Vehicle drivetrain components were the source of more than half (58%) of the service and repair disputes brought by customers to The Motor Ombudsman in the first quarter of this year. Problems with a vehicle’s bodywork, and parts associated with the chassis, were responsible for causing 18% and 11% respectively of the consumer complaints logged with the Ombudsman between January and March 2021.
Within the drivetrain category, the intake manifold was perhaps surprisingly the biggest area of concern with nearly a fifth of individuals stating that they had a problem with this component, taking over from the timing chain, which was the main bone of contention during the opening quarter of 2020.
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Tyres and wheels were the largest part of chassis complaints, which is perhaps strange as it is the one part that could be easily inspected on the sales forecourt.
Over a third of individuals (37%) stated that they ideally wanted a full refund as their ideal form of resolution to their dispute with an accredited business.
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Bill Fennell, Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of the Motor Ombudsman, said: “With a car made up of a multitude of components and moving parts, the service and repair complaints that we receive from consumers vary significantly in both their scope and complexity. Identifying the key trends of what is causing disputes across our Codes of Practice, and sharing what we are seeing across the automotive sector, is one of our main roles as an Ombudsman. This ultimately allows us to feed back this data to the industry and help our accredited businesses to make further improvements with their products, services and processes for the benefit of consumers.”
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