3 year old 207, Dead

[Tiff]

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What are your thoughts on this...?

Sister in law has a 3 year old 207 1.4 16v. 25,000 miles.Full Peugeot service history. Got a call on Wednesday at work to tell me it had broken down and could I have a look on the way home. I stopped at the car, turned the key and that familiar sound of no compression came from the engine- cambelt gone. Pulled off the covers and the belt had moved right off the end of the pulleys,leaving only a cm of belt -the rest had shredded.

I had to tow it down to the local dealer as they have no breakdown service. took them 3 days to look at it. Now "wear and tear" has been mentioned... :lol: No courtesy car, and awaiting a call from Peugeot customer services Monday, or maybe Tuesday. She needs her car for home visits for work.

What would be your course of action??

Now she's been told to pay nearly £700 towards repair, due to "fair wear and tear".......

 

[bingo999]

how far out of warranty is it? i had a similar problem with my corsa when the engine failed (im no mechanic) 2 weeks out of manufacturers warranty. it took me 2 weeks of being polite with the dealership and on the phone to GM head office before i started to swear and get shouty as soon as i did they they repaired the car total cost to me.. nothing! keep on at them and speak to the dealer principal get numbers for peugeot head office and complain to them as well. hope that helps

 

[Dieselman]

What is the recommended life of the belt?
Of course its going to be longer than 3 years or 25k so no it isn't fair wear and tear. In addition the belt didn't fail, probably the tensioner bent causing the belt to track off line.

Option one is to negotiate the full repair, option two is to pay and then sue in small claims court.

 

[Rory]

Did she buy the car new?

If not it's a bit trickier, but if Peugeot don't pay then maks a small claims court claim against them using the online service on the basis that they supplied a car of unsatisfactory quality. Cost of claim is minimal. No guarantee of success but most big companies settle out of court.

Vauxhall have an issue with Corsa camshafts breaking with mashes the valves into the pistons and have paid owners when presented with court action.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

£700 to repair a cambelt snapping on a little Peugeot? I had an Audi A6 2.5 TDi with the same problem and that came up to £800...

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

That all sounds a bit rough, did you check on peugotcentral?

 

[markjay]

I am assuming that the engine needs more than just a new cambelt, e.g. valves/head job (hopefully not pistons), so the £700 represents just a contribution rather than the full cost?

If so than this is not entirely unreasonable. The belt is wear and tear in the sense that it is a consumable item that needs replacing (on the Peugeot, I believe every 5 years?). So if she gets a new belt under warranty, there is a clear element of embetterment here, as she will need to change it again in 5 years rather than in 2 years.

I think that you need to find out what is the cost of cambelet change (I imagine £600 at a dealer) and offer to pay 3/5 of this as the old belt was 3/5 of it life (assuming Peugeut quote 5 years for cambelt change).

 

[Tiff]

Timing belt interval is 95000 or 10 years. Water pump bearing failed, and threw the belt into the belt cover. Knowing Peugeot's and 16v engines, the inside of the engine will be a mess. Its had 1 service, done by Peugeot. 20k service intervals, its done 25k. Not a year out of warranty yet.

I don't understand the embetterment part. Cambelt/waterpump isn't even checked until replacement, so is expected to last 95k.

 

[andy clark]

if u dont have a warrenty and the water pump went there is not much u can do it is wear and tear plus the warrenty may not cover something like the water pump!

 

[Tiff]

£700 to repair a cambelt snapping on a little Peugeot? I had an Audi A6 2.5 TDi with the same problem and that came up to £800...

You got some deal on that job, most of the broken cambelts I dealt with ended up well over £1000. Old Transits were good though, take out pushrods, straighten them in a vice, pop on a new belt and ready for another 150,000 miles

 

[nick mercedes]

Timing belt interval is 95000 or 10 years. Water pump bearing failed, and threw the belt into the belt cover. Knowing Peugeot's and 16v engines, the inside of the engine will be a mess. Its had 1 service, done by Peugeot. 20k service intervals, its done 25k. Not a year out of warranty yet.

I don't understand the embetterment part. Cambelt/waterpump isn't even checked until replacement, so is expected to last 95k.

I don't think you're going to get much out of Peugeot if it's almost a year out of warrenty, has had just the one service in 4 years, and a wear item has failed - admittedly leading to some quite serious engine damage.

 

[219]

Timing belt interval is 95000 or 10 years. Water pump bearing failed, and threw the belt into the belt cover. Knowing Peugeot's and 16v engines, the inside of the engine will be a mess. Its had 1 service, done by Peugeot. 20k service intervals, its done 25k. Not a year out of warranty yet.

I don't understand the embetterment part. Cambelt/waterpump isn't even checked until replacement, so is expected to last 95k.

I'd agree .

You have consumer law on your side - sale of goods act states that the car must be of merchantable quality and fit for purpose ; also that it must last for a 'reasonable' length of time . Although not cast in stone , this is normally held to be six years - hence many products now come with a five year warranty - it is normally accepted that if something fails during year six it has lasted reasonably well . In your case for a major failure to occur in year four , court would probably find in your favour - especially in view of the very low mileage and bearing in mind all servicing specified by manufacturer has been carried out by their dealer . The fact that they themselves state belt should be good for 10 years and almost four times mileage covered so far works in your favour . A water pump equally should last much longer than 4 years/25K and early failure can only be down to faulty manufacturing/poor servicing - either wat Peugeot's responsibility . Consequential damage likewise .

I presume your sis must be a nurse or similar ? Can't she get a pool car from work whilst this goes on ?

 

[Tiff]

She works in the social work dept of the Council- Thanks for your views- I still think she has a case. If it were my car I'd be taking it all the way...

 

[Dieselman]

I think you are right.
No way should a water pump bearing fail catastrophically in 25k miles, if so is it covered in the 20k service to check and replace, no it's not as it's expected to last at least s long as the cambelt.
Peugeot can be very awkward to deal with though.

 

[trapperjohn]

Perhaps if she has bank charges (dont we all) she may be covered for legal advise for free or her union may offer this service.

 

[jonnyboy]

I think the softly softly approach is not the way to go in this case. I would be going in all guns blazing with proper evidence of servicing schedules etc/sale of goods act and the likes

 

[Tiff]

Latest update:

She's decided to pay the £700, along with a strongly worded letter to Peugeot UK, that it has been paid under duress, and will be followed up with Trading Standards, and if need be, the small claims court. I'll await their response!

I believe the car is on finance, with the dealership group..

 

[martin_a]

If she's fully comp you might have legal cover in there.

I'm not as sure it reads as well as others. Sounds like it is well over due a service and out of warrenty. I'm pretty sure the fact it hasn't been serviced as per instructions will be a perfect get out clause even if this is a part expected to last much longer.

"Inspection" is probably part of the schedule.

m.

 

[DSB SL AMG]

Definitely contact auto express, Email below , if they deem your claim unfair they will usually contact the dealer, in most cases this results in a goodwill payment...let us know how you go....good luck..!

[email protected]

In some cases they will name and shame the dealer in there magazine....

 

[nick mercedes]

In some cases they will name and shame the dealer in there magazine....

Why name and shame the dealer?

The car's warrenty has run out and it's only had the one service.

It's not like they come with a lifetime warrenty or last forever.

TBH OP's relative is getting off lightly just paying £700, it could have been much worse.