Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...in USA, a "factory" warranty is just that, issued and backed by the factory and not by the dealership.
...is it different in europe? Do the dealerships provide the warranty, or do they merely implement it under factory direction?
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Its the same, but it is who interprets what is and is not covered. Most people take their car back to the stealer, oops, dealer in the first instance to get a problem fixed. The dealer may then decide whether the work is done under warranty or not - the issue is that sometimes warranty work will be carried out at a rate and time fixed by the importer / maker vs. the retail rate that the dealer would normally charge. So there is an incentive sometimes for the dealer to respond as not covered.
A good dealer will stick to the rules because that's how they get repeat business - happy customers. A reasonable dealer will refer any dispute to the maker / importer where the owner disagrees with the decision. A typical / chain dealer may still refuse in which case the owner is faced with having to try another one or even go the maker / importer themselves.
It gets complicated for example when a car is serviced slightly late or over mileage - even missing a service by 1000 miles can be cause to invalidate a warranty. The good news is that if you use a place with a VAT number (tax code) and which guarantees they use the standards of the manufacturers then you can use anyone for servicing.