What to do when a replacement part is delayed

Just one week after Graeme Ross took delivery of his brand new Dacia Sandero, the media and sat-nav unit broke, jamming on to one radio station and refusing to be switched off. Graeme called his dealer, Parks Renault in Dunfermline, to say he was bringing the car in for immediate attention. 

However, Parks’ engineers couldn’t locate the fault, and Graeme was told he’d have to book the car in. Having turned up during a family outing, Graeme was frustrated: ‘I couldn’t wait any longer and told them I’d be back in touch.’

Graeme then called Dacia customer services for their help; Parks soon rang with an appointment in 10 days’ time, but Graeme thought this was too long to wait and contacted the garage regulator Motor Codes, who explained that he could take his Dacia to any franchised Renault dealer. Graeme was pleased to get an appointment at Arnold Clark Stirling just a few days later. ‘They diagnosed an internal fault and placed an order with Dacia for a new unit.’  

However, the wait for the new unit soon went from two weeks to two months, so Graeme wrote to both Parks and Dacia with his plans to reject the car if the matter wasn’t resolved quickly. Parks then said that they could fit the sat-nav from another car into Graeme’s Dacia until his new unit arrived. This gave Graeme sat-nav for a planned holiday but his car still wasn’t fixed. Graeme then contacted Helpdesk, saying: ‘I think that more than six weeks with a brand new car with no radio or sat-nav is not acceptable.’

Helpdesk asked Dacia if they could compensate Graeme for the inconvenience he had suffered with his brand new car. Dacia felt that the temporary unit fitted to Graeme’s car allayed his inconvenience, but has agreed to give Graeme a goodwill payment once the new sat-nav is finally fitted.

What if this happens to you?

• Book your car in for examination at a specific time, not on spec.
• Remember that any franchised dealer for your brand can undertake warranty work.
• If you want to reject your car, make this clear to the dealer in the first three weeks of ownership

We've prepared lots of useful advice, including a full guide on warranties that could help you with either a new or used car.

If you need our help, email us at helpdesk@whatcar.com with a few details and we'll be in touch.