Legal: Car warranty, the turbo broke and the warranty company says its wear and tear?

Question

Where do I stand, I was never given a list of exclusions but the arranty co are saying the turbo wore out, 67k miles. The warranty co website lists Turbo charger as included but seems to me they are pulling "wear and tear" out of the box to get out of liability. What chance have I in small claims court?

Answer 1

I find warranty policies to be worth less than the paper they are written on. I have a turbo Dodge, mid 80's with over 160K miles, the current turbo has over 60K miles of HARD usage, no smoke, noise or issues of any kind so what is normal wear and tear? It is whatever the warranty company wants it to be, unfortunately, since they already have your money.

Turbochargers are prone to failure, your best chance for getting the part covered is to provide proof that you complied with the normal services in a timely fashion (@ oil and filter, tune-up, etc.) as a wear item, they could still try to assert that you were abusing the vehicle, or failed to service it prior to it failing completely. What type of failure occurred, oil seal failure, causing oil/ smoke in the exhaust?

Warranty companies hire ASE Master techs to do failure analysis to back there assertions, so it helps to have a tech on your side, most good shops will stand behind you.

Answer 2

I would say you have a guaranteed winning chance in court - they're taking the p**s.

Answer 3

look at your warranty paper, does it say the turbo is covered in the warranty?, if it indicates its covered, then you have a pretty good case.

Answer 4

The Turbo Charger comes into the same category as brake and clutch. If the brakes fail due to wear the guarantee  does not cover this item. If the brakes fail due to a part that should last the life of the car then it would be covered. You need to know exactly what part has failed. Go to another dealer and ask their advice. If it is an opportunity to get a kick into their competition they will help you.

Answer 5

ahhyesh, I've always purchased an auto warranty for every vehicle I've owned in the last 7 years. In the beginning I used to get them from the dealer, but I've found it's cheaper to get them from a auto warranty company. http://www.autoadviceonline.com/Warranty... They offer free quotes, so it's easy to see how much one would cost for your car.

Answer 6

Not much in court, if you did win ok, but if you lose

it would cost you more than a new turbo. The

garages are all the same they will riggle out if they

can.

Answer 7

you wouldnt have been given a list of exclusions ,cos they just add to them what ever fails....they defftake the wee...try a wekll worded offical solisitors letter...