Who should carry out warranty work ?

Hi all.  A word of advice please.  Last month I took delivery of a new Burford.  Love it.  The only thing wrong is a slight fault on the spot-lights.  I have contacted the A/S dealer, ( no names at the moment ) who are trying to get me to take it to A/S headquarters as they hold more spares.  Is it me or should the regional A/S Dealer sort this out without me having to drive hundreds of miles and having to pay for a stopover for at least one night.     Apart from that, its great.       End of rant 

You have both statutory rights and warranties provided by the chassis manufacturer, the converter and the manufactures of fittings (such as fridge, heater, etc)

Your contract for purchase is with the dealer you bought the vehicle from and he is responsible for complying with your statutory rights as a purchaser and has a contractual obligation to the manufacturer to manage warranty matters under the terms specified by the manufacturer.

When your vehicle was delivered you will have been given a card that specifies exactly what is covered (and not) by the warranties and how the obligations will be discharged.

In practice if you have a problem with any of the base vehicle components the dealer will refer you to the chassis manufacturer. If you have a problem with a fridge, cooker, heater, power supply, etc. the dealer will advise the fault to the respective manufacturer and will carry out work as directed by that manufacturer (and the dealer will be paid for carrying out that work or for returning the unit for repair/replacement).

If the problem is with the AS conversion work, the fault is referred to the after sales department at the factory who will determine what action is to be taken (if any). If they feel the fault is within the capability of the dealer to rectify, they will authorise him to do so, if not they will ask for it to be returned to the factory (particularly for body faults). It is clearly stated in the warranty documentation that travel cost will not be reimbursed.

That said, your contract is with the dealer and you have a right to expect him to act reasonably in discharging his obligations under warranty so if rectification of a fault could reasonably be expected to be within his capability as a dealer then you should insist he does it or that he bears any extra cost you incur by having the work done by others.

My own personal experience of warranty work is good and fault rectifications have been effected by AS, the dealer and by me having had parts posted to me depending on the nature of the problem.

With respect to your spotlight problem (you don't say whether habitation or driving spotlights), if the remedy is a replacement component then I would expect if to be done locally. If it is a design/build fault you will get the best remedy at the factory.

A long response I know but I hope it helps your thinking on how to address your particular problem.

Peter

Thank you Peter for your very detailed reply.  The spots in question are the interior reading spots, I have arranged to visit my dealer on Monday so they can assess the problem.

In this case its the dealer every time. Peter has outlined the position very clearly. In the event that you don't get satisfaction then contact AS.

ubuntu1 wrote:In this case its the dealer every time. Peter has outlined the position very clearly. In the event that you don't get satisfaction then contact AS.

Many thanks.