Double defect

[Chris John]

This morning I’ve e mailed Volvo customer services basically telling them that I bought a car with stop/start and it doesn’t work so I want it fixed on warranty. I’ve told them the dealer has fobbed me off with the not using the car enough but that’s not acceptable and as the car was sold with stop/start I expect it to work.

This should be fun

[Chris John]

Volvo reply re stop start system not working.
I have replied asking where does it say that the car needs to be driven over 200 miles (it doesn’t) and as I was not advised of that on purchase the car has been miss sold to me and as a minimum I expect the stop start battery to be changed at my next service.

[Den48]

Hi
What a load of rubbish from Volvo and the dealer, if the car is supposed to be driven around 200 miles per week or 10000 miles per annum why are the CBV subscription charges quoting 6000 miles per annum as standard????. Can’t see any warnings about batteries there.
Stick with it, battery is either faulty or the system is not up to the job.

[XC40London]

UPDATE: I've heard back from Volvo. They maintain that they are not replacing the defective batteries under warranty, but instead have made a "goodwill contribution" which will cover part of the cost. This leaves me paying £70 for something that should have been addressed under warranty.

For both the starter battery and the support battery to need to be replaced in less than three years - and for Volvo to doggedly stick to this rhetoric that it is because of my "lack of use" - is very worrying.

The idea that I had not driven my car enough is completely implausible. I drive my car very frequently, and have accumulated more than 18,000 miles in the last three years. The Volvo User Manual for my car states that “to maintain the battery in good condition, at least 15 minutes of driving/week is recommended”. That criteria has more than been met! I was not given any further guidance from Volvo on exactly what they believe would constitute driving the car "enough" to maintain the good condition of the batteries. Their statement that my car had not been driven enough seems to be completely arbitrary, and without any basis in the reality of my driving, or any documented guidance issued to customers.

They have said their decision in this matter is final, and that if I remain dissatisfied (which I am) that I should contact The Motor Ombudsman.

Has anyone here had any dealings with The Motor Ombudsman?

[Chris John]

Deleted post

[Chris John]

UPDATE: I've heard back from Volvo. They maintain that they are not replacing the defective batteries under warranty, but instead have made a "goodwill contribution" which will cover part of the cost. This leaves me paying £70 for something that should have been addressed under warranty.

For both the starter battery and the support battery to need to be replaced in less than three years - and for Volvo to doggedly stick to this rhetoric that it is because of my "lack of use" - is very worrying.

The idea that I had not driven my car enough is completely implausible. I drive my car very frequently, and have accumulated more than 18,000 miles in the last three years. The Volvo User Manual for my car states that “to maintain the battery in good condition, at least 15 minutes of driving/week is recommended”. That criteria has more than been met! I was not given any further guidance from Volvo on exactly what they believe would constitute driving the car "enough" to maintain the good condition of the batteries. Their statement that my car had not been driven enough seems to be completely arbitrary, and without any basis in the reality of my driving, or any documented guidance issued to customers.

They have said their decision in this matter is final, and that if I remain dissatisfied (which I am) that I should contact The Motor Ombudsman.

Has anyone here had any dealings with The Motor Ombudsman?

Have you seen the copy of my latter from Volvo a few posts up @XC40London
Seems that the you are not using the vehicle enough is the standard Volvo response.

I’m waiting for a final reply and if not satisfactory I’ll be contacting The Motor Ombudsman as well

[Deleted User 3359]

Good luck with the Ombudsman... I've not used the Motor one, but have used the Energy one. I basically wrote a detailed report on my issue (the supplier not giving me any electricity usage on my bill, despite the info being available on line) and I just wasted the effort!

Apparently the adjudicators used are the same across all the Ombudsman types...

[JFDIT]

Put a poster in the windscreen politely saying what the issue is and park legally outside the dealership on a Saturday.