General Am I throwing away £27 by paying to transfer 3rd year warranty??

[Roscoepeko]

Hi All,

The service schedule was not adhered to on our recently purchased 500.

Car reg 31/06/11 - 1st service should have been due @ 18k / Jan 13.

1st service was carried out May 2013 @ 13k , are we throwing away £27 by transferring the 3rd year warranty?

 

[RobinPJ]

Isn't this in the "grey area" of the low mileage service: if the car does not do 18,000 miles in a year, some service books say it should have a low mileage service, but only if it is under a certain mileage I recall?

I may be getting it all wrong but i would check the service book very closely, and I would also call Fiat and check with them, and get them to confirm it in writing if they say you are ok.

 

[Roscoepeko]

If doing under 6k then a annual low mileage service applies, the dealer sent owner a letter at 12 months re the annual low mileage - however then said it was not required - assume over 6k miles.

The mileage suggests it just scrapes over the low mileage service requirements, its more the fact that best case scenario it was services 4 months late....

 

[RobW]

yes get the warranty transferred

the checks they do on service history are not thorough

more worrying is that you have a car that has never been serviced?

 

[jrkitching]

The mileage suggests it just scrapes over the low mileage service requirements, its more the fact that best case scenario it was services 4 months late....

This is a hard call since you probably won't be able to find out if the warranty is still valid unless you actually make a claim on it.

What I'd suggest is to write a letter to whoever the transfer fee has to be sent to, explaining the circumstances & attaching a copy of all the service records you have. Say that your cheque for the transfer fee is sent subject to their agreement that any subsequent claim will not be dishounoured by any deficiencies in the service record prior to its first service in May 2013.

Robin may be able to think of a better way of wording this.

more worrying is that you have a car that has never been serviced?

Personally I wouldn't be much worried by this. All that it should have had is an oil change, so the damage is confined to changing the oil 6 months late but still after only 13K. Rightly or wrongly, lots of folks run their cars for more mileage than that between changes. The chances of the car actually having suffered as a result are practically negligible.

 

[Roscoepeko]

Thanks for responses guys

Re the car not being serviced I looked at the book - saw a stamp from supplying dealer in June 2011 (6 months after purchase) and then a receipt for a service within the subsequent 24 months....I sohuld have looked more carefully and seen that the 6 month was ust a check (or at least i think it was?) with no oil change.

So it done 13500miles over 28 months ....id certainly not run over 12 months 10k in any car but i suppose bar been 4 months late its well withing the suggested 18k ....any thoughts would be welcome.

Off to get my local indie to take a look at the car today as on the day of service the car was looked at twice - Fiat done visual inspection all fine, then car went to local Vauxhall dealership who serviced it (oil sourced from fiat) reported slight oil leak from top of engine - I cannot see any evidence of a leak and I am guessing the engineer who filled the car with oil on the service spilt some around the filler neck which resulted in the post service check reporting oil at top of engine ....lets hope so anyway

 

[Roscoepeko]

Personally I wouldn't be much worried by this. All that it should have had is an oil change, so the damage is confined to changing the oil 6 months late but still after only 13K. Rightly or wrongly, lots of folks run their cars for more mileage than that between changes. The chances of the car actually having suffered as a result are practically negligible.

Sorry JR missed the last part of your reply when i posted - glad you kinda feel the same re the service

I think i might just register the warranty to avoid alerting them to the late service ....and taking advantage of sloppy checks on service history .....hmhhmmnnnn

 

[RobinPJ]

Robin may be able to think of a better way of wording this.

Something along these lines:

Dear Sirs

Transfer of warranty on Fiat 500 registration number AB11 XYZ

I recently purchased the above vehicle and understand that a fee is payable in order to transfer the remaining warranty into my name. Suibject to the matters set out below, I accordingly enclose my cheque in the sum of £27 in respect of that fee.

I wish to draw attention to the fact that the above car was first registered on 31 June 2011, but that its first service was not carried out until [date] May 2013 at which point the car had a mileage of [exact mileage].

It is unclear to me whether, in those circumstances, the warranty remains valid. I only wish to have the warranty transferred to me if it remains valid.

