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Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Kris Sinclair

This is quite a saga so I will try to keep it as short and to-the-point as I can. Also, since I do not know exactly what the issue is with my car at the moment and if it is related to what's explained in this post, I will refrain from naming the dealership in question. However they are a massive company spanning many branches nationwide.

So I bought my used Peugeot 308 (2014) in Sept 2020, and I took out the 2 year service plan, the 2 year mechanical breakdown cover, and the shortfall insurance... the works!

I get a recall notice from Peugeot about the wet timing belt in Feb 2021 and I opt to put the car in for the complimentary check up. It's important to note I did not take it to a branch of the dealership I bought the car from as the closest Peugeot garage was another large dealership company, but they performed the checks and deemed the wet belt to be within spec. I have all the paperwork.

The car goes in for it's first service (of the purchased plan) in Sept 2021, around 2 months later the service light comes on and I call the dealership to ask for advice, I am told they might have forgotten to reset the counter and booked a date for me to come in to have it sorted. A day or so later the car then shows engine light and the STOP warning on the dash. I call the dealership breakdown line and they send out an AA technician to assist. He checks over the car and notes the errors are erratic but indicate an issue with engine oil, he then mentions that the car was recalled and i explain to him that i sent it in to be checked. He shines his torch inside the oil cap of the engine and informs me the belt is all cracked and has most likely shed particles into the oil and blocked the flow. When i told him the car had been inspected for this fault 6 month prior and it had only just been serviced he advised me that the wrong oil may have been put in the engine that has damaged the belt.

Car is taken in to dealership who determine that the wet belt is the issue, i complain and cite the documentation that says the belt was in good condition prior to the service and that their service is to blame, they agree to replace the engine and we fight over if I have to pay some of the cost since the cost of the repair exceeded the £2,500 covered in the mechanical warranty. After a few days i get a brief call to tell me the car is fixed and ready to be collected. No word on payments or anything so I take the car. You can tell it has a new engine as the car drives amazing after the repair.

The car was serviced back in October, now 3 months later the "service" light has come on... de ja vu.

I understand this new issue could be completely unrelated, but i don't want to take that risk, I want them to look at the car and I want them to check that the same mistake has not been made again... however my 2 years service and warranty are up.

I am going to phone their complaints line tomorrow about this issue as i don't want to just take it in for inspection then have to explain the history, i want this looked at carefully from the start so they are aware the moment it rolls onto their repair shop what the story is.

I suppose my question is what should I do? Assuming it is the same issue I had before, surely only their service can be the cause since it is supposed to be a brand new engine in the car... and if so they are liable to get it sorted warranty or not. Not to mention i should demand a full refund for the service plan i payed for the "peace of mind" when they may have broke my car on both occasions.

Also is there a way I can verify it is a new engine? They never gave me any paperwork about it, they said it is "internal documents only", but i do have the engine number on the documentation from the original check-up from Feb 2021, i don't know how to check the engine number in the car.

TL;DR
Dealership broke my car last year by servicing with the wrong oil and had to replace the engine, now 3 months after it's last service the car is showing same symptoms as before. What should I do when I call their complains line tomorrow?

Thanks for your time :)

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - edlithgow

No experience of dealerships (and don't much want any) so I'd just make the obvious suggestion to collect as much documentation/evidence as you can before letting them have it back, including taking an oil sample for possible later analysis.

It might be worth getting an independent pro to examine it, maybe AA?

I'd also say that this might not be dealer incompetence as such (for which you don't seem to have specific evidence), but rather a generic design or materials fault with this car, which would be a manufacturer responsibility, though it might be difficult to get them to acknowledge it.

Check user forums for generic issues and class actions.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - daveyK_UK
There are a few things

* are you certain it’s the same issue and have you had this independently diagnosed?

* if yes, you need to document this information in a letter to the dealership and Peugeot UK prior to handing the car over

* if this is Robins and Day, they are owned by Peugeot UK and you should go straight to a Peugeot UK as Robins and Day IMO are completely useless and should be avoided like the plague

* if this is another big dealership chain (lookers, Marshall, Arnold Clark, etc) write to the MD or at least copy them in

* is the new engine less than a year old?


Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Kris Sinclair

I have signed up for a new breakdown cover, so i will wait for the policy to be active and request they check it. I certainly do not want to surrender my vehicle to the dealership without having evidence of what is wrong. Best case its a small fault and my breakdown will sort it or I can take it somewhere to be repaired.

I got the car back on the 6th of January 2022, so the engine should just be over a year old by a matter of days now.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Crickleymal

Is it the service light or the engine management light?

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - sammy1

Is it a new engine? For the dealer to have sourced and fitted a new engine in a "few days" seems a bit too soon. Did it look new or may be you did not look. Engine number should be different to your V5. I would think that with the track record at the dealer they have little choice but to put matters right. The number of times you hear this sort of story. It seems once these modern engines have radicle work the less likely of a good outcome!

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Kris Sinclair

I cannot confirm if it is a new engine as they were super short with me on the phone, but if you can tell me where I can check the engine number I will compare it to what is on the old documents I have.

