leaking petrol tank - warranty?

[shivars]

Hi,

Some of you may know from my repeated questions on here I acquired the joyous beast a few weeks ago from a dealer. Except it honks a bit of petrol,

I had it checked out last week at Noble Motorsport in Chesterfield, who identified the petrol smell as being a leak in the tank; not one large enough to drip (yet) but a leak nevertheless.

They're recommending a new tank, and a days labour to fit it - which seems reasonable considering what/where it is.

However... I've only had the car a month or so and it came with a '90 day bumper to bumper warranty'.

To my mind for any normal vehicle a leaking petrol tank would absolutely be covered by this!

But, this is not a normal vehicle, its a 5yo Noble with 22k on the clock.

I still think the dealer should sort it as part of the warranty - before I give them a call, is this fair?

(for the record, I was not aware of any leak on purchase. The petrol smell was there immediately, not noticed it getting progressively worse. I was not told about any leak or existing fault. I've not told the dealer about it yet as I thought it was something silly like the breather pipe not exiting the bottom of the car, as also seems to be a common - and minor - issue).

thanks

Shane

[F.C.]

A petrol leak is dangerous and if proven to be the case the supplying dealer should sort this out with no quibble.
After all a bumper to bumper warranty is comprehensive and they can hardly claim a petrol tank is a consumable, now can they?
F.C.

[alex s]

What he said ^^^^^^^

[shivars]

ok thanks

In preparation for the inevitable arguing of the case, I assume it shouldn't make a difference that I've tracked it provided the leak was identified before it went out on track? Or that Noble Motorsport have modified the car (fitted track day sump)?

[Mr Noble]

shivars said:

ok thanks

In preparation for the inevitable arguing of the case, I assume it shouldn't make a difference that I've tracked it provided the leak was identified before it went out on track? Or that Noble Motorsport have modified the car (fitted track day sump)?

Assuming most dealers and vendors read these pages, its pretty likely that they know that now anyway.

Shouldn't really make a difference to a leaky fuel tank IMO though. No real connection to work carried out by NM.

[joust]

Warranty or not, sales of goods and services act means dealers have to sell things of merchandisable quality. A leaking tank, given it's safety implications, means it would never be merchandisable quality, and hence you are covered.

Dealer should know this and replace/repair it at its cost without quibble.

For note, this is a major pro of buying from a dealer rather than a private individual. Private sales, if "sold as seen/inspected" have no such recourse execept through the courts which is exceptionally messy and you have to prove it was not "as described". Unless the seller described it as "in perfect quality with no faults, safety or otherwise" you probably would be shagged. With a dealer you have statutory rights.

J

[shivars]

Thanks, I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Not trying to hide the fact of tracking it - and at the moment its obvious because of the amount of rubber stuck to the car - just trying to make sure I can make my case fairly and with confidence. I don't want to be their nightmare customer, but at the same time I'm not mightily chuffed about a £1k-to-fix existing fault I wasn't told about

[shivars]

also just to clarify; the leaky petrol tank was identified by NM *before* it went on track.

[Vesuvius 996]

From a common sense perspective, if the dealer has ANY brains at all they will put this right free of charge. They sold you a car with a leaking fuel tank. Potentially deadly.

Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Tuesday 28th August 17:33

[joust]

shivars said:

also just to clarify; the leaky petrol tank was identified by NM *before* it went on track.

Irrelevent to any claim under the SoG&S act.

Regards,

J

[shivars]

Hi,

thanks for all your help.

I now feel kinda guilty - I went into this expecting to have to argue, but I could not be more impressed.

Went along the lines of this...

me: "X is wrong with it"
them: "Ok we'll fix it then"
me: "cool "

And now I have a working car back

(btw wasn't the fuel tank in the end; was the fuel filter which is now replaced and sorted out, but they also sorted rubbing noise from brakes and o/s front tyre worn to illegality because tracking was out).

Am so impressed

[peterguk]

shivars said:

Hi,

thanks for all your help.

I now feel kinda guilty - I went into this expecting to have to argue, but I could not be more impressed.

Went along the lines of this...

me: "X is wrong with it"
them: "Ok we'll fix it then"
me: "cool "

And now I have a working car back

(btw wasn't the fuel tank in the end; was the fuel filter which is now replaced and sorted out, but they also sorted rubbing noise from brakes and o/s front tyre worn to illegality because tracking was out).

Am so impressed

Excellent news. With all the dealer bashing that's been going on recently, you might wish to name the dealer so we can all give them a gold star. Makes a change from the naughty step!

[shivars]

Fair point - it's Mole Valley, in Chessington but moving near Dorking I think

Should also add the guy I saw (Greg) was great too - reassuring and helpful

[pbsaxman]

shivars said:

Fair point - it's Mole Valley, in Chessington but moving near Dorking I think

Should also add the guy I saw (Greg) was great too - reassuring and helpful

Greg is a sound guy. Very helpful and knowledgeable about Nobles. All IMHO of course