Vauxhall Meriva SE Major Problem

albert

albert

albert

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27 Jan 2009
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My 2010 Meriva SE with 30,000 miles on the clock and full service history is leaking in rain water through the roof. The roof is soaking wet, the boot, the rear passenger foot-well and driver foot-well are absolutely drenched. Took it the main dealer on Monday - Bristol Street Sunderland - and they said they would remove the glass roof and reseal everything for £360. As long as they stopped the rain getting in i was quite happy to pay.
Just had a phone call from them today and they told me the glass roof was OK and the water was getting in through a seam in the bodywork and they would fix it for £960. I can't afford that.
I've rang Vauxhall Head Office telling them the issue and that it is totally unacceptable that i should have to pay this as it clearly is a manufacturing fault but they don't want to know. I've rang my insurance company and they say it's down to wear and tear and won't be able to help me.

I'm picking the car back up tomorrow along with it's leaky roof and I'm gutted and don't know what to do. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated....
 
Vauxhall Head Office told me the corrosion warranty only covers you for corrosion on the outside going in, not corrosion inside going out. My head is battered.

I'm picking the car up tomorrow and I'm going armed with information and questions, but as a lady on the service department at Bristol Street Vauxhall said to me "It's a Vauxhall car and we are a Bristol Street franchise. It's a Vauxhall problem" i don't have much faith in anything being done.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
If you haven't owned the car since it was new before escalating with Vauxhall it would be worth trying to find out if the car has been repaired following an accident.
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This and having a chat with trading standards would be worthwhile. Contacting your local citizens advice bureau will get you through to who you need.
 
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Lopéz said:
It's 5 years old. Why has a roof seam split?
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Probably because its a Vauxhall Meriva. :D

On a serious note though that is a seriously poor response from the dealership and from Vauxhall... Hope you get it sorted! I can't see how it should cost nearly a grand to sort a leak out though?
 
Acme said:
I can't see how it should cost nearly a grand to sort a leak out though?
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It'll be mainly the labor costs of dismantling (then putting back together) the car to get to the seam in question. The actual "work" involved to "fix" the leak won't be particularly intensive.

However, I can't see how this is classed as "wear and tear", it's a sodding roof weld, not a CV joint.
 
^that. I'd be making a hell of a lot of noise of that was my car and that was the attitude towards it. That's an unacceptable fault, clearly a manufacturing defect. Email them (Vauxhall themselves, not the dealer) and explain the situation and ask what they're going to do about it.

If that fails it might be time to take matters in to your own hands.
 
Have they told you exactly where this porous seam is? If you can get an idea of pictorially where it is it may make talking to Vauxhall easier?

EDIT: Looking at some pictures it could be from the roof gullys which are normally covered with a plastic strip. If this can easily be removed it might be worth taking a gander. I've seen threads where the gully has a crack.
 
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The leak is in the rear drivers side roof gully and is pouring water inside. Just collected the car from Bristol Street Motors in Sunderland and have paid them £79. The leak is not fixed. It involves removing the roof lining, the trims, roof itself , replacing and re-sealing the seam and bodywork repair (painting) cost £1000 (ish). I have a full written report and a signed document stating the issue is a manufacturing fault and not wear and tear. Bristol Street Motors say they cannot do any-more without me paying.
Vauxhall Head Office in Luton are a joke. They are adamant they will not pay or contribute anything towards the fault. Bear in mind this is the Head Office an operator said to me " can't you just put your car in a garage until it stops raining". A brick wall has nothing on these clowns.

My plan now is since i now have written confirmation that it is a manufacturing fault my insurance company may help. Yesterday my insurance wouldn't do anything because they claimed it was wear and tear.


Wish me luck ......
 
Absolutely this - get the cover off and seal up the seam yourself, wait for it to dry out then get shot of the thing to.either webuyanyshed or px it
 
Create a stink, on all the media outlets, write to the car mags, basically shame VX into sorting it :)
 
Indeed, I think creating a stink is going to be your only option. Tweet @vauxhall (or whatever tag they use) post on their facebook, and dig out their CEO e-mail address. Saying this is anything but a manufacturing fault just seems ludicrous to me.
 
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