Question for Alan Steele

Alan

Sorry to ask for you in person, but I am a bit confused about Vauxhalls
service requirement for 2nd and 3rd year warranty. I worked in the motor
trade for 17 years, and all manufactures I dealt with specified "Windows"
for servicing ie 12,000 miles or 12 months whichever occurs the sooner (Plus
or minus 1,000 miles or 30 days). Vauxhall states "One year". Does this
mean if the car was serviced 1 day after its "Birthday", it would be out of
the specified window?, and therefore excluded from the extended warranty?

This actually relates to a Corsa 1.2 SXI (October 2003), which the web site
and service book states as 20,000 miles or 2 years. Is 2 years correct?

Thank you in anticipation for your valued help.

John

 

I will treat this as three questions.

With regards to the window, I have never seen this in writing but I have
never had a problem with Vauxhall over cars that were serviced 'a little
late'. I would have thought 1,000 miles/30 days might be pushing it but not
if you are looking at it historically (i.e. does it have full service
history over 4 years).

What gets more difficult is if the cambelt breaks 300 miles or 10 days after
the recommended change point. I suppose if you can prove it is booked in for
next week you might get away with it but otherwise they might say no. It all
really depends on when & where the previous services were done.

With regards to servicing requirement in year 2 and 3, they do not insist on
the car going to a Vauxhall dealer as long as it has Vauxhall parts. Having
said that, they cannot reasonably refuse a warranty claim on the boot lock
on a 2 year old car if it hasn't been serviced because the boot lock is not
looked at during the service! How complicated is this?

In practice, regular servicing close to the recommended time/mileage using
genuine parts will be fine. They have always been reasonable and it is
normally down to the dealer to police it anyway. The only time Vauxhall get
involved is when it is something serious like an engine which is expensive
and affected by servicing.

Finally, 20,000/2 years is correct for most new Vauxhalls but I personally
do not like this. I choose to do 20,000/1 year because oil emulsifies and
deteriorates whatever they say. You are safe enough if you use the
recommended quality semi-synthetic (and in some cases fully synthetic oil)
though.

I hope this answers the questions!

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Alan Steele

Steeles of Worthing
www.steeles.co.uk