Peugeot 3008 SUV, timing issue

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi all,
So, had my pug 3008 SUV GT 3 years. Warranty ran out in July .
Yesterday after driving about a mile I lost power, the red battery light came on.
Recovery services suspected alternator, but the tech who my car to the local garage on the back of his lorry (with me still in it) didn’t think so.
A quick look over by a Peugeot tech reveals “timing jump”(?). But I was advised to contact Peugeot before they dismantled the car as it’s only just out of warranty.
Contacted a local dealership; I have to get the car towed to them, pay £89 for diagnostics and also show my FSH including invoices detailing all parts, including brand and type of oil etc.
Once the service manager is satisfied he’ll contact “Peugeot goodwill” scheme to see if they will accept giving me a discount for the work to be done.

I’m pretty gutted. This is the first issue I’ve had since owning it from new in July 2017, done only 33k miles and was given no warning signs about this impending problem. I pulled over immediately when I started losing power (had no choice anyway).

been told if it’s damaged any piston then it’ll cost over £1200.

Anyone had similar? Got any advice for me?

would appreciate helpful info and NOT “pugs are crap, don’t trust the french” blah blah.

thanks.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Thanks all,
The recovery guy (who is obviously a mechanic) and the service station both said that the only time they 3008’s in the garage is for cosmetic damage as they rarely breakdown. It’s certainly the first issue I’ve had, it’s been a brilliant car.

yeah, I just have to hope that Peugeot goodwill will offer to help. Otherwise I’m in the doo do!

 

[Banzai_Joe]

A 3rd party company offered a warranty extension at £400. I turned it down quite simply because I’d not had a single issue with the car in 3 years.
Yes, I regret it now......but how typical, within 3 months of the warranty expiring I get just about the worst problem you could get!

 

[Banzai_Joe]

I was offered the warranty extension but declined.
So, the garage rang me earlier, the guy has a mate who works for Peugeot as a parts manager. He said timing belt/chain issues are almost non-existent on my model of the 3008. He was going to enquire on my behalf about the Peugeot Goodwill.
They can’t look at it again until at least Tuesday due to workloads.
To get to a Peugeot dealer would cost to tow it there 12 miles, then £89 to diagnose before they can go to Peugeot Goodwill. Cap in hand.

I’m gutted!

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Sorry, yes it was a (finance) company on behalf of Peugeot offering the extended warranty.
I’ll hopefully know more next week when they’ve stripped it down.
If I then want to pursue the goodwill path then it will cost me to get it to a dealership, and cost me for the time the current garage has spent on it.
FML.....right now!

 

[Banzai_Joe]

So.....it’s been towed to the nearest pug dealership which cost me £80.They’ve just rang me and said that my garage that dit was originally towed to it before had dismantled it much more than they would have liked so they are going to charge me 5 hours labour to put it back together then strip it again and diagnose.
The kicker is their hourly rate. £109 + vat ???.
Seriously?! Who gets away with that kind of price nowadays.
They’ve well and truly got me by the short and curlies I think, because they know I can’t go anywhere else.
Feel so angry!

 

[Banzai_Joe]

They’re going to put it back together only to strip it down again? Why?! In what universe does that make any logical sense?

I couldn’t even begin to answer you mate! He tried to tell me how highly trained their technicians are blah blah......yet they’ll no doubt Chuck some apprentice greased monkey on it.
They’re now part of the PSA group yet our local Vauxhall dealership charge £55 ph (iirc).

 

[Banzai_Joe]

He reckons they have to put it back together again to run the diagnostics.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Hmm, worth chatting to the first garage to see if they would assist you financially? Did you approve them stripping down a bit of the car?

First garage (local and known to me) didn’t charge for their work. When it got to the point where they thought it would cost over £3k due to potentially bent rods then they said “take it to Peugeot, see if their goodwill scheme will help”.
They left it half stripped because they thought it would assist Peugeot. Peugeot reckon it’s hindered them.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Rang robbins & day and they charge the same. Dirty gits.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

I don’t imagine the prestige dealerships charge much more if any more than that for engineer labour.
It’s ludicrous, but they know they have you over a barrel cos your relying on their goodwill, which they say it works both ways, but £124ph inc vat....really? Hence I take my car elsewhere for servicing etc.
I was hanging my nose over the hybrid4 version of mine (facelift 2021) but almost all of it rests on the outcome of this debacle.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Well the e-2008 is built on the same chassis as the corse-e but admittedly it looks 10x than the corsa.
But.....everything Vauxhall is cheaper than Peugeot.
Peugeot hasn’t got the greatest rep in the UK.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

