Newslink

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Caveat emptor – a classic
case of ‘buyer beware’
Rod Came
MSA South East
Let me tell you a story. Just over a year
ago my daughter bought a used car from
a large local dealership complete with
an extended warranty.
It was a four-year-old BMW 3 Series
diesel, all black and shiny with all the
toys, just what she wanted. She went to
Inverness in it in the middle of winter,
really enjoyed the drive, used it locally
for eight months, no problems.
After she had the car for eight months
her husband noticed a ticking noise
from the engine that was a new sound,
so it was booked into a local garage for
a service and a diagnosis of the new
noise. On collection the noise was still
there and could not be explained. Four
days later he was driving to work when
there was a loud knocking from the
engine, He dropped it off at the servicing
garage for their thoughts, which were
that it should be recovered to the local
BMW dealership for their opinion.
BMW stripped the bottom off the
engine and found that the crankshaft
had snapped. But not to worry, the car
was covered by a warranty. Not any old
warranty but a GOLD warranty which
covered all the mechanical parts
including any sudden failure of the
engine.
For those not of a mechanical bent,
the crankshaft is a big bit in the bowels
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of the engine which links most of the
moving parts; it is not a service item as
it is not accessible.
She approached the warranty
company and told them of the problem,
at which point they started to backpedal
as fast as their little legs could
carry them using every excuse under the
sun, from you must have broken it, to
the servicing garage didn’t put any oil in
the car. Their contact is either on
holiday today, in a meeting, on another
call or has just popped out; which ever,
he does not like returning phone calls.
We are talking about a substantial
claim, circa £16,000 for a new engine
and fitting, the original one cannot be
repaired because of swarf in the oil
ways.
It must be said that the BMW
dealership has been more than helpful,
but the problem remains unresolved four
months after it happened. I must stress
that the car was not bought from a
BMW dealership.
The point of this tale is that if you are
thinking of purchasing a used vehicle
which is either out of the manufacturer’s
warranty or does not qualify because of
missed servicing and you are
considering an after-market warranty, be
very careful. Make sure that the
warranty is backed up by an insurance
policy from a named company. If you
have any doubts about the provider
check their entry on the Companies
House website, that could save you a lot
of grief.
The saga continues, with many
avenues still being explored.
Driving test centre update
Bristol (Brislington)
As reported in the December issue of
Newslink, the driving test centre at
Bristol (Brislington) will be closing after
the landlord served notice for DVSA to
leave the site.
The last day of testing at Flowers Hill
on Bath Road will be February 19.
The DVSA is hoping to minimise
disruption to ADIs and candidates by this
development and is holding an online
meeting with stakeholders at 7.30pm on
January 7.
Please register
your details to
attend the meeting
by clicking here:
To get the
full story,
click here
Birmingham South Yardley driving test
centre: temporary closure
Driving tests at South Yardley driving
test centre will be unavailable from
Monday, March 22 until Monday, May 3
to allow refurbishment work to be carried
out.
The DVSA expects to be able to restart
driving tests at South Yardley on Tuesday
May 4 and will confirm whether testing
can restart on this date nearer the time.
Examiners from South Yardley will
move to Garretts Green driving test
centre, where they will take tests while
the refurbishment work is carried out.
The address of the alternative centre is
Garretts Green driving test centre, Granby
Avenue, Garretts Green S33 0SD
Bad weather
driving advice
GEM Motoring Assist has produced an
online video highlighting the dangers of
driving in times of heavy rain and
flooding.
It can be viewed at https://www.
motoringassist.com/driving-in-floods/
It highlights how rain causes tyres to
lose traction, increasing the dangers of
skidding and loss of control.
In addition there is helpful advice,
such as using dipped headlights, as well
as a discussion on the safe depth of
water that can be driven through.
GEM’s advice is ‘driving through any
depth of water can be dangerous. Even
just six inches – or 15cm of water – will
reach the bottom of most passenger
cars. Above this depth you can lose
control or stall the engine because water
can be sucked into the exhaust or
washed into the air intake.’
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