Volkswagen Caravelle engine fault - what are our rights?
Our vehicle is a Volkswagen Caravelle DSG with over 70,000 miles on the clock. The problem appears to be the EGR cooler corrodes internally, producing aluminium oxides, and this then passes into the intake of the engine, through the cylinder head, and into the combustion chamber, it then sits in the piston rings causing cylinder bore wear. Volkswagen are aware of the fault and have now issued a new EGR cooler. We are in contact with other people who have had the same problem. Our vehicle has now been off the road for over eight weeks. Should a family have to pay £10k because of a defect? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.
Asked on 25 November 2016 by Mel Salt
Answered by
Honest John
Many thanks. This is all now recorded in the T5 entries in HJUK Cars and HJUK vans. There were previous reports of the problem, at one time wrongly diagnosed as an injector problem, now corrected. You are welcome to use all of that to support your case. Your problem is that this occurred after 60k miles, which puts it out of warranty. But you could contend that Sale of Goods and subsequent Acts and Case law regards a "reasonable life" for an expensive consumer durable such as a car or a van as six years: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/ Bear in mind you are dealing with a company beleaguered with complaints that its products have not met buyers' expectations.
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