Hi all,
My rust saga is over for the time being. I have my bella back from the bodyshop after a full front end respray (I got the whole front done to get rid of the stone chips) and having the rust on the offside wing repaired. I asked the bodyshop to check out both wings and their statement from was inconclusive. They said there wasn’t evidence of serious internal rust on the offside, but I suspect they may have been hedging their bets as they are an Alfa approved bodyshop so may not have wanted to say anything too negative. They said the nearside was fine. It appears the rust on my wing had been repaired before, so it may be surface rust. The repair should be better this time, they also put an edging tape along the wheel arch liners to reduce chafing and sealed them. So hopefully it won’t come back, but I won’t hold my breath
Here's the full detail of what I did:
- I went to the local dealer to get the 5 year bodywork inspection done. They agreed there was rust showing on one wing and they got an estimate to get it fixed at an Alfa approved bodyshop (about 225 quid).
- I said I felt that the rust should be covered under the anti-perforation warranty, the dealer said they would report it to Alfa UK.
- After a couple of weeks, the dealer came back and said that Alfa said it was not covered under the 8 year anti-perforation warranty.
- I contacted ARUK directly and explained the situation to them. I said I wanted an explanation as to why my claim was not being honoured while a similar claim had been honoured (this was James Leeson, aka Bazza).
- They came back to me and said they would look into it but in the meantime they would offer me a 50% goodwill contribution (they mentioned that the car looked very well looked after).
- I said thanks but no thanks because I still felt it should all be covered under the 8 year anti-perforation warranty. I said I wanted a clear explanation as to why the warranty was being refused.
- They came back with:
“I have contacted the warranty department and they have advised that the claim was rejected for two reasons. In order to comply with the warranty a full bodywork inspection must be carried out at an authorised Alfa Romeo dealer on the 3rd and 5th year anniversary of the vehicles date of registration. Regrettably the 3rd year body and paint inspection was not carried out.
The 8 year Anti Perforation Warranty covers rust which has perforated the metal and has originated from inside the cavity panel or section of the bodywork i.e. from a surface which has not been finished with a topcoat. The effected area on your vehicle has a topcoat and therefore is not deemed warrantable.”
- At this point, they offered me an 80% goodwill contribution (“in recognition of my loyalty”), which I said I would think about. They said they could not discuss the details of other claims, so were effectively ignoring James’ claim as evidence.
I did send an email explaining why I felt the rust was in fact perforating from the inside but this didn’t change their position. I mulled it over and decided to get the work done and accept the 80% contribution. I don't know if it it will cure the problem but as I didn’t have the 3 year check done (and the service after three years was not carried out at a main dealer), I felt I was on shaky ground – the warranty conditions clearly state the three-year inspection is required.
So here's my advice on this issue:
- Make sure you have the three-year and five-year inspections done.
- If you approach ARUK, be very courteous and patient. They were nice people and it didn’t take much effort to get the goodwill contribution of 50%. When I persistently but politely kept going back to them, they did raise it to 80% which I was actually pretty happy with considering I hadn’t had the inspection done.
Cheers,
Nigel
