Where do I stand?

[HarryM1BYT]

Your only way forward, is to get a letter from Xpart, after they have examined the slave, to say it was wrongly installed. That would involve you in paying for the repair - a witness watching and taking photos of the damage would be invaluable.

If Xparts conclusion is that the fault was due to improper installation, then you can ask the garage to refund you all the costs and if necessary take it to a small claims court.

Because you supplied the part, you have no claim against the garage directly, without evidence that there work was at fault - though it seems likely the work was at fault.

Nor can you claim against Xpart, your claim against them is limited to supplying a replacement part and only if turns out to have been faulty manufacture. If the part was found to be faulty, you would then have to stand the labour charge of the garage - maybe reduced by a bit of goodwill for your bad luck.

[CMOORESY]

Originally Posted by EastPete

Here is why you should lubricate the guide tube when fitting the metal slave. This guide tube was new when fitted with a metal slave without lubrication - the picture shows what it looked like after only 4,000 miles when I removed it from my car. There is heavy scoring on the shoulder and near the top of the tube where the slave body sits on the tube. The slave is also heavily marked where it had moved on the shoulder of the guide tube without lubrication.

If the splines are also not lubricated, I can guess that there will be a lot of unnecessary stress placed on the slave, and heat generated, which could lead to early failure.

Thanks Pete.
So is the lubrication more essential to the metal slave?
Just thinking that these slaves should be functional for 100 - 120,000 miles therefore what condition would the grease be in after so much use if it is so essential to the longevity / reliability. Its not as if you can put an additional smear on every 6 months or so.

[EastPete]

Originally Posted by CMOORESY

Thanks Pete.
So is the lubrication more essential to the metal slave?
Just thinking that these slaves should be functional for 100 - 120,000 miles therefore what condition would the grease be in after so much use if it is so essential to the longevity / reliability. Its not as if you can put an additional smear on every 6 months or so.

It may be more important/essential - I am not a complete expert here, but I guess with the metal on metal contact that you have with the metal slave on the guide tube, there is a greater risk of wear/damage than with the plastic slaves if not lubricated properly. It has already been pointed out that the guide tube/splines should be lubricated whatever type of slave you are fitting. If moly grease or proper spline grease is used (as supplied with the B&B clutch kit), these should last the life of the clutch. You do not need much grease (too much would risk excess contaminating the clutch plate), just enough to keep the moving parts moving smoothly.

Have you spoken to the garage again yet ?

Pete

[CMOORESY]

Originally Posted by mss

You now appear to be saying that you were acting as the garage's agent in securing the slave for them. Did you pay the slave supplier using the garage's chequebook?



But that is not what you did!

The difference is that had the garage purchased this particular part (which they may have refused to do), they would have made a profit on it's onward sale to you. That is a different business and risk ownership model to the one which actually occurred.

If I was in your shoes, I would seek to draw on the garage's goodwill by making them recognise that you have suffered a loss. This may work or it may not. I really don't believe that you will get anywhere by using the sort of argument/positionin that you have used above.

p.s. I am not being argumentative but trying to help you see the wood from the trees.

Done some phoning around this morning. Local garage, e-car parts, and x-part. So here's the story so far -

Garage concerned that the slave failed but believed the part must have been faulty. Explained that this is the reason that they use LUK clutch parts as the technical back-up is excellent and they settle labour rates if a part fails within the warranty period. Also, said that if this was a genuine X-Part slave then X-Part should honour a labour claim as this is the case when genuine Volkswagen, Ford etc parts have failed in the past. The labour claim has been honoured as the part is of a genuine and sourced from the dealer / parts network.

Phoned e-car parts and they said that they would honour the part replacement only. The process takes a couple of weeks also confirmed the part was genuine X-Part. e-car parts are a registered X-Part service station and parts supplier (part of the X-Part network). Suggested I speak with X-Part direct for further clarity and gave me the phone number.

Spoke to X-Part and explained my situation. X-Part said that because the part WAS genuine X-part and WAS supplied by a registered X-Part agent / garage then I could make a labour claim against the part even though I had privately purchased it for professional fitting. However (and understandably) the claim would have to come from the registered garage business that fitted the part.
The part should be returned to the supplier (e-car parts) along with the labour claim who would then forward this (as a registered genuine parts supplier) to X-Parts claims.

(who will then say it was possibly fitted incorrectly or some other stalling tactic).

You can only but try.

This was my point.
If the part is genuine from a registered supplier and professionally fitted then why would it not have labour warranty regardless of who purchased it?

