do dealers charge labour for works within warranty?

[Viking]

i got charged £50 labour for my coil pack re-call a few months ago told me id get a the coilpacks free but the labour wasn't, i said i'd fit them myself and they told me i couldn't do that. so paid anyway 4 new coilpacks cant moan.

DunnDeal12, were they covered by warranty?  If yes, why pay labor?  Ok you got the coilpacks whose worth may be substantially more than the 50 pounds you paid, but why pay the 50 anyway?  I can't see any logic behind this.  Warranty states that dealer is obliged to fix the car for free in case something covered by warranty breaks during warranty.  I for one am determined not to pay a cent when the car is fixed.  If they do ask me to pay for labor, i'll just hand them my lawyer's contact info and see what happens.  Warranty is warranty right?

its when i first heard about the recall i rang up my local dealers, gave my reg/VIN and the women on the phone said yes its been recalled, had it done and they charged me £50 labour. do you think i would be able get my money back if i rang up and complained? it was at parkway VW derby http://www.myvolkswagen.co.uk/
haven't got a clue how VW warranty works tbh as i thought VW has a 12yr paint warranty yet they still ask you to pay a %.
so i thought £50 for a set of 4 coils was good.

Totally agree with Rhyso.  Yes I'd think you should get your money back.  If it was re-call, meaning THEIR mistake, then why charge YOU for it??  makes no sense mate.  After all you paid for a brand new car, got a brand new car albeit with malfunctioning coilpacks, called in to change the malfunctioning part, I really don't see where exactly a charge for this fits in... Don't know if it's a bit late now that you've already paid them but if not cash, you could get something like a 50 quid voucher for next time you take your car in for oil change or whatever

It sounds like you're confusing a warranty repair with a recall. This work isn't being done under warranty (in which case it should certainly be covered completely) but it's a recall for possible failure of parts. It's also not a VOSA notified recall where VW are obliged to carry out the work, it's a recall under their own system where a fault has been identified and they've arranged to put it right for their own reasons. VW as a group have undertaken to do the recall.

It might be that VW have agreed to cover the full costs and certain dealers are hitching a ride and charging the customer as well, or it may be that certain dealers are doing it free for regular customers and should be charging for the time. I don't know. But it's not a warranty issue.

[gti210ps]

i got charged £50 labour for my coil pack re-call a few months ago told me id get a the coilpacks free but the labour wasn't, i said i'd fit them myself and they told me i couldn't do that. so paid anyway 4 new coilpacks cant moan.

DunnDeal12, were they covered by warranty?  If yes, why pay labor?  Ok you got the coilpacks whose worth may be substantially more than the 50 pounds you paid, but why pay the 50 anyway?  I can't see any logic behind this.  Warranty states that dealer is obliged to fix the car for free in case something covered by warranty breaks during warranty.  I for one am determined not to pay a cent when the car is fixed.  If they do ask me to pay for labor, i'll just hand them my lawyer's contact info and see what happens.  Warranty is warranty right?

its when i first heard about the recall i rang up my local dealers, gave my reg/VIN and the women on the phone said yes its been recalled, had it done and they charged me £50 labour. do you think i would be able get my money back if i rang up and complained? it was at parkway VW derby http://www.myvolkswagen.co.uk/
haven't got a clue how VW warranty works tbh as i thought VW has a 12yr paint warranty yet they still ask you to pay a %.
so i thought £50 for a set of 4 coils was good.

Totally agree with Rhyso.  Yes I'd think you should get your money back.  If it was re-call, meaning THEIR mistake, then why charge YOU for it??  makes no sense mate.  After all you paid for a brand new car, got a brand new car albeit with malfunctioning coilpacks, called in to change the malfunctioning part, I really don't see where exactly a charge for this fits in... Don't know if it's a bit late now that you've already paid them but if not cash, you could get something like a 50 quid voucher for next time you take your car in for oil change or whatever

It sounds like you're confusing a warranty repair with a recall. This work isn't being done under warranty (in which case it should certainly be covered completely) but it's a recall for possible failure of parts. It's also not a VOSA notified recall where VW are obliged to carry out the work, it's a recall under their own system where a fault has been identified and they've arranged to put it right for their own reasons. VW as a group have undertaken to do the recall.

