Cambelt snapped - Is dealer responsible?

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thejazzpianoma, Apr 7, 3:11am
If the dealer is that inept they should NOT be in the industry. Simple as that.
wasser61, Apr 7, 3:17am
yeah, just like anyone not driving a Skoda, VW or Fiat should not be driving the roads.
matthew111, Apr 7, 3:22am
of course he is NOT responsible.
thejazzpianoma, Apr 7, 3:46am
Thats a sneaky idea! Timing belts do have some advantages in terms of precision and low drag. If this really does last as well as they are expecting and the oil dosn't increase drag too much then it may well be a winner. I am impressed too with their other ideas like the "active shutter" system which is something ecomodders have had excellent success with.

Some very clever thinking all round.
singing1, Apr 7, 5:07am
Cambelt snapped - Is dealer responsible!

NO
richardmayes, Apr 7, 5:40am
There has to be honest and reasonable behaviour on both sides.

I agree with Jazz (& others) that I'd expect an honest professional car shop to either sell a cam belt engine with a new cam belt fitted, OR ELSE inform to the buyer what the cam belt is, and what the service interval is, and that this car is nearly due or is over due. THEN if the belt fails a few months down the line, the dealer can say "I told you so" with a clear conscience and a fair amount of moral vindication.

OTOH.
Cars are complex machines. There's no way around that. If you're going to choose to own one then you MUST educate yourself about the few crucial achilles heels they have (like service intervals for cam belts and engine oil filters and tyres that gradually lose pressure.)

If you're going to do the "I don't know anything about technical stuff, I'm just a girl" thing then expect to pay for a lot of expensive disasters as the consequences of your negligence come home to roost. You wouldn't expect Farmers to maintain your new pair of Doc Martens for you for life, for free, including re-colouring them every time you drunkenly kick the kerb with the toe of them.
cassandra13, Apr 7, 7:30am
hit the dealer up for a new motor. keep pushing. we had the same sort of issue when we bought a car off a dealer, went okay for a couple of weeks, then started playing up, took it to our mechanic to our suprise the head gasket was gone. the dealer tried to shaft us for it so our mechanic took them to the mta , who checked the vehicle as well,and they basiclly spat in the dealers face - fix it or we'll fix you. so problem solved - involve the big guns as we did.
n1smo_gtir, Apr 7, 8:02am
a few weeks is different from 4 months.
n1smo_gtir, Apr 7, 8:09am
the dealer may have told the OP but whether the OP took it in is a diffferent story. often when you hear one sided story it's hard to tell if the teller is been upfront honest or not. not implying OP is a liar but could he or she remember every single detail the car salesman told him or her.
cassandra13, Apr 7, 3:32pm
hardly the fair trading act and mta would see very differently
clark20, Apr 7, 5:31pm
My opinion is that if they brought the car (and it was serviced before sale) and the OP had not got to the next 10,000km service so had no reason to visit their mechanic then the dealer should pay. The OP would have no idea is was due as they did not know it was not done at 100K (unless told)
cassandra13, Apr 7, 5:39pm
excatly. you would think it would be part of their maintenance plan. i agree the dealer needs to come to the party and either meet half way or cover it all.
kazbanz, Apr 9, 11:11pm
x1
I'm not going to go into she should he should on this one because you are asking for advice on how to procede.
Simple fact is that 4 months and I'd guess around 4500km is viewed by the MVDT (the court you take a dealer to) as being plenty of time for you to have replaced the cambelt in.
Just to be clear. A cambelt is concidered to be a consumable item like brake pads,tyres etc.
A clear precedent has been set on more than onbe occasion on this subject.
Sorry if this leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Of course if the dealer clearly stated that the cam belt HAD been replaced when in fact it had not thats a whole different story.
Again sorry I'm not arguing ethics just the legal viewpoint.
I would though suggest you call the MVDT helpline on 0800 3676838

Unfortunately YOU diddn't make best effort to protect yourself when buying the car. A prepurchase inspection even an AA onewould have raised the cambelt issue to your attention before you took the car
kazbanz, Apr 9, 11:29pm
x1
I'm sorry but I have to laugh at this. Not because of the situation and the aparent end resultbut thatyou would concider the mta to be the "big guns" --slap in the snoz with a wet bus ticket in my opinion.
newtec1, Apr 9, 11:37pm
Are you for real,Dealers know exactly what they are selling,and if they don't know they find out.
elect70, Apr 9, 11:52pm
x1
Where do you draw the line6 months1 year 2 years after purchaseor is the dealerexpected to payfor itforever.Owners negligence in not replacingbelt ifwasnt anyindication it had been done .DT will suggest 50 /50splitthats how they resolvedisputes,but dealer could take it to district court which would see it in his favour . ( as kazbanza car dealerpoints out
kazbanz, Apr 10, 12:00am
x1
So!
Whatever happened to -"the buck stops here"
The dealer diddn't say the cambelt was replaced. The OP should have checked it was or wasn't and purchased on that basis.
Just to be clear I'm NOT for a second advocating deceit by ommission and its not how we do things -Im just pointing out that the OP didn't protect themselves
tonyrockyhorror, Apr 10, 1:12am
Some people seem to think so.
zephyrheaven, Apr 10, 1:57am
x1
Are you kidding me! I was walking past a well respected dealer not far from my work the other day carrying a diff nugget for a Hilux - he ask's what the gearbox is for! !

Dont fool yourselves that because they are standing there trying to sell you it (be it anything from Petrol to Porsche's) assume they dont know anything - and school yourselves up FFS take some responsibility - google the word sometime, I know modern life expects the R word to be someone elses problem - but it aint - diddums
zephyrheaven, Apr 10, 1:57am
x1
Are you kidding me! I was walking past a well respected dealer not far from my work the other day carrying a diff nugget for a Hilux - he ask's what the gearbox is for! !

Dont fool yourselves that because they are standing there trying to sell you it (be it anything from Petrol to Porsche's) assume they dont know anything - and school yourselves up take some responsibility - google the word sometime, I know modern life expects the R word to be someone elses problem - but it aint - diddums
hybridtheory1, Apr 10, 4:53am
If the OP had warranty, no sweat.

On the other hand, the cambelt must have been in bad condition to break after only 4 months - this does depend on how many k's OP did after buying the car.

When compliance check the incoming cars, I dont think they check the cambelt, so I would assume the dealer to be responsible for it to be fit for purpose.

If the OP does take them to court, he needs a strong case, as it sounds 50/50. Good luck.
n1smo_gtir, Apr 10, 6:29am
x1
hardly, the fair trading act protects buyer from mislead or mis-representation. if car sales man said he is unsure when it was changed, it's hardly mis representation. how would a car salesman know 4 months down the track a belt would just suddenly snap if when at the time of sale the belt was in perfect working order! do you think the yard should replace the tyre too if the OP hit a nail on the side of the wall rendering it unrepairable! or the clutch because the op excessively rides the clutch or raced it!
curlcrown, Apr 10, 9:10pm
Wouldn't it be nice if it worked like that, but bottom line generaly people don't want to pay the price.
n1smo_gtir, Apr 10, 9:36pm
x1
exactly. and people will always try and talk them down in price so in pov of car yard, why would he invest but get little in return plus the theory of why fix something that's not broken.