For clarification, I handed in the car on the 20th of December 2021 and got it back on the 6th of January. I had spoken to a mechanic on the phone on the 29th because the branch was short-staffed due to the holidays. When the car was sent for repair they told me I would have to pay part of the repair since it was over the £2500 limit of my cover and it was costing them over £3000, so I was waiting for them to confirm how much I would have to pay so I could carry on my complaint. When i spoke to the mechanic he told me he could see on his system that the parts had been ordered and paid for, and he confirmed it was a new engine. I'm not sure if he was supposed to but he did.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Kris Sinclair

It is just the "Service" light on the dashboard, but the screen in the centre of the dash did flash up a message says "Engine Fault"

This is exactly what happened last time, it started off seemingly minor but then the car went into limp mode and displayed the red "STOP" light, after that the dealership said the engine had seized up.

It may be something minor, i hope it is, but i want to be ready if not. I also don't want to keep driving the car in case it can be salvaged.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - John F

It is just the "Service" light on the dashboard, but the screen in the centre of the dash did flash up a message says "Engine Fault"

Resetting the service light is imple enough - it has no relation to any faults that may or may not be present. You just hold down the 'spanner' button, then turn on the ignition, and keep holding down the button till the 10,9,8,7.....countdown on the dash display gets to zero.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDd3NoTwF7w&ab_channel...s

You have clearly had one of the engines fitted with a cambelt from the bad batch which has cost Peugeot so much in lost reputation. It's nothing to do with 'the wrong sort of oil', the excuse they use in a feeble attempt to divert blame. It was the wrong sort of cambelt. It beggars belief the vendor did not check it, as the problem is, and was, well known. The back of the belt is easily visible under the oil filler cap. Peugeot developed a special instrument designed to measure its width, which are now widely available -

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134421833829?_trkparms=amclksrc...1

- but you can easily make one yourself - I did, out of an old sheet of copper. It should measure no more than 1.6cm.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - bathtub tom

I recall reading somewhere that main dealers are permitted to stamp a new engine with the original engine number. Something to do with it not showing up on the V5.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - primus 1

Just had a new engine fitted to my puma, no catastrophic failure just went in for a noise that sounded like a pulley, indeed, they changed the crank pulley but the noise was still there, then it was deemed to be something under the rocker cover,a sensor/ solenoid, perhaps it was to do with cylinder deactivation?, anyway, I was told that the parts couldn’t be sourced in any reasonable amount of time, so Ford decided to fit a factory fresh engine, I also was told it didn’t Need to be recorded ect, perhaps they were able to use the same vin from their build records, I don’t know, anyway, I await my new Yaris cross in April….

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Lee Power

You have clearly had one of the engines fitted with a cambelt from the bad batch which has cost Peugeot so much in lost reputation.

Bad batch, your having a laugh.

Gen 1, Gen 2 & now Gen 3 wet timing belts have all reported to be failing early.

Not heard anything about a Gen 4 belt failing yet but they haven't been around that long.

If you do higher mileage with a Purecrap the wet belt should be fine, its short journeys that are destroying these belts due to fuel contamination in to the oil.

That's why on the JZR recall letter that I received as a Purecrap owner at the time it said for lower mileage drivers the timing belt replacement interval was being reduced down to 62500 miles / 6 years whichever came first.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - John F

You have clearly had one of the engines fitted with a cambelt from the bad batch which has cost Peugeot so much in lost reputation.

Bad batch, your having a laugh.

Gen 1, Gen 2 & now Gen 3 wet timing belts have all reported to be failing early.

Not heard anything about a Gen 4 belt failing yet but they haven't been around that long.

I think your unfortunate experience has probably affected your opinion, but I know of hardly any stories of failures of this now ubiquitous engine from 2018 onwards. Here is perhaps one of the most comprehensive discussions.......

www.peugeotforums.com/threads/timing-belt-crumbles...4

.....to which I see you have contributed several times somewhat, ahem, negatively! Anyway, I'm still very pleased with our 2019 1.2 puretech 130 engine and shall also continue to service it myself to ensure the old oil is drained out completely every 10,000 miles, the new oil is of correct specification, and the oil filter changed. At fewer than 6,000 miles a year I expect no problems for at least ten years. I'll keep you posted - as long as my vital organs also remain unclogged for a further decade. (Useful additives can be found from Messrs Walker and Gordon;-)

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - edlithgow

That's why on the JZR recall letter that I received as a Purecrap owner at the time it said for lower mileage drivers the timing belt replacement interval was being reduced down to 62500 miles / 6 years whichever came first.

That'd also / alternatively seem to indicate a shorter OCI, but I suppose that might be unacceptable from "marketing optics" perspective.

Peugeot 308 - Dealership potentially broke my car AGAIN - Advice - Lee Power

That's why on the JZR recall letter that I received as a Purecrap owner at the time it said for lower mileage drivers the timing belt replacement interval was being reduced down to 62500 miles / 6 years whichever came first.

That'd also / alternatively seem to indicate a shorter OCI, but I suppose that might be unacceptable from "marketing optics" perspective.

Its one of the reasons I got rid of mine when the wet belt was due as I'm a low mileage driver.

The intake valves coking up at 34k miles & then the oil burning started around 42k miles where the other Purecrap owning highlights.