It might be that VW have agreed to cover the full costs and certain dealers are hitching a ride and charging the customer as well, or it may be that certain dealers are doing it free for regular customers and should be charging for the time. I don't know. But it's not a warranty issue.

mate, it's a recall, that's twice as bad as having something broken down and get your car to fix under warranty.  Recalling a car means they realized something is wrong.  Now, if i paid say 20K for a new car and they recall the car because, for example, they found out the coils they applied to that car need changing because of bad manufacturing etc., how is that the fault of the customer?  and why any customer should pay a single cent for this?  If i buy a new car worth 20k, i expect it to come flawless.  If it does not come flawless and something needs fixing, then i would expect the seller to fix it pro bono.  Not too difficult to understand i think

[Viking]

Your initial post about the mechatronic failure was about a definate warranty issue. The current issue being discussed is about a coilpack recall covering cars from back over 10 years ago. The situation is not about a 20k car any more, but about a car which may arguably be worth less than £500.

[gti210ps]

Your initial post about the mechatronic failure was about a definate warranty issue. The current issue being discussed is about a coilpack recall covering cars from back over 10 years ago. The situation is not about a 20k car any more, but about a car which may arguably be worth less than £500.

DunnDeal's car's worth >500 quid?  I though he was talking about a new car here

[Viking]

Generalisation there. The recall in question will be covering cars from scrappers on their last legs to cars just out of warranty. VW cover warranty charges within 3 years, after that the customer is on their own or reliant on VW goodwill. The recall (outside of the 3 years warranty) is covered by VW goodwill and customer relations etc. They've realised there's a problem and have issued a dealer recall to all cars affected. This means they can draw a line under it, and stop putting so many man hours into endless customer relations  correspondence / dealer hours into customer face offs etc. and clear the issue. Should they charge for it? I don't know. Are they charging for it? Yes and no. Who's right and who's wrong? I don't know. But if a bloke comes into a VW main dealers with a 10 year old car that needs an MOT in a weeks time, will probably fail, and hasn't see a VW dealer for a service since it left the forecourt in 2002, as the dealer would you be inclined to offer your goodwill service to the owner?

[gti210ps]

Generalisation there. The recall in question will be covering cars from scrappers on their last legs to cars just out of warranty. VW cover warranty charges within 3 years, after that the customer is on their own or reliant on VW goodwill. The recall (outside of the 3 years warranty) is covered by VW goodwill and customer relations etc. They've realised there's a problem and have issued a dealer recall to all cars affected. This means they can draw a line under it, and stop putting so many man hours into endless customer relations  correspondence / dealer hours into customer face offs etc. and clear the issue. Should they charge for it? I don't know. Are they charging for it? Yes and no. Who's right and who's wrong? I don't know. But if a bloke comes into a VW main dealers with a 10 year old car that needs an MOT in a weeks time, will probably fail, and hasn't see a VW dealer for a service since it left the forecourt in 2002, as the dealer would you be inclined to offer your goodwill service to the owner?

well i guess not.  i wasn't aware that they were recalling older cars.  anyways i was only referring to cases of cars still under warranty so...

[Viking]

Under warranty it's entirely possible that the coilpacks are the latest revision anyway, and won't need changing. The notice to owners is to bring the car in for checking to see if it needs the recall. If they've already been changed to the latest revision, then you wouldn't get a new set. Unfortunately, I think you'd also struggle to get the money back if you'd previously paid for new coilpacks.

Not ideal I know, but it's a very fluid situation for both customers and dealers. Some will win and some will lose out I guess.

[gti210ps]

  ecstatic to say i got my GTI back today with a brand new mechatronic and brand new boot struts, car washed, tires polished, without having to pay a cent - all inclusive of warranty.  Thanks VW