Thousands of UK motorists are being misled when it comes to maintaining their cars’ warranties, What Car? magazine claimed on Friday.
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The magazine said BMW came out worst in its undercover survey. Seven of 20 franchised dealers quizzed by ‘mystery shoppers’ said the warranty would be invalidated by getting a BMW serviced outside the main dealer network. Next was Citroen (6 out of 20) followed by Ford (5 out of 20). The brand with the best-informed dealers was Toyota, where only one dealer made the same claim.
What Car? said four of 10 dealers gave its investigators false or confusing information about where customers could and couldn’t take their cars to be serviced.
Nearly 20% of the dealers surveyed incorrectly said a car’s warranty would definitely be invalidated if serviced outside of the franchised network, while a further 21% said it would risk and probably invalidate their warranty cover.
What Car? editor David Motton said: “We were shocked that so many dealers are pulling the wool over motorists’ eyes. Car owners are free to shop around for servicing and should ask a number of main dealers and independent garages to quote for service work. Using a non-franchised dealer will not invalidate your warranty.”
What Car? said that, in the past, owners of cars still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty had to take them to the main dealer for servicing – often paying over the odds for the privilege, according to the magazine.
Now, however, as a result of a campaign by the Office of Fair Trading, car owners have the right to shop around for competitive servicing prices, and can take their cars to their local independent garage. Warranty cover will not be affected, so long as cars are serviced to manufacturer schedules and standards using manufacturer parts.
What Car?’s investigation found that not only do few members of the public realise this, but very few dealers are helping to clarify the situation.
Mystery shoppers contacted 200 dealers from the 10 top-selling manufacturers in the UK. Posing as car owners they asked whether the warranty would be invalidated if the car was serviced outside of the franchised network.
Of the dealers questioned, 36 said the warranty would definitely be invalidated and a further 43 said it would put warranty cover at risk. If a car loses its warranty, an owner is unable to claim for repairs if things go wrong in the first three years of ownership.
What Car? said that, until recently, manufacturers selling cars in the UK could include restrictive clauses in warranty documents forcing owners to use main dealers for all servicing work or risk losing their warranty cover. Last year, however, the Office of Fair Trading challenged this practice as ‘anti-competitive’ under European law.
As a result, all the major manufacturers are now signatories to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ New Car Code of Practice, and have undertaken to remove the restrictive clauses from their warranties.
BMW GB spokesman Chris Willows told just-auto: “BMW is surprised at the incorrect information given by some of our dealers on this issue. We have informed the whole network that warranty is unaffected when using non-franchise traders on several occasions. We will emphasise this point again and trust that all members of staff will be briefed to ensure that such mis-information does not occur again.”