If the warranty will not be honoured by reason of the car's prior servicing history, I should be grateful if you would return my cheque to me. For the avoidance of doubt, banking of my cheque will amount to your agreement and confirmation that the warranty remains valid and in force.

I enclose copies of the service history and the receipts for servicing which I have in my possession.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Roscoepeko

 

[loveshandbags]

...Personally I wouldn't be much worried by this. All that it should have had is an oil change, so the damage is confined to changing the oil 6 months late but still after only 13K. Rightly or wrongly, lots of folks run their cars for more mileage than that between changes. The chances of the car actually having suffered as a result are practically negligible.

:yeahthat:
Since you engine has no turbo and isn't a multi-air I wouldn't be unduly worried.
Do you have the 1.4L engine ?
Was admiring you car on the members thread. Very high spec FW.

 

[jrkitching]

Something along these lines:

We need you on this forum Robin .

 

[RobinPJ]

Two more thoughts - call Fiat or any dealer and get them to check the car's records - it may be that it had a service and it was not stamped. This happened on my Golf, and the dealer printed the official record which I now have to prove it was serviced properly.

Second, who did you buy it from and what did they say about it having a "FSH"? If the seller claimed it had a FSH but in fact it turns out it didn't, then that is an actionable misrepresentation. You would be entitled to claim the difference between the value of your car with a FSH and one without one. I would say that would be at least £500, possibly more.

 

[RobW]

OK so car has been serviced, no problemo


Was the supplying dealer a Fiat dealer? if so they should have paid for the transfer

I would recommend just paying the £27

 

[Roscoepeko]

Ah Robin thank you example letter - well thought out I like it Is that a template you or others have used in similar circumstances? .

Any idea who is responsible for checking the service history in the event of a 3rd year claim?

:yeahthat:
Since you engine has no turbo and isn't a multi-air I wouldn't be unduly worried.
Do you have the 1.4L engine ?
Was admiring you car on the members thread. Very high spec FW.

Thank you for the admiration ..however it is a twin air with turbo

It will now be on an annual service schedule with my indie garage every 12m @ approx 4k PA

1st think i did with my Audi 7 years ago was take it off longlife 20k 24m service schedule ..these long life schedules just dont make sense to me ??

 

[RobinPJ]

Ah Robin thank you example letter - well thought out I like it Is that a template you or others have used in similar circumstances?

no, I just wrote it for you. (I'm a lawyer.)

 

[jrkitching]

It will now be on an annual service schedule with my indie garage every 12m @ approx 4k PA

Good call.

Mine was supposed to be having an oil change this morning, but it's raining here so I'm typing this instead . Hopefully it'll brighten up this afternoon .

A decent garage is top of my priorities for my next house (I'm house hunting right now). One with a 4 post lift would be ideal .

 

[Roscoepeko]

Was the supplying dealer a Fiat dealer? if so they should have paid for the transfer

Car was purchased private sale

Second, who did you buy it from and what did they say about it having a "FSH"? If the seller claimed it had a FSH but in fact it turns out it didn't, then that is an actionable misrepresentation. You would be entitled to claim the difference between the value of your car with a FSH and one without one. I would say that would be at least £500, possibly more.

As private sale I see it as my lookout to check documentation and I did make an error thinking the 6 month check would have counted as a service - my bad.

As car has sub 14k and recently has a service and there was a previous stamp I was not unduly worried - with the exception of warranty issues that is still the case.

 

[loveshandbags]

Thank you for the admiration ..however it is a twin air with turbo

This was my one. Sold it over a year ago for just over €9K and noticed a similar one to it for sale €10K and it's a year older !

On the A500 FW is no longer available on the base model and very few are ordering it now so it will become a little rarer. Make sure you don't dent it !

 

[Roscoepeko]

Wow that makes me feel even happier with price paid for ours Nice car too BTW

On the A500 FW is no longer available

damn.... penny just dropped i have been wondering what "FW" stood for ...:bang:

 

[loveshandbags]

Wow that makes me feel even happier with price paid for ours Nice car too BTW

damn.... penny just dropped i have been wondering what "FW" stood for ...:bang:

Pearlescent white is a bit of a mouthful hence the FW.

 

[grimwau]

no, I just wrote it for you. (I'm a lawyer.)

The bill is in the post.