Hi Xiao,

Sorry to hear of your problems. Here's my suggestion:

1. Obtain a copy of the independent engineers report as to the exact nature of the problems
2. Ask for a copy of the tape of your initial conversation with AA warranty (to confirm they did not tell you to recover the car)
3. Complain via the compliants procedure copying Motorcodes.
4. If the warranty is insurance (you would need to look in the warranty book) copy the Insurance Ombudsman
5. Either way copy the AA (ie the actual AA; AA warranty is a trading style of Motorway Direct warranty)

Good luck

Is this the one from AA?

Yes

Also are they able to claim they do not have a recording?

Possibly

What part of the Motorcodes, relates to my sitation?

AA warranty are a subscriber to Motorcodes & as such must abide by their code of conduct.

My views on copying people is simply to put the wind up AA Warranty so that they will be less likely to fob you off knowing that Motorcodes, AA & the insurance ombudsman are going to be kept informed.

At the end of the day, AA Warranty may be correct in refusing your claim. I'm simply informing you of the steps to take to get the correct outcome

Good luck

It sounds to me like they are using what they can to avoid paying this claim out.

If I am right then it would seem that you have done everything they said to do, including taking the vehicle to their chosen Garage.

If they are claiming that the damage was done in the Garage, then they may be indicating that you claim off the Garage in question. Once you have handed the vehicle over to the Garage they are the ones responsible for it.

I would be tempted to seek legal advice on this one. Luckily the majority of solicitors will give you half an hour to an hour free - so take your agreement and any other documentation you have with you and get it checked out.

I would also write to them instead of phonecalls to them. In your letter you need to ask for the following:

1. A copy of the Indepentant Engineers Report
2. A copy of ALL conversations that have taken place between you and the AA.
3. Inform them that you will be seeking legal advice from a Solicitor
4. Inform them that you are also writing to Motorcodes and are sending them a copy of the letter and any further letters between yourselves.

I know that a member has essentially put this, but you need to do this in writing. That is your letter to the AA.

At the same time, you need to write to Motorcodes. You need to inform them of the situation, of the steps you have taken to resolve, and include a copy of the letter you sent to the AA.

If the AA are doing anything out of procedure here, Motorcodes will step in. When each of the parties are aware that you are taking legal advice with a view to legal action, then they will be more helpful.

I would also write to Halfords Head Office via their complaints procedure too - but you may wish to wait until you have seen a solicitor. It may be Halfords that have to pay out - but ideally it should be the AA who pay out to you and then claim back from Halfords.

The point of sending a letter is three-fold.

1. You are keeping documented records. Make sure you type all your letters on a PC. Save a copy of all letters and print yourself a copy which you sign. In extreme cases you can even POST a copy of the letter to yourself and keep it sealed. This maintains a date record too.
2. The person on the other end of the line may be an idiot or simply not care. You can ask all you like for a manager, but they may not even put you onto their superiors.
3. You will also be putting the pressure onto them. Once it is in writing it is more formal. It is for this reason that an Insurance Company puts your claims into writing for you to sign rather than relying on the phone conversations.

I do wish you the best of luck with this one, and will keep checking back to see how you get on. I hope you get this sorted, but this will only start to take place if you write to them and actually cover yourself with legal advice.

A broken cambelt would not allow a car to stop/restart several times as stated in the original post;cambelt failure is total and can be terminal-it seems that there are two seperate faults.

had a look at the car the teeths were shreded, about 10 cm of the belt the teeths were gone. garage said this was caused by a failed waterpump

The garage claimed the belt teeth were missing due to a failed water pump? Do they have any horses round the back of that Garage?

I think you need to sort the letter out ASAP. You also need to request a copy of ALL conversations relating to this claim including those between the AA and Halfords.

You also need to get an independant inspection done yourself. Claim this back from whoever is at fault later. I suspect it is Halfords at fault though.

It is my belief that Halfords plugged the car into a standard ODBII reader and found no faults. They then test drove the car - possibly hard - and this damage has now occurred. If the Audi is anything like a BMW, the standard ODBII port will not give 100% of the information - only a specific reader can do that. The 3-Series BMW my wife has has both an ODBII port and a BMW only port. The latter is the only one that can give certain information like Airbags, or reset the Service Counter, etc.

Get that Independant Inspection done to arm yourself with the knowledge of what has happened. The RAC will do this service as you won't be able to use the AA in this case.

I am suprised that the RAC told you to drive the car with a failed water pump-certainly overheating could cause the module to shut the engine down.