307 Head Gasket - A recognised fault?

[Stevie G]

Hello, new to the forum, and joining specifically to ask this question:-

I have a head gasket leak, but I'm not happy with the customer service. I hear so many stories of this problem. Its now clear to me that I had this problem while it was still under guarantee, but now the guarantee has expired.

I got it from the local Peugeot dealer, and because it was over five years old, they would only give me a three month guarantee. It overheated within that period, but they couldn't find a leak, and basically just topped the water back up!

When it became clear that it was the head gasket, the boy on the front desk told me just to keep an eye on the water level! I still can't believe I walked out of the showroom without challenging him.

Anyway, I took it to a local bloke who pretty much accused Peugeot of fitting cheap and nasty head gaskets, showing me the improved gaskets that he fits ALL THE TIME (and at half the price of the dealer) stating that 'they always go after 40,000 miles, or so.

The guarantee is now well out of date, but has anyone had any experience of complaining to customer services and getting it skimmed and changed for nothing?

Cheers

[chopper1192]

It's not an especially noteworthy problem on a 307 that's been cared for. Many manufacturers sell 'improved' head gaskets for various makes and models, and no one is going to say their product is actually worse than the original, so take Mr HG's words with a pinch of salt. A tenner to charity says he won't put "307 HGs always go at 40k miles" in writing.

Now, this 3 month warranty bollocks is, er, bollocks.

THE LAW says they MUST repair any fault (commensurate with the age, mileage and price paid for the car) that occurs within 28 days.

Then, any fault which occurs within 6 months must also be warranted iof IT WAS LIKELY to have been DEVOLOPING OR PRESENT when the car was sold. It is UP TO THE SELLER TO PROVE IT WAS NOT.

Remind them of their LAWFUL OBLIGATION and give them 7 days to resolve the problem or you'll take them to small claims court over it, and you will win.

Next time have your prospective purchase professionally inspected and avoid all this grief.

[bettyswollocks]

1.4hdi 2002 307 244,000 miles still same HG.

[Stevie G]

Crikey! Instant replies! Thankyou.

I shall speak to the dealer, armed with your advice. It will be a sad day if I have to go all the way. Its approaching 2 years since I bought the car, and I try to remember to check the water level. On a couple of occasions I never got round to it and it briefly started to overheat, fan selected full hot, temperature lowers, no damage done. Last night, as it happens.

The local geezer has my total trust.

I got a quote from Peugeot for a towbar, something in the region of £1000 + (and they confessed that they sub-contracted locally - they get a bloke in)

Obviously, I google for an alternative, and bugger me, the first bloke I spoke to is the very chap who is the sub-contractor. The fact that it appears that Peugeot marks up his price 100% is uncomfortable news for all!

Anyway. Local geezer's books are full to overflowing as fleet managers take their Peugeots to him rather that the dealer.

He physically showed me the Peugeot gasket and the replacement, and you could see the difference in quality.

Maybe I'll get cocky, get local geezer to do the work, and present the bill to the dealer!

One step at a time though.

Thanks again.

[chopper1192]

All dealers make a mark up on sub contracted work. Vauxhall and Nissan did when I spannered for them - the Nissan dealers I was a makes a killing.

Several reasons - it's easy profit, it's a pain in the arse, and if it goes wrong its the dealer that is laiable to you, not the sub-contractor, who will often have conveniently gone out of business/died/changed the business names etc. £1000 is their way of saying they don't want the business because it's a pain in the rear, but if you insist then they want it seriously worth their while.

It's perfectly normal within the murky depths of the motor trade. Its nothing unique to your dealer by a long chalk.

Only thing is, if you've had the car 2 years I can't see you've got much of a leg to stand on. Just get it fixed and move on. You've just publicly admitted that you don't always check the levels weekly, or before a long journey, as advised by the handbook, so that's contributory negligence.