No crime has been committed, Palmers are under no obligation to release the car until payment has been made, whether from the OP or Skoda UK. The OP is in dispute with Skoda UK, Palmers are a third party. I'm surprised they have released the car with a bill outstanding on it.

Thats not how I understand it, The OP is in dispute with the supplying garage or the one that changed the cambelt...

IIRC 1.8 engines have a vvt ( variable valve timing) mech which on early engines had a problem with the vvtt short chain drive between camshafts. They used to fail and seize the camshafts. maybe it was something like this led to cambelt stripping. IIRC there was a recall..

I dont think it was cambelt failure that was the root cause.

What sort of model years are you talking about??

I dont think you are aware of the sales of goods act then???

Indeed I am, and SUK didnt sell the repair.

The SOG applies to a contract, the contract is with the repairer.

Has anyone checked the chain and VVT unit on the other end of the Camshafts, I have come across a BWA engine VRS with a stripped cambelt, caused by the bolt which holds the VVT unit to the cam breaking and allowing the chain to come off. This stops the cams and strips the belt. Whilst working at a Skoda dealer I also repaired an Audi A4 with the exact same failure. I am sure there was an AUDI Recall in America for this bolt failing. I have also seen a BWA VRS with the belt stripped due to seized cams, the oil pickup pipe was clogged up. Although this vehicle had not been serviced for over 40k miles

Edited 22 June, 201214 yr by Andymod

I will refrain from making further comments for the time being, as Skoda UK customer relations manager did show good intentions today in solving this si****ion amicably... but for the ones who doubt about any legal responsibilities on this case, I can tell you that I did consult with 3 different legal advisers and all 3 said there was a case here... and that's it from me, until I hear again from Skoda UK and/or Progress Skoda early next week... have a good weekend everyone and be careful with your vehicles...

I hope you do get a repair (or at least some sort of compensation/contribution out of one or both of them). My point was more specifically about the Sale of Goods Act, which is unlikely to be much help to you, and certainly not in the way that some were suggesting. TBH I get a bit frustrated when people start banging on about that with little idea how or when it can be applied. One of my law tutors used to get quite animated over it and I suppose a little of that intolerance has rubbed off on me.

Your best chance of a successful claim is to prove that the damage was caused by failure of a part which was replaced (or should have been replaced) during the cambelt work though, as without this I think you'll struggle to get a contribution over 35% and you are likely to have to fight just for that.........

I was thinkin it's petrol, it's a diesel pd iv never heard break but I have heard of pulleys failing on petrol bag cars.

Has anyone checked the chain and VVT unit on the other end of the Camshafts, I have come across a BWA engine VRS with a stripped cambelt, caused by the bolt which holds the VVT unit to the cam breaking and allowing the chain to come off. This stops the cams and strips the belt. Whilst working at a Skoda dealer I also repaired an Audi A4 with the exact same failure. I am sure there was an AUDI Recall in America for this bolt failing. I have also seen a BWA VRS with the belt stripped due to seized cams, the oil pickup pipe was clogged up. Although this vehicle had not been serviced for over 40k miles

Problem is his car has been "inspected" by a SUK nominated workshop; which unfortunately comes back to the original complaint being "logged" on SUK facebook. If nothing else, if you're going to make a complaint, do it privately at first as you will get a better result in the long term..

I will refrain from making further comments for the time being, as Skoda UK customer relations manager did show good intentions today in solving this si****ion amicably... but for the ones who doubt about any legal responsibilities on this case, I can tell you that I did consult with 3 different legal advisers and all 3 said there was a case here... and that's it from me, until I hear again from Skoda UK and/or Progress Skoda early next week... have a good weekend everyone and be careful with your vehicles...

You'd only have a case against the dealer that sold you the car though and nobody else.

Even then I'd be a little careful about the legal advisor. They won't have the full facts.

Also I don't know if they were paralegals or solicitors, but if the first they won't be doing this regularly.

If the latter, they might not do this in court a lot, but unless they're willing to do it on a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee), then I'd be dubious.

