欧博百家乐Vauxhall Grandland Forums
I got my grandland back in March this year after I bought it, I joined the owners groups and fast realised how much of a mistake it was to buy a car with a wetbelt… but stupidly not enough to try and return it
After driving it for 1.5k miles (4 months) I decided to check the belt, the car is a 69 plate with a total of 24.4k miles and full service history…. The belt has cracking, it’s not bad yet I think I caught it early
I was aware of the extended warranty for it and wanted to speak to someone regarding that but none of the dealers were willing to talk about it or even talk about the wet belt being a massive issue as it is, they all wanted to inspect the car before talking, which cost to have inspected.
I decided to ring Vauxhall customer service, explained my situation, that I caught the belt cracking early, no check engine lights yet etc, I said i didn’t want to pay for an inspection for something I already know, they told me inspection was mandatory but if what I claimed was right then the dealer can claim the cost back, they made it sound really easy and straight forward
So I reluctantly got my car booked in, I kept my car off the road for 2 weeks in the run up to my appointment in order to not worsen the belt and potentially damage the engine.
I took the car in and got the report which confirmed the belt has cracking and needs a timing belt kit, but they put this in an advisory section of the report, from everything I’ve seen as soon as the belt starts cracking it’s got to be changed so I would personally think this should be considered urgent on the report. (I’ve read somewhere this needs to be urgent to get the warranty, unsure if true)
The dealer said they need to speak to the warranty team, this took 2 days, and I get a call to say they will Not be covering my car under the warranty because it wasn’t detected on the back of a service and/or doesn’t have any check engine lights, which I find insane. They told me to go back to customer service and see what they say
So I ring them back and they were terrible, the person was no help what so ever basically telling me the same thing as the dealer, I asked to speak to warranty team and was told can’t, I asked to speak to superiors and was told waste of time they can’t change the warranty decision, I asked to complain and was told customer service doesn’t have a complaint procedure, I was really pissed off by this point and went round in circles for 15minutes
I tried to speak to the dealer again but wasn’t getting anywhere So I decided to try customer service back and asked to speak to a manager first, but was told you have to speak to your case handler and they will decide if you can speak to a manager which meant I have to speak to the same guy again. So I did, he was resistant to help again Back to telling me no checking engine lights so no warranty cover etc I asked him for a refusal of repair by email so I can start an investigation via the ombudsman, he said he would send it but the email I got was either wrong or missing an attachment.
Out of sheer desperation I rang the dealership (Arnold Clark) I bought it from (remote buy) to see if they can support in anyway or perhaps goodwill since it’s only been 4 months and unsurprisingly didn’t go well, the person I needed to speak to didn’t call back for 2 days so ended up speaking to the dealer manager and he was a complete dick in tone and had said why is this our problem, wasn’t asking for anything directly just any support or advice, you might say it isn’t there problem but they definitely turned me away from being a repeat buyer form them.
I have emailed higher ups in Vauxhall to see if that comes of anything and filed a complaint on the Vauxhall website
Which leads me to now, I won’t have long left before the dealer that has my car starts chasing me to a decision and not sure what I should do
I either have to pay £1077 for the repair Or Take the car back (paying for the inspection) and drive it till the engine lights come on, but in doing this runs the risk of ruining the engine and I’ve lost all faith in Vauxhall so probably refuse the warranty at that point too
I’ve seen people get the repair without the engine lights I guess it depends on your dealer, I’ve also seen people get offered 70% contribution which at this point I would take. I’ve seen people argue it out and get somewhere but every way I try seems to be a complete dead end
I really Cba anymore been nothing but stress so far, but I think my next point of contact is sorting the ombudsman report and possibly speaking to my finance company
I feel like I’ve used my common sense in visually monitoring the belt and at first signs of it going bad I’ve acted, but Vauxhall would rather my engine get damaged before they act.
This is my 4th Vauxhall back to back and I know the wet belt issue is in multiple brands but I won’t ever get another car by Stellantis, or a wet belt car in general
If I wouldn’t be as upside down as I would be if I sold it I would get rid of it now