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Turbo charges

I bought a 2007 BMW 335i reg 2007 12 days ago from a dealer as a trade sale from a dealer my company has dealings with. It was sold as seen, and out of its 3-year warranty. I took out a full BMW warranty on the car on the same date. I recently noticed a rattling noise coming from under the car. Thinking it was maybe a belt problem I took it to a local garage to get checked out as the BMW warranty doesn't kick in until a month after the car had been purchased. The garage has informed me that it's a serious problem with one of the turbos and that I shouldn't drive the car until it's fixed. I'm now in a dilemma. Do I get the local garage to fix it or take it to BMW? Surely a 3-year old 335i shouldn’t have a problem of this nature?

Asked on 14 August 2010 by RW, via email

Answered by Honest John
To make a claim on a warranty for a fault that existed in the car before the warranty was taken out would be fraud, in the same way as taking out fire insurance on a building that was already on fire. That's why warranty insurers build in a time clause. With warranty Direct it's 90 days. But since you have a relationship with the dealer you may be able to do some sort of deal with him to perhaps go halves on the repair.
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