Also don't forget you'll need an engineers report to say that the car was faulty at the time of sale and that the dealer should have known.

It'll probably be up to you to prove it, rather than them to prove it wasn't if it's been over 6 months since sale.

I'm not a lawyer btw, but spend far too much time on soga.

You'd only have a case against the dealer that sold you the car though and nobody else.

Even then I'd be a little careful about the legal advisor. They won't have the full facts.

Also I don't know if they were paralegals or solicitors, but if the first they won't be doing this regularly.

If the latter, they might not do this in court a lot, but unless they're willing to do it on a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee), then I'd be dubious.

Also don't forget you'll need an engineers report to say that the car was faulty at the time of sale and that the dealer should have known.

It'll probably be up to you to prove it, rather than them to prove it wasn't if it's been over 6 months since sale.

I'm not a lawyer btw, but spend far too much time on soga.

+1

Even then I'd be a little careful about the legal advisor. They won't have the full facts.

Also I don't know if they were paralegals or solicitors, but if the first they won't be doing this regularly.

If the latter, they might not do this in court a lot, but unless they're willing to do it on a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee), then I'd be dubious.

Also don't forget you'll need an engineers report to say that the car was faulty at the time of sale and that the dealer should have known.

It'll probably be up to you to prove it, rather than them to prove it wasn't if it's been over 6 months since sale.

I totally agree with your post generally but would add:

1) Nobody in their right mind would touch this on a CFA.

2) I see what you say about whether the solicitor the OP might choose 'does this in court a lot' but to be honest I wouldn't worry too much about that. As long as they have good general courtroom experience they will be fine - there is little argument they can add here, it will mainly be a case of presenting the expert's report and arguing why that creates liability on behalf of the garage who carried out the work and by extension the supplier of the parts.

I totally agree with your post generally but would add:

1) Nobody in their right mind would touch this on a CFA.

2) I see what you say about whether the solicitor the OP might choose 'does this in court a lot' but to be honest I wouldn't worry too much about that. As long as they have good general courtroom experience they will be fine - there is little argument they can add here, it will mainly be a case of presenting the expert's report and arguing why that creates liability on behalf of the garage who carried out the work and by extension the supplier of the parts.

Not disagreeing with you, but just to clarify the points I was trying to make:

1) If they're so confident you've got a case they should. Otherwise they're just hoovering fees from you.

2) Partly true, but if they do this in court regularly, they will have a better feel based on experience of how it would go in court.

FWIW, the OP could do all of this themselves without a lawyer, as it's small claims, and save themselves a lot of expense.

That way if they lose, they don't have to lose hundreds in legal fees as well as their time and the cost of the engineers report.

Edited 23 June, 201214 yr by cheezemonkhai

Not what I want to be reading after my belt was replaced yesterday. I'll be watching this closely should it ever happen

Not what I want to be reading after my belt was replaced yesterday. I'll be watching this closely should it ever happen

Check your invoice and make sure they replaced the belt and the tensioners.

Also did you have the water pump replaced?

If not, a good coolant flush and fresh G12, will likely prevent corrosion and help reduce the chance of siezure of the pumps internals.

Oh yes water pump and full repair kit replaced.

Oh yes water pump and full repair kit replaced.

Don't think you've much to worry about then, beyond the unfortunate.

You've changed the lot.

how did this come on?

IIRC 1.8 engines have a vvt ( variable valve timing) mech which on early engines had a problem with the vvtt short chain drive between camshafts. They used to fail and seize the camshafts. maybe it was something like this led to cambelt stripping. IIRC there was a recall..

I dont think it was cambelt failure that was the root cause.

What sort of model years are you talking about??

Anyone??! :S

While i'm here, does anyone know whether there's the same issue with changing the water pump for the metal impeller version on a 1.8t?? Heard somewhere that it already has the metal version, but might be wrong. It's obviously on a seperate belt as the 1.8t cam is chain driven, not belted, but just wondering if it's something to look at changing.

Anyone done it??

Edited 31 July, 201213 yr by blackspaven