I hate to moan about my Altea becuase i love it... But....

[chrisash32]

She has started smoking... and not even the sort that nicotine patches can sort!
Coupled with drinking lots of water off it went to SEAT for a pressure test!

SEAT wanted £65 to diagnose the problem...
Worst case has happened and its my head gasket / cylinder head with a minimum cost of some £1000...

My Altea is 4 years old and got 60k on the clock.
I have expressed my annoyance to the garage and they have suggested asking SEAT for a good will gesture.. But in order to do this they say they want £250 to remove the head and send it away for testing as SEAT UK wont give any good will claims without knowing the EXACT problem (Although I am sure that's what my £65 was paying for...)

So now my hands are tied... are SEAT likely to pay for a fair chunk of this or not? if not i will take it elsewhere now.. I don't want to accept paying this £250 as this means the garage will have to do the £1000 fix-it job to put it back together. all for SEAT to say no to a good will gesture or even just taking the p with 50 quid...

Just wondered what everyone elses thoughs were?
Do I risk it or just find somewhere else cheaper and take it there?

Cheers
Chris

 

[andyj]

I'd be half tempted to at least get a 2nd opinion from somewhere else mate.

How many miles have you done in the 4 years? IIRC it quite a lot.....

 

[chrisash32]

I'd be half tempted to at least get a 2nd opinion from somewhere else mate.

How many miles have you done in the 4 years? IIRC it quite a lot.....

well there is 62k on the clock..
I have just been on the phone to the guys down at Awesome who have had a PD140 with the same issue in the past. To replace the gasket they are looking at about £970 and after a head check (included in the £970) if the head comes back as faulty, we are looking a further £800+ just for the new head... Sure I could puck-up a new engine for less!!

 

[Toxic]

A mate of mine with a 06 Leon TDI Sport had the same problem, though his was loosing a lot of water. luckily enough he had a few months left on his warranty. Seat tried a few things on his car but ended up with a new head.

 

[dlm2310]

Get shut

 

[chrisash32]

Get shut

How? I am 21 months into a 5 year HP agreement.... and in serious negative equity...
Dont think its going to happen

 

[dlm2310]

How? I am 21 months into a 5 year HP agreement.... and in serious negative equity...
Dont think its going to happen

OK sorry but you did ask for thoughts.

Spend a possible £1700 on it then.

 

[Viking]

How? I am 21 months into a 5 year HP agreement.... and in serious negative equity...
Dont think its going to happen

Now I'm not too well clued up on this, but if it's on hire purchase, doesn't the car belong to the finance company until you pay it off, and as I recall they're jointly responsible for the car. Or something along those lines. Well worth checking out with someone more knowledgeable. Maybe a post in General Chat?

 

[dlm2310]

Now I'm not too well clued up on this, but if it's on hire purchase, doesn't the car belong to the finance company until you pay it off, and as I recall they're jointly responsible for the car. Or something along those lines. Well worth checking out with someone more knowledgeable. Maybe a post in General Chat?

So does a house but the mortgage company aren't responsible for repairs on it.

If only it worked like that.

 

[chrisash32]

So does a house but the mortgage company aren't responsible for repairs on it.

If only it worked like that.

I wish!!!

 

[Adam R]

thats bad to hear about your altea

this is one reason why i returned to honda. seat customer service is poor, they charge you for anything and everything and then do help with the cost of fixing things.

my car went in to honda for a simple smell of exhaust fumes... they changed the exhaust manifold for free as it had a slight crack in it! im the 3rd owner and it has done 98k miles.

good luck with seat though.. it may be worth trying to source another engine for under £1k

 

[muddyboots]

Now I'm not too well clued up on this, but if it's on hire purchase, doesn't the car belong to the finance company until you pay it off, and as I recall they're jointly responsible for the car. Or something along those lines. Well worth checking out with someone more knowledgeable. Maybe a post in General Chat?

Definitely worth checking out before you dismiss it.

The turbo & engine in a colleague's Megane went pop recently, and I'm fairly certain the finance company ended up footing the bill.

 

[Viking]

So does a house but the mortgage company aren't responsible for repairs on it.

If only it worked like that.

Mortgages aren't hire purchase. Different situation entirely. Check with someone who knows about hp finance and see how the finance company are responsible.

A friend I used to know wouldn't organise finance for older cars (outside of warranty) simply because there was some situation where they would be responsible for the car. Like I say, I don't know the full details.

 

[andyj]

I suppose you could just default on your HP payments, and they would simply reposess the car......

But then you would have a black mark against your credit rating.....

 

[chrisash32]

Afternoon!

Just had a chat with Trading Standards and one of the above posts might actually be correct. Because the car is on hire purchase, it is essentially "hired" in fact the finance company is responsible for this problem providing that i can prove that the issue is a manufacture fault.

Interesting to say the least... They even have a template letter which i have got to edit and send to them.. Whoo!

Might start to sell some of my stuff up now..

Cheers

 

[Viking]

Thanks Viking.

 

[chrisash32]

Thanks Viking.

Very much so!! Cheers

Now how do I prove that its a manufacture fault? The SEAT dealer that its at wont do it...

 

[goodwill]

I have just sold my TDI 140 DSG with 132k on same issue head gone but also cracked the block somehow. took mine to we buy any car.com who took it off my hands for £2950 which I though was reasonable. Shame though loved the car but I would have never seen the benefit of spending money on it. Good luck with yours, must be loads of 2nd hand engines out there from rear end shunts etc.

 

[Viking]

Very much so!! Cheers

Now how do I prove that its a manufacture fault? The SEAT dealer that its at wont do it...

I would suggest that as it's not physical damage or neglect that it can only be manufacturing defect. Certainly not a serviceable part so as long as you've had the car regularly serviced to manufacturers requirements then there's no other answer really.

 

[NorthernMonkey2]

I wouldn't write off Seat just like that personally.
Can you get them to indicate what they are looking for and how it would be decided whether they should pay/contribute based on the findings? eg if they did find a crack under what circumstances would a claim be rejected?
Head gasket at 60K is a pretty catastrophic failure if you ask me.
You're in Rover K series territory with that one!
If you have a complete service history to manufacturer's spec it would at least support your case that you have played the game and so morally they should too. Granted they are not obliged now you are out of warranty, but I have learned to give them a chance before writing them off, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I would say if you intend to keep it, the outlay is justified, whether new engine, Seat or independant, it's going to cost you.
If it goes to the point that you are having to pay, check out what is being replaced - eg dealer may be replacing full head assembly whereas garage may be just replacing the head and transfering valves, cam etc etc over.

If I was buying your car, I would be happier knowing the manufacturer / dealer sorted it than a back street garage.
I know that is wrong, there are some superb garages out there and it isn't neccessarily the case that the dealer will do a better job [far from it], I would just be happier as a buyer.

If you are thinking of selling, sell now. If your claim on the finance agreement does not stick you can always buy out the finance with a loan and then the car is yours. Contrary to current thinking banks are still lending cash.

Refs to Jap dealers being different is a red herring IMHO, my ex boss had a Lexus - they used to replace allsorts "free" whilst they were servicing it - like a cracked no. plate. Dilligent little fellows they were, putting all these maladies right at no cost.
Didn't seem to work out the service had set him back £600 plus for a glorified Toyota Avensis........free my ar%e!

All the best with it mate, let us know how you get on - I would still chance dealer at this age of car.