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We bought a new Avondale last year, a month before they went bust.  The dealers refused to honour the 5 year warranty, and as it was a manufacturers backed warranty, they had no obligation to us.  We checked this out with Trading Standards and they told us that the warranty is now indeed invalid, but we still have a certain amount of protection under the Sale of Goods Act.  The dealers 'kindly' offered to sell us a new warranty, but we told them to shove it where the sun don't shine! 

Jo x

If you've paid for the extended warranty, I'd go to your local trading standards people & try to claim the money back. You bought the product in good faith & you must have some sort of consumer protection on your side surely.

A neighbour of ours has a new Fleetwood too, they'll be happy.

BB

Quote: Originally posted by G,Winger on 17/1/2009

 sorry i was'nt having a dig , there was supposed to be a smiley at the end of my post.

stu 

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Whoa - you've nothing to apologise for!   I certainly didn't take one iota of offence, and I was merely kidding, myself.

Any news on this yet Pete ? I would have thought that if what the dealer is telling you is true then the insurance would have been under written by somebody, hopefully this should be amongst all the bumph and paperwork they gave you, you'll have to get your magnifying glass out and do some proof reading.

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Watch this space - its going in Monday

ps - if more people bought British, maybe the UK Manufacturing Industry wouldn't be in the sorry state it is now, present climate excepted

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Watch this space - its going in Monday

ps - if more people bought British, maybe the UK Manufacturing Industry wouldn't be in the sorry state it is now, present climate excepted

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Ah - but the flip side of the coin is, if you had bought a German van, it probably wouldn't need to be going in on Monday  -;)

Quote: Originally posted by Surfer01 on 16/1/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by PeteDeFeet on 16/1/2009

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Been trying to get a job done under warranty on our Fleetwood.    Now the firms in receivership, the dealer says he has no legal obligation to carry out any warranty repairs as he won't be paid for it.   However, out of the goodness of his heart, he said he'll do the job.

Fleetwood only ever gave 12 months parts and labour warranty with their vans, year 2 + 3 was covered by an insurance policy.   Now they've gone bust - our dealer is pretty sure the insurance bill won't have been paid - therefore no cover - therefore no 2nd + 3rd year warranty.    

eek !

Just have to buy another new 'un I guess    

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Total and utter bullsh*t!  It is the dealer's responsiblity.  It makes me extremely mad when I read posts on how the dealer tries to squirm out of their obligations.   Under the Sale of Goods Act the contract is between the dealer and yourself and if the dealer sold you a caravan with a 3 year warranty, the dealer is obliged to honour that warranty.  If you are unsure you are welcome to valdate my statement with Consumer Direct or Trading Standards.

Don't let the dealer rip you off! 

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Quote: ]  Under the Sale of Goods Act the contract is between the dealer and yourself and if the dealer sold you a caravan with a 3 year warranty, the dealer is obliged to honour that warranty.  If you are unsure you are welcome to valdate my statement with Consumer Direct or Trading Standards.

Don't let the dealer rip you off! 

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Quote: Originally posted by murdo on 12/4/2010

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Quote: ]  Under the Sale of Goods Act the contract is between the dealer and yourself and if the dealer sold you a caravan with a 3 year warranty, the dealer is obliged to honour that warranty.  If you are unsure you are welcome to valdate my statement with Consumer Direct or Trading Standards.

Don't let the dealer rip you off! 

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Can I just ask here...does this Sales of Goods act protection for 6 years only apply if you have a warranty OOR does it automatically apply? E.g. if there is a problem that appears within 2 years is it the dealers responsibility to fix....never know what is solely warranty or not. I'd be very interested to see what happened for the original poster :)

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Quote: Originally posted by PeteDeFeet on 24/1/2009

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ps - if more people bought British, maybe the UK Manufacturing Industry wouldn't be in the sorry state it is now, present climate excepted

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The real question is; how much of a British caravan is actually Made in Britain?

I'm quite happy to buy British if what I want to buy is available and to the standard I expect. Too many British companies have a standard dictated by retailers and accountants - very sad

Just hold on folks and lets get everything in its right place.

Sale of Goods Act implies certain conditions into your contract of sale i.e that it is fit for purpose; that it fits the description of the goods sold; that it is of merchantable quality ON THE DAY IT IS SOLD.

If something is wrong with the goods during the first six months and that defect is down to one or more of the matters set out in the Sale of Goods Act (and other consumer legislation) the onus is on the dealer to show that the defect was not present on the day of the sale. If the dealer can't then he has to put it right (only if he was selling in the course of a business - not a private sale). If something is wrong after that six month period then the purchaser has to show that the defect was there on the day of the sale.  Some things may be broken on the day of the sale or may break down much later and it is fact, recognised by the law, that some commodities should last longer than six months and that helps the buyer. So,for example your chassis may not be broken on day one but 12 months later and it snaps suggests rather poor workmanship/materials and on the day of the sale was not fit for purpose as it should last much longer than that! . It is a fact, however, that the longer it takes from the day of the sale for the defect to be drawn to the ddealers' attention the harder it is to show that it was there on the day of the sale.  So, yes you do have six years to bring an action, under the legislation, as that is the limitation period for a breach of contract. But, you just can't say, baldly, two three or six years down the line, "this defect is your problem" to the seller. You have to proove it if the seller does not accept liability. That's the tricky bit.

As regards warranty, the OP indicated that the manufacturer provided that warranty. It is normal on a caravan sale to have two contracts, one with the seller (regulated by the Sale of Goods Act and other Consumer Leglislation) and the other with the manufacturer. The seller is not liable under your separate contract with the manufacturer. It may be that i nthis case the deal was a second hand van and the dealer did indeed give a separate warranty...but did the wording of that warranty extend to the problem? No comment has been made as to the precise nature of the warranty. It may be that the caravan isn't actually sold with a warranty from the dealer. Read the warranty and the bill of sale from your dealer. They may be different

The original poster does not say what work is required, nor is it clear just how long it has been since the original sale. Thus it is not possible to reach a firm conclusion as to who is liable at this time. Sorry folks but its a tad misleading to jump to conclusions at this stage. 

Like I say let's get everything in its right place. The dealer may be liable under the Sale of Good etc legislation and be fobbing the OP off. In the alternative if the responsibility lies with the manufacturer then contact the administrator dealing with the company to see if he will honour the warranty.

Phil