01 Alfa 156 issue

[noel123ie]

Hi all,

Issue with a dealer on timing belt.

Unfortunately this went last week on my sister. She had to get car towed and got it towed to my local mechanic. It sat there for 3 days as the head mechanic in dealership was not there and the acting service manager said they would charge 150 plus VAT(for quote on damage) plus 80 euros to get it towed to their gargage(which was 2 miles from where car was!)

The service manager advised that the timing belt tensioner went on this and this should not have happened and they would not charge for looking at car. So three days later they look at car -the manager had already told sister car was with them from ther day before!

He advised would have to contact Alfa in Dublin. He got back to her the next day and said that because the timing belt was changed 22 months ago they would only cover this for 12 months, the belt was last changed 22 months ago by the dealer when my sister bought the car. This tensioner was also replaced as part of timinmg belt change.

I believe this is wrong as the part broke and should be covered, she is facing a bill of 1,000-1500 for a fault with a part that was not her fault.

Im going down to rais hell there as I think this is not right.

Ive spoken to a number of Alfa owners who have had the same issue and seen this issue on the web

Any help/advice would be great
Thanks
Noel

 

[iggy]

Is the car under warranty?
Did she buy the car from the garage it is in now?

 

[sse]

Maybe move this to the Motoring forum for advice on dealing with garages etc.

FWIW I think that the failure has probably written off the car, given that it's 7 years old (not sure if engine is wrecked, not sure what an Alfa is worth etc.).

SSE

 

[shootingstar]

What is the present mileage?

What was the mileage at the time of timing belt change?

Is the vehicle under warranty?

Is the vehicle regularly serviced?

Was the vehicle purchased in the garage that it has been towed into?

If you can provide these answers i`ll try getting you the info you need? Will chat with Mr SS

 

[jhegarty]

The service manager advised that the timing belt tensioner went on this and this should not have happened and they would not charge for looking at car.

As I understand it timing belt issues are very very common on the 156...

 

[shootingstar]

spoke with mr ss

this is a known issue with alfa. they now recommend that you replace timing belts at 36k miles. was the tbelt fitted by alfa dealer? you will only get 12 months unlimited mileage with that part under warranty but as this is a known issue by alfa if you speak to the right people and cause a bit of a stir you should get this covered, if not all of it covered they maybe well contribute to the repair. only as long as it was fitted originally by alfa dealer/garage.