My Skoda Fabia (08), which has been regularly serviced (for the two years before I owned it and the two years I have owned it) recently broke down on the M1 (had been running fine until then). My local garage recovered it for me and diagnosed a failure of the oil pump. It needs thousands of pounds of work to it (which I simply don't have). Skoda are saying that they are not responsible for it and are not obliged to offer any good will gesture as I have not had it serviced with them (although I have owned previous Skodas which works in my favour apparently). Can anyone advise if they have had a similar problem and if they had any luck getting Skoda to admit any liability?

To cut a long story short there appear to be hundreds of examples online in various forums of VAG/Audi oil pump failures - balancer shaft smoothing on end causing pump to fail and any number of other engine issues as a result - and unfortunately I've had a similar experience. I'm simply wondering if anyone has taken out a court case/small claims against either VW/Audi/Skoda - depending on the model of car you had where you experienced a similar failure causing expensive to repair damage to engine etc as a result - and on what grounds. Also more to the point were you successful in your claim? Due to a second oil pump failure - after paying £1800 to replace oil pump and blown turbo which resulted from original oil pump failure - I'm pretty much looking at writing vehicle off as scrap but now considering whether it would be worthwhile trying to recover original £1800 spent repairing first oil pump failure which was subject of a technical bulletin to dealers from VW group but never subject to a recall. From what I can gather online - posts from people more mechanically minded than myself - the oil pump should last the life of the engine and in these instances have been failing due to poor design/engineering. That being the case I'm wondering if there's the potential for me to make a claim in small claims court bearing in mind I've never given the dealer I purchased the car from or Skoda the opportunity to rectify matters in the first instance. In my own defence that was because nowhere have I been able to find anyone who got anywhere with them other than perhaps a token goodwill discount off dealer repair costs. That being the case I had the work carried out myself by an independent VW master technician. I'm really interested therefore in if anyone out there reading this has had a similar experience and decided to go to court by way of obtaining a remedy and if so was the claim against the dealer, manufacturer or both? Thanks

Hi, I need some advice, I have a Vauxhall Meriva registered in Jan 11, so just over three years old. It has 28'500 miles on the clock and i need a new fuel pump. As it is 'just' over three years old the warranty is finished the repairs wont be covered. I just feel for such low mileage this is a big job? could be wrong and just wanted to know if I have a case to take it further with vauxhall?

Hi All, I bought a used car (02 reg) with 124k miles on the clock in November 2013 - it was described as perfect in every way with full main dealer service history. Car was driving very well. It broke down last week and had to recovered to my local independent for the brand. They have now confirmed that the fuel pump needs changing. I have tried contacting the dealer (works from home) several times on his mobile - that is the only contact for him - no answer. He is one person but has a proper company registered (googled him) and had given me a proper receipt when I bought. I paid via direct bank transfer. I have now sent a letter to him by recorded delivery worded as at the bottom of this post. Now the independent garage have kindly agreed to hold on to the car till I give the green signal to fix it. I do need the car for work. I can manage a week or so with public transport. Now if the dealer does not respond within 7 days, I intend to pursue the matter. But can I get it repaired after the 7 days and claim the cost instead on the premise that I did give him the opportunity to put things right but he didn't. Thanks very much in anticipation. ******************* Dear ****, RE: Faulty goods and the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) On 16th November 2013 I bought a ***** (registration number *****) from you for **** which broke down on 14th January 2014. I have had to use my recovery company (*****) to recover the car to my local ***** Specialist ****** (based at ******). They have now confirmed that the problem is that the fuel pump in the car is faulty and needs replacing. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) states that when a consumer buys goods from a trader they must be: as described; of a satisfactory quality; and fit for any purpose made known at the time of sale to the seller. This legislation also states that the seller, not the manufacturer, is legally obliged to sort out a problem if the goods do not meet these requirements. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) says: if goods break within the first six months after purchase then there is a presumption the goods were faulty when sold. The car was not of satisfactory quality when sold to me and I wish to claim a repair (of satisfactory quality) of the car under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as amended. Please respond to my complaint within 7 days from receipt of this letter. If you need to speak to me, my number is ******. If you need to speak to the dealer, please ring them on ******* and ask to speak to ******. Yours faithfully, [your name] *******************

My husband was recently using a diesel pump at a petrol station on his way to work as a taxi driver when it splashed back and covered him almost from head to toe in diesel. He reported this to the cashier who said he would close the pump and advised my husband to write to head office. My husband set out his claim in a letter, including ruined clothing and loss of earnings. The reply from the claims handling agent states after their enquiries they have found no evidence that any loss suffered by my husband has arisen due to any negligence or failing by the petrol station. Any suggestions what to do next? This was definitely a faulty pump but how can he prove this?