The first garage, bear in mind they are NOT Peugeot dealers recognised that to go much further in stripping the engine down (if they actually had time) would cost me, but then they’d still have to concede to Peugeot’s “goodwill scheme” which only a Peugeot dealer can diagnose and take forward. They won’t take another garage’s word for it. The Peugeot dealer pretty much told me that over the phone.
There’s a lot of hoops to jump through before the dealer will go to Peugeot direct for goodwill assistance.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Yeah, I get the sense of it (to an extent) but the costs are obscene.
The first garage hasn’t charged me for any of the time they’ve spent on it, which is good of them as they at least identified that it would be better to stop and let Peugeot look at it as it could potentially run into thousands of £s.
10 weeks out of warranty.........I could cry.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Sooooooo......
Peugeot garage rang me today with a full quote to fix everything at £2650.
The timing chain had broken and damaged some other parts.
Peugeot goodwill has agreed to pay 50%, so I have to pay a total of £1325, which I think is about as good an outcome as I could have hoped for really.
Problem now is that they need to order about 15 different parts and 2 are showing as out of stock with Peugeot. And with the lockdown they have no idea if this will delay getting these parts.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Thanks all, so there is a belt (clearly visible), and also a chain inside the engine operating the front part. I was shown but I have no idea about cars.
The first garage simply didn’t have the time to spend stripping it any further, but when they had a very good suspicion, using their goodwill they advised me to go to “Peugeot goodwill” and they didn’t charge me a penny.
Peugeot however would not take any other garages word for it, and they have strict rules prior to going for “goodwill” that they fully diagnose the codes on the machine, which required rebuilding what the first garage stripped. Then they strip it to physically inspect the damage.

All that said, as it’s “goodwill” i don’t think I have any negotiating power here, so I’ll take the 50% for sure and I’m quite content with that.

edit: I was advised I’d have gotten more had I stayed inside the Peugeot network for my servicing. I laughed and said “at £130 ph do you really expect that of all your customers?”

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Out of interest how much did you save on servicing compared to taking it to Peugeot ? Peugeot are showing fixed price servicing on their website, £199 then the next £269 I would expect 10-15% off that just by asking.

Tbh, when the place I bought it from lost its Peugeot dealership status, it gave me the chance to use a local garage in my village whom I trust NOT to inflate or fabricate any costs.
I didn’t know about Peugeot goodwill. All I knew was that my warranty said I could have it serviced anywhere, so that’s what I did.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Get it fixed, sell it, buy a proper car and don't buy french again.

TBF mate I love the car, and aside from this current issue, I’ve never had a problem with it. Certainly the best car I’ve ever had by a country mile. Had an IX35 before and a top spec insignia before that.
Oh and the reviews of it are great. It found a bad one really.
You piston heads get really ancy about certain brands don’t ya?

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Do not accept that as their final offer, it's frankly laughable that a timing chain has gone after 3 years. They are fobbing you off!

Escalate via their dealer complaints procedure then get onto Peugeot UK and start to cause a racket, then if you hear nothing start on their social media and find the email address online of the CEO etc and start hassling them as a later resort.

I might sound all 'keyboard warrior' but you need to stand your ground and get as much of a reduction as you can out of this, ideally full goodwill for the rebuild. If you have to pay for the initial diagnosis then that seems fair.

The initial diagnosis and labour costs of approx £650 inc vat are included in the total price.
I hear what you’re saying but I need my car back. Playing hard ball will simply delay that for sure. I know they’ll be banking on that. Plus with the new lockdown I don’t want things delaying even further. In easier times I would have argued for sure. I might ‘enquire’ about it, but don’t want it to scupper the current ‘deal’ so to speak.
Got burnt before when a dealer offered me a pittance for the repair of a fault way before it’s time, as a “full and final offer and without prejudice”. I refused and ended up getting nothing cos they withdrew it.
They’re all crooks....but I guess as car owners we enter the game and take our chances(?)

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi all, back with an update.
Please read and advise if possible.
So the Peugeot dealer rang me last Friday to say “we’ve pretty much done your car but whilst rebuilding it we found 2 more parts that need replacing so we’ve ordered them. They cost an extra £800 but Peugeot goodwill will pay 50% of that”. Thus taking my part to £1848.
Then, earlier this week I ring them for an update and they said “we need to contact PG as there are more investigations required”
“What does that mean and when we’re you planning on telling me?” I asked
“Well we don’t know until we speak to them.....and I’m telling you now” was her reply.
PG have since emailed me (unsure of whether the dealership have spoken to them yet or not) saying 50% is a good offer and they can’t do any more. I replied detailing my full journey and experience with Peugeot and asking for it to be escalated and I’m still waiting on a reply.

Now, unravelling some of this, is it possible for them to “find” 2 more parts that need replacing whilst rebuilding the engine but NOT whilst taking it apart? One was (iirc) the fuel filter pump(?), can’t remember the other.
Another thing is that when I contacted PG myself they knew nothing of my case. So they actually created a case ID for me.

This is all starting to smell a bit funny to me, but I’m just not sure how much leverage I have or where to turn for my own benefit.