Thread: The AA has invalidated my warranty - any help?

Hello all,

I'm just after a bit of help with regards to trying to get the AA to pay up for the cost of a part which should have been covered by a manufacturers warranty. It's a long story but here is the background:

My wife drove her car (Ford Fiesta <3 yrs old) off the driveway one morning and it broke down with what felt like a serious problem. She called out an AA patrol who diagnosed the problem as a broken suspension spring, and this was replaced at the roadside. When I asked for the broken spring I was told by the AA guy that he had disposed of it.

I then called the Ford warranty line, as I wasnt sure if the vehicle was covered by warranty still, and besides, I wasnt happy that a relatively new car just collapsed on itself pulling away from the driveway. Ford have told me that the car was still under warranty, but that the cost of the part couldnt be reclaimed without the broken part itself.

Now heres the problem - in my view, the AA is at fault because the patrolman should not have disposed of the part. I've asked the AA to reimburse the cost of the part but they have refused. I appealed the initial decision but this has also been refused. The AA says that it is my/my wifes fault for not asking the patrolman to keep the part, and not informing him that the vehicle was under warranty. They say that had he known, he would have either kept the part or towed the car to a Ford dealer. My opinion is that firstly, he shouldn't have disposed of the part as it wasn't his to dispose of. Secondly, although we didn't tell him the car was under warranty, we didn't even know this until we contacted Ford. I would expect a professional vehicle recovery person to be able to ask the right questions and think for himself whether it was likely to be under warranty or not.

Does anybody have any idea about how to take this further given that the AA have twice rejected my request for payment of the cost of the part? I don't feel that I should be losing out because the AA guy decided to throw the old part away!

Cheers

Mike

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If it can be proven that a replacement part was supplied & fitted it doesn't matter if they threw the old part away or not

There is no requirement for you to have warranty work undertaken at a franchise dealer as per http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2004/85-04

Nor does the repairer, least of all the AA, have to justify their decision to fit a replacment part rather than take it to a dealer. If they did have to justify their decision at each roadside repair now't would ever get done

All that is needed as a valid vat receipt to be settled by the franchise or supplying dealer

there is a ford technical bulletin on fiestas, at the moment concerning front springs and a modified insulator that sits in the spring cup, i would check if these parts were needed and fitted.