[megaptera]

Some background - latest update and a rant. I'm furious with General Motors appalling standards!


The full story:

Our GM car (Vauxhall Zafira) broke down in August on a motorway. Wife
& 2 kids had to have roadside rescue - not much fun! the problem was
a a piece of metal from a sheared (GM) spark plug had entered the
engine block and trashed it!! The car is only 5 years old and has only
done 40000 miles and has been fully serviced and maintained.

New engine required, car out of 3 year warranty period. First new engine
supplied by GM & fitted by good quality and reliable independent
garage & this first replacement engine GM supplied was found to be
faulty, so a second new engine was fitted by a GM (Vauxhall) garage.
Vauxhall charged us £2500 ($4000) for supply and fit the new engine.
Vauxhall say it's out of Warranty, Vauxhall finance say not their problem!!


I have written twice to General Motors Head Office in the US very
politely asking for a refund as a car engine should not fail at 40000
miles through metal fatigue! GM have not even had the courtesy of
replying or acknowledging receipt of my letters.


Now the latest ... the new engine was badly fitted, two bolts at least
were drastically over-tightened and have sheared off, the air-con unit
was flapping loose and the assisted steering failed - thank God (and I
mean that) that my wife wasn't driving my kids anywhere when that
happened. The Vauxhall garage that fitted the second new engine have
taken the car away to dismantle and repair the engine having checked
that no pieces of sheared bolt are anywhere to be found - under
warranty.


How can I trust their repair as they fouled up totally the first time??


and how can I get General Motors do do the decent thing and refund my costs!!!!


Thanks for reading ... rant over!!


Richard.

 

[popeyeman]

Thank the Lord you bought a Vauxhall, My missus has a Mercedes A class and when that engine blew up I had to rebuild it myself as have many other ownersdue to them taking no responsibility! Common theme here - American companies - GM and Chrysler, at the end of the day you have been ripped off for their profit, no different to the banks live with it because it will only get worse! If you are a banker then you will be untouchable and happy!!!!

 

[Devs Ad]

Megaptera, what's happened about this since?

You say the car has been 'fully serviced and maintained'. I will stick my neck out here and say that if the servicing was done by an authorised Vauxhall dealer to the correct requirements and time schedule, then you can almost certainly force a claim from them.

If it was done by an independent, then that will be a lot more difficult - perhaps impossible.

However, in either event, you are entitled to a PROPER repair! So accept no compromise whatsoever - make sure you are entirely happy with the work that's been done. Having said that, you DO have to allow them the opportunity to fix everything before saying "enough!"

(On the legal entitlement to a claim, bit, I'd suggest you drop a note to Honest John giving accurate - but brief - details (eg: whether servicing carried out by auth dealer) and see what he ahs to say. Surely there's room for a compromise from Vauxhall, if nothing else?)