
replaced a wheel bearing, dispite Lincolnshire roads being shite and the 6 very visious speed bumps on my works access road.
Regards
Hugh
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adithorp
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:34 PM |
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Whether it SHOULD wear out in 40000 miles or not isn't at issue as far as the warrenty firm are concerned. It's either wear and tear or...
they'll see anything wrong with it as wear.
The garage should have explained to you the very low chance of it getting paid out. If a customer comes to me with a warrenty in hand, I explain that
the chance of making a succesfull claim are about as slim as winning the lottery. It's up to them arrange payment. If they want it stripping and
inspecting, I expect that they pay for that and any down time waiting them to show up, to be paid whatever the outcome.
That is steep for a wheel bearing in anybodys book. Does it include the down time?
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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phoenix70
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:37 PM |
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Seemingly, the wheel bearing cannot be changed, it a hub assembly that has to be changed, so that why it's so expensive.
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jacko
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 04:40 PM |
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Quick poll how many people on here have had bearing failure on a car that has only done 41000 miles
NOT ME Jacko
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Liam
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 05:01 PM |
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It's not the garage's fault - pay them (worth trying to haggle on the price). Your beef is with the warranty company. Sadly I dont like
your chances. If they want to classify a wheel bearing as a consumable and state that they dont pay out for consumables, they pretty much can do that.
It'll be in their Ts and Cs. Not worth the paper it's written on, as has been said. Your best hope would be to try and prove a failure at
41,000 miles is anomalous and therefore must be due to a defect. The difficulty will be in getting hold of any such statistical data. If you're
really really lucky the manufacturer may be prepared to provide some data, but I wouldn't hold your breath. How about a poll of owners of the
same car on a forum? Or of owners of any cars on any forums? That could illustrate that a 41,000 mile wheel bearing is demonstrably not normal wear
and tear. All a lot of hassle though - how important is that few hundred quid?
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britishtrident
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 05:48 PM |
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Threaten them with a lawyer or small claims court it will cost them too much time alone to defend and there is a fair chance you might get the
full premium back.
By any chance is it the warranty company associated with a certain well known very large national chain of dealerships that originally started in the
West End of Glasgow ?
[Edited on 17/3/11 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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froggy
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 06:08 PM |
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the only warranty company i deal with now is aa or rac as ive had major grief with all the other warranty firms over the last few years . unless your
garage has no experience of these companies they shouldnt have gone ahead before authorisation but i dont think any firm will cover any item that is
subject to wear .
i had a 2007 slk merc in that had lost the plastic guide bonded to bottom chain pulley and jumped a few teeth mashing most of the valves ,the bits
were in the sump and i managed to piece most of it back together to show that it hadnt worn but failed and according to the warranty booklet should be
covered but they still rejected it as an item subject to normal wear and tear.
a hub for a diesel astra is around £80 trade and less than an hour labour to fit so i would definitley try and get some money off the bill
i would charge 160+vat for that job so £325 is a bit rich
[Edited on 17/3/11 by froggy]
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r187/froggy_0[IMG]
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 06:39 PM |
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i had the same situation when i ran a garage.
i asked the spotty yoof in the cheap suite how a bearing would fail if it didnt wear out,after all,it,s sole purpose in life is to go round and
round.
he was unable to answer the q or explain why bearings were covered in their warranty but not covered when they failed.
told him to go forth and multiply and the owner took them to court and won.
who cares who wins
pass the pork pies
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MikeR
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 06:40 PM |
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Used to have an astra, if you don't know and go to Vauxhall to get the bits its a few hundred quid for the hub so the price does make sense. As
the previous poster said, you can get them for 80+vat.
You have to pay the same if the ABS ring gets corroded.
Personally i've not had a problem with the warranties, but i've had claims on things which they've not had issues with (but have
argued with the garage over how long it will take to fix - but thats not my problem).
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 06:41 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by adithorp
Wheel bearing failure will always be "wear and tear" under aftermarket warrenty. In fact virtually anything that fails will be wear and
tear as far as warrenty firms are concerned.
I'm not saying that the above comments are wrong (I agree in most cases) but warrenty firms are not known for paying out if they can help it and
the list of exclutions usually include anything that is likely to fail.
^^ sounds spot on to me, by all means chase them to pay it, but I don't fancy your chances 
quote:
Originally posted by phoenix70
Seemingly, the wheel bearing cannot be changed, it a hub assembly that has to be changed, so that why it's so expensive.
that'll be like my mates astra then (56 plate) £260 inc fitting per side for him I think  (at a main dealer that charges £55+vat per
hour)
my old focus (Y reg) £50 +fitting per side (fitting takes a bit longer - but I fit my own so £0 )
but both of those cars got to ~100k before the bearings failed
[Edited on 17/3/2011 by mcerd1]
[Edited on 17/3/2011 by mcerd1]
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Brook_lands
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| posted on 17/3/11 at 08:03 PM |
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Glad I don't run Vauxhalls. All the cars I have owned have never done less than 150k miles. Only ever changed 1 wheel bearing in over 30 years
and that is on the current car at and was at 285k miles. As said, it was humming away for about 6 months (and that for me is a lot of miles) just to
let me know it was wearing out.
Best of luck, you are going to have to fight hard I'm afraid.
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