Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 4/4 Sport Handbrake cable

Hi, A few weeks ago my handbrake cable snapped on my 4/4 sport, the car is obviously still under warranty. I organised getting the car to the local dealership who then replaced the cable (great service as usual by RPM), but, I have now been informed that the factory warranty will not cover the work done due to the age and mileage of the vehicle....it's a handbrake cable.
Surely a 2 year warranty lasts 2 years. Surely the more miles the car travels, the shorter the time the cable is under stress.
Am I right to be pretty p....d off