cambelt snapped on my lcr today - where do I stand on warranty

colinpuk

Active Member
Jan 2, 2008
86
0
Slough
www.colinpeach.co.uk
my cambelt snapped on my lcr today and i need to know where i stand , i bought it from a 2hand car dealer 2 months ago and they say they only give a months warrenty can they get away with this??
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Jay20VT

The 'R' In CupRa
Jul 23, 2004
653
80
N.London
I thought that standard was 3months cover and that would cover engine and gearbox. I would say you were covered, get advice from your local authority on consumer rights in this area.
 

kenboon

Full Member
May 28, 2005
389
0
Derby
:( Pritty sure its 3 months standard too. Did they give you any documentation stating it was just a month warranty on the car? Dont know all the legal in and outs to be honest. Trading standards may be able to help? Hope you get it sorted.

Ken
 

goodylookinleon

Guest
Oh sorry to hear but thats gonna cost....

As Jay20VT said get in touch with trading standards they were really good when i had problems with the mrs Clio..
 
Feb 8, 2008
426
0
Essex
What paperwork have you got from the Car dealer when you purchased the car. The length of the warranty should be on the paperwork.
I have asked a guy i work with ( very good with cars, etc ), and he seems to think as long as its road legal when you bought it and the milage is within the Manufacturers guildlines for cambelt changes etc (60000miles on my LCR in the manual ) they don't have to give you any warranty on a used car. But worth checking with Trading standards though!!!
 

Willie

LCR Track car
Aug 6, 2004
8,939
1
Sunny Scotland
Sorry to hear that dude, that is going to be mega expensive

And I don't think you'll get anyone to pay for this. It wouldn't be covered even on the OEM warrenty.
 

wackyracer

Wackyracer
May 12, 2007
174
0
Southampton
Hate to have to say this but think you will have to cover it....
points to note are...
The only warranty that has to be offered is that the car is of good road worthy condition when sold ( unless advised otherwise)
If the belt was new then they can argue that it is a fault of the belt and not their fault as could not have been expected to know.
If they say only one month warranty then thats all you can get unless you can prove a existing fault or one that they should have been aware of. The key here will be the condition of the belt..... if it is badly worn then you could argue that they should have noticed this, however if it is in good condition, but just snapped without warning then its another matter.

Small claims court is a option but it will be for you to prove that they are at fault.... been there, very difficult! Get someone who really knows the law to look at the paperwork you have and take it from there..... Of course you could always try the 'good will' route and maybe offer to 50/50 it. Still not cheap, but a option.

Good luck
 

wackyracer

Wackyracer
May 12, 2007
174
0
Southampton
Just to add to that..... you could argue the 'sale of goods act'. This clearly states that goods must be fit for the purpose they are sold for and you can expect a reasonable amount of time/wear from a item depending on what it is. As you were under the given impression that the cam belt wasnt that old and would give you manay thousands of miles of use, the fact that it snapped within 2 months could deem the car unfit for purpose. Worth looking into.
 

Timmyboy

Former Cupra Owner
Aug 27, 2005
108
0
Bristol
if memory serves, small claims court has a limit of £500 - or it did a couple of years back when my deposit-robbing student landlord felt it's wrath [:@]
 

longman

Stumped!
Mar 13, 2007
613
0
Nr Maidstone, Kent
Its worth checking the paperwork related to the warranty. The last warranty I had clearly stated that Cam Belt breakss were not covered.

Sorry to hear though mate. I hope it get sorted.
 

andycupra

status subject to change
dealers often 'buy' a warranty anyway. Theses most often dont cover cam belts, and even if they did many would only cover the part that broke, and not 'secondary damage'. So literally just the belt.
I brought a warranty for a second hand car a few years ago, who were about double the cost of others. This company explained why they cost more and even used a broken cambelt as an example. They included the belt and secondary damage. I checked the other companies at the time and they confirmed that they would either not cover it at all, or just the cost of the belt!

I dont think you have much chance here at all. The only thing would be if it was sold and the cambelt was overdue a change. The engine as you state was changed at 40,000 miles, was this a new engine? can it be confirmed it was changed? can it be confirmed that it had a new belt and not the old one?
 

colinpuk

Active Member
Jan 2, 2008
86
0
Slough
www.colinpeach.co.uk
yeah the engine was changed at 47,500 miles and i have documentation that proves this
according to the recipts it was a compleat new engine, so the belt has done less than half of its "safley usable life"
 
Nimbus hosting - Based solely in the UK.