My local Volkswagen dealer diagnosed and recommended replacing the air con condenser on my 62 plate Polo. Thinking that excessive, I accepted a quote from an air con specialist for £400 and having replaced the condenser they found that the car was still leaking gas and concluded that there was a problem with the evaporator - and that the total cost would be around £1000 to replace.

I contacted the dealer who said that I should not have taken the car to an independent and that they would not consider any contribution to the evaporator because I had done so. They also claimed that 'they had never known an evaporator fail' and refused to allow me to speak to the service director. I had no choice but to instruct the independent to do the work.

They photographed their work, and it transpired that the evaporator had corroded. They concluded that this was due to either a faulty part or faulty design. The total cost of repair is £1500. Is is unreasonable of the original dealership, which has serviced the car at appropriate intervals, to abdicate responsibility?