Vauxhall Vectra C (2002 - 2008) - Air-con repair not covered by warranty?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:35
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - philip-hill
Can anybody help?

Recently my two and a half year old Vectra's air-con packed up.
It is completely standard 07 plate SRI cdti 150 with @ 32,000 miles.
I 'phoned the local Vauxhall garage & booked the car in to be looked at under warranty.
They told me that the compressor condenser needed replacing, and that the part and labour would be covered under the original 3 year warranty.
The garage order the part and when it arrived I took the Vectra in to the garage. Two hours later, they 'phoned me saying that having removed the condenser, they found that it was "stone damaged" and that Vauxhall would not cover the repair under the warranty.
The cost was £352, which I have paid.

Have I been had? - if so, what can I do? - if anything.

Thanks,

Phil

{incorrect word replaced with correct one - DD}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 18/07/2009 at 14:47

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:38
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Graham567
First off,i would ask to see the compressor with the stone damage to assess it yourself.If it is as they say then unfortunately you have to pay but if theres no evidence then i'd take it further.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:46
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Hamsafar
Are you sure they don't mean condenser?
These are in front of the radiator and commonly suffer stone damage.
Stones cannot hit the compressor and if they did, they would just bounce off.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:49
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - philip-hill
Sorry,

I meant condenser.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:51
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Old Navy
>>Are you sure they don't mean condenser?>>

£352 sounds like the cost of a condenser, a compressor would be considerably more. Condenser stone damage is common.

Edited by Old Navy on 18/07/2009 at 13:52

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:53
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - philip-hill
So sorry, I meant condenser.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:54
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Alby Back
Could this be covered by insurance maybe ?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:55
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Old Navy
No problem, our posts passed in the ether. :-)

Edited by Old Navy on 18/07/2009 at 13:56

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:57
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Old Navy
>>Could this be covered by insurance maybe ?>>

Would it be worth it considering excess or NCD.

Edited by Old Navy on 18/07/2009 at 13:59

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 14:13
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - philip-hill
Good call - just check with my insurance company. The excess is £250 - the repair was £352. So I'd be £102 better off, but they said the cost of the premiums would rise when I renew the policy. So I won't bother.
I was hoping someone would tell me that Vauxhall are screwing me and I can get them to refund the £352.
Oh well - rant over.

Thank you.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 14:35
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - jbif
they said the cost of the premiums would rise when I renew the policy. So I won't bother >>


Does that mean that they have now recorded a "non-claim" incident against you?

Edited by jbif on 18/07/2009 at 14:36

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 14:53
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Dynamic Dave
The damage is classed as an act of god. No different to a stone flying up and damaging your windscreen. It's a pity you've paid for the repair - aftermarket condensers are around the £120 to £150 mark (according to posts I've seen on Vectra-C.com) - add in fitting and a gas refill, you would have probably got the job done for around £100 to £150 less than Vauxhall charged you.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 18:15
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Altea Ego
Consider yourself lucky, the stone damaged condensor on my Touran cost 600 quid fitted.

They have an air inlet you could get half a housebrick in through. Consider putting some thin mesh in the air intake for the condensor.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Jul 2009 18:56
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - Bill Payer
They have an air inlet you could get half a housebrick in through.


This kind of damage seems far too common - you have to wonder why they're not better protected.

There's exactly the same situation as the OP had being recounted at the moment on one of the MB forums - except it was a 1 yr old £150K Merc CL65 and the owner was assured it would be covered by warranty, but then called a few days later and cheerfully asked how he intended to pay as it turned out that the condensor was was stone damaged.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Apr 2011 14:26
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - ssorhtiek

For the life of me I cannot see why this sort of thing is not covered under warranty. The car is designed for use on British roads and the condenser can be better protected from the elements if designed to do so either by a mesh or a shaped cone to significantly reduce the velocity of any road debris

The comparison between the condenser and the windscreen doesn't hold much water in my book. The windscreen cannot be protected from the elements.

II believe that the air conditioning condenser is either inadequate for the given environment or inadequately protected for the environment. Either way the air conditioning system surely cannot either be “fit for purpose” or “of satisfactory quality”. Under these circumstances you would usually have the right to a repair, replacement or refund. I suggest a repair is the obvious resolution here.

II would suggest that “act of god” is not a sufficient defense given the lack of protection around the condenser unit.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Apr 2011 16:12
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - madf

If you insists on condensers being stone proof, you are insisting on protection from a 140mph accident - assuming stone and car at 70mph in opposite directions. And a stone weighing (say) 100gms..

Fine.. Add a few kgs weight, a redesigned front end and a few £100 on the pruchase price.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Apr 2011 17:20
Air-con repair not covered by warranty? - unthrottled

Good point well made.

There are thousands of components in a car. If every one were to be made bulletproof, the car would be so heavy that it would not be able to get out of its own way-and it would be prohibitively expensive to boot.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

10 warranty myths exposed

Here’s how to sort the fact from the fiction when it comes to car warranties.

Cheap Car Warranties