Bare-in-mind this would have not been the case if the part was purchased from someone on e-bay selling direct from TZAU. Likewise, supplying a garage with second hand or white box parts from spurious sources would not and could not carry a labour claim (with who?).

p.s I can see the wood for the trees!

[scorpio]

If possible I would want to be there when they took it apart to see for myself what it looks like, either way you should get the job done for free from one of them.

[CMOORESY]

Ok guys,
Just thought I would resurrect this post as it now resolved.
Amazingly 100% in my favour.

Spoke to Nick Daldry at E Car parts in Sandy (X-Part dealer) and he said he would enquire with the X-Part rep regarding labour compensation should the part be found faulty.

The X-Part rep said yes, labour compensation could be claimed if the part was found to be faulty. They compensate at £35.00 per hour. The invoice for the work would need to come directly from a registered garage business. It did not matter who had bought the part, the garage or me.

I was present when it was stripped down at Wybunbury garage and all looked to be fitted well an lubricated. Mechanic told me that it was impossible to get it wrong. Took pictures and the slave was sent back to Nick at Sandy.

In the meantime the garage offered (in advance of the stripdaown) to do all the work for a discounted rate of £100 all-in should the claim get rejected for whatever reason.

It was clear from inspecting the slave that the bearing had failed.

Wybunbury garage dealt directly with Nick at Sandy who informed the garage last Friday that the claim was upheld by X-Part because the slave was found to be faulty.

So, its always worth giving these things a try.

For the record - If you by an X-Part part from a registered X-Part dealer and it is fitted by a professional garage outfit then it will be covered for replacement of part AND labour costs incurred at £35.00 per hour (apparently this is an industry standard labour compensation hourly rate).

So there you go. If the part was bought directly fro TZAU then none of this would have been possible. It needs to come from a registered X-Part supplier.

Thanks to Nick Daldry of E-Car parts in Sandy Beds, The X-Part rep, and Eddy and Liam at Wybunbury garage for there help and professionalism.

Also, all on the forum that offered constructive advise. I hope this will prove constructive to others in my situation.

[bl52krz]

A great result, and proves you have to chase every level you can. Well done.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by bl52krz

A great result, and proves you have to chase every level you can. Well done.

and, a well done from him too!

[bubs]

A good outcome for you this time
I wonder though what would happen with a garage that charges more than £35 per hour?. I don't know of anywhere local to me that charges less than £50 per hour for garage labour. Anyone that does is almost certainly not going to be a "professional" in the eyes of a warranty claim.

[EastPete]

Originally Posted by CMOORESY

Ok guys,
Just thought I would resurrect this post as it now resolved.
Amazingly 100% in my favour.

Spoke to Nick Daldry at E Car parts in Sandy (X-Part dealer) and he said he would enquire with the X-Part rep regarding labour compensation should the part be found faulty.

The X-Part rep said yes, labour compensation could be claimed if the part was found to be faulty. They compensate at £35.00 per hour. The invoice for the work would need to come directly from a registered garage business. It did not matter who had bought the part, the garage or me.

I was present when it was stripped down at Wybunbury garage and all looked to be fitted well an lubricated. Mechanic told me that it was impossible to get it wrong. Took pictures and the slave was sent back to Nick at Sandy.

In the meantime the garage offered (in advance of the stripdaown) to do all the work for a discounted rate of £100 all-in should the claim get rejected for whatever reason.

It was clear from inspecting the slave that the bearing had failed.

Wybunbury garage dealt directly with Nick at Sandy who informed the garage last Friday that the claim was upheld by X-Part because the slave was found to be faulty.

So, its always worth giving these things a try.

For the record - If you by an X-Part part from a registered X-Part dealer and it is fitted by a professional garage outfit then it will be covered for replacement of part AND labour costs incurred at £35.00 per hour (apparently this is an industry standard labour compensation hourly rate).

So there you go. If the part was bought directly fro TZAU then none of this would have been possible. It needs to come from a registered X-Part supplier.

Thanks to Nick Daldry of E-Car parts in Sandy Beds, The X-Part rep, and Eddy and Liam at Wybunbury garage for there help and professionalism.

Also, all on the forum that offered constructive advise. I hope this will prove constructive to others in my situation.

Glad you got it sorted - it is slightly worrying that it was a metal slave that failed, as these are marketed on the basis of being more robust and reliable than the original plastic items. I have a metal slave on my car - no problems so far, touch wood !

Keep us posted, and well done for following through on this

Cheers

Pete