Gearbox apparently shredded, where do I stand?

[krazy_olie]

Hulo
So last week my '09 plate Seat Ibiza all but broke down, something went underneath and it started to make horrible noises. Seat assistance had the AA tow the car to the local Seat garage/dealer where i bought it from. I was expecting them to tell me I needed a new clutch, but apparently, the gearbox is completely shredded dead, and not repairable, a replacement is £3000+, which is pointless as I only paid £5.5K for it. I'd rather personally write off the car than pay that amount for a repair. I bought it 9 months ago and it had 48,000 miles aprox on it and I have added another 6000. I've never heard of complete gearbox failure on a 4 year old car, I can only imagine that either the guy before drove like a nutter or there was some manufacturing defect.

At the moment they have it and I'm waiting for them to get back to me, I've emailed for an update but don't want to go around chasing it up too much yet as I don't know what my position should be. Fortunately as the car was due in for service this week they already had a courtesy car for me ready so at least I can get around.

Thanks, Oliver

[kalniel]

Ouch

Private seller? 9 months is probably too long a time for you to prove fault was there at time of purchase even if not.

I fear that unless either you had a warranty, or SEAT have issued a recall for a related issue, you probably don't stand anywhere pleasant. There's a certain amount of goodwill you might be able to get from SEAT, if you go down the 'your gearboxes should last longer than this' route, but as you can't prove how it was previously driven it's going to be hard. Try that first. If the response isn't satisfactory you could try emailing honest john/autoexpress and seeing if they have any better luck.

[krazy_olie]

It was from a Seat Dealer, so "approved used" - whatever that means - but I'm hoping it gives me more cover than nothing. A month or two back my MOT failed because it had a European rear light fitting and they replaced it without charge so that's a good sign at least.

I have found this on the dealer's site
"
SEAT Approved 12-Month Guarantee

Every approved SEAT sold comes with a 12-Month SEAT guarantee which protects against failure of all factory-fitted mechanical and electrical components so you can be assured that in the unlikely event of anything going wrong, you are protected against any parts or labour costs. You can also benefit from a relief vehicle if your car is being worked on, and even hotel accomodation should you break down away from home. There is also the facility to 'top up' the Guarantee where only a few months addition to the balance of manufacturer's cover is required, thus saving the cost of a full 12 month policy."

[kalniel]

It was from a Seat Dealer, so "approved used" - whatever that means - but I'm hoping it gives me more cover than nothing. A month or two back my MOT failed because it had a European rear light fitting and they replaced it without charge so that's a good sign at least.

You have far more rights when bought from a trader, so that's good, however you've passed the 6 month mark, so onus on you to prove a pre-existing problem

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/c...V0003-1011.txt

Of course, what reputation is there to their 'approved' used if they can sell cars that break within 9 months? Legally you don't have much on your side, but you've got a strong reputation bargaining chip for a goodwill covering of some of the costs maybe. Try and bargain for either part or labour costs for etc.

edit: ah an extra guarentee. Good - that should cover you.. if you've got the paper work. Ask them for it if not.

[jim]

Did you pay with a card? Long shot, but it could potentially be helpful.

[krazy_olie]

Paid by debit card.

Guess I'll have to see what kind of cover the guarantee gives me, one of those thing you don't know until you have to deal with it. Somewhat stupidly the majority of the paperwork is with the car so don't have it on me, but would be able to get it if I needed.
If I have issues with it I guess I will have to go down the above rout (thanks for link!), no idea how I'd prove that the issue already existed but good to know that the possibility is there.

[bytejunkie]

I have found this on the dealer's site
"
SEAT Approved 12-Month Guarantee

Every approved SEAT sold comes with a 12-Month SEAT guarantee which protects against failure of all factory-fitted mechanical and electrical components so you can be assured that in the unlikely event of anything going wrong, you are protected against any parts or labour costs. "

quote this at them. at worst i think you'll end up paying 8 hours labour for a swap, but you should get the box for free.

[jim]

Paid by debit card.

Have a look through this: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/sho...ard-chargeback

You never know, might be fruitful.

[MrJim]

£3k for a new gearbox sounds pretty steep to me. If the worst comes to the worst & you don't have any luck on the SEAT warranty, it would be worth shopping around & get a few quotations from other repairers. Dealerships are always pricier than independent repairers, in my experience.

[krazy_olie]

yeah sounded expensive to me too.

Anyway heard from them now, they said it is covered by the 12 month guarantee explicitly (whew) but they have to wait for a Seat technician to confirm it. I got the impression that it's a box ticking exercise but don't think I'll be fully relieved until I get that confirmation.

[Tumble]

ANYTHING you buy, unless specifically stated otherwise is guaranteed for 12 months by law from the date you purchased it. They should fix that at their cost. I fail to see how you've wrecked the gearbox in 6000 miles of driving unless you drive around in 2nd EVERYWHERE without there being some sort of defect in it.

[kalniel]

ANYTHING you buy, unless specifically stated otherwise is guaranteed for 12 months by law from the date you purchased it.

Woah that's new to me. What law is that?

[GoNz0]

it's the tumble law

[bledd]

Set fire to it.

Insurance

[Butcher]

ANYTHING you buy, unless specifically stated otherwise is guaranteed for 12 months by law from the date you purchased it. They should fix that at their cost. I fail to see how you've wrecked the gearbox in 6000 miles of driving unless you drive around in 2nd EVERYWHERE without there being some sort of defect in it.

There is no such law. The sale of goods act specifies that anything that breaks in the first 6 months can be assumed to be faulty as sold and thus must be repaired or replaced by the seller. After that the onus is on the buyer to prove that it was faulty as sold, up to a limit of 6 years (5 in Scotland).

[icemantaz]

And does that include second hand or pre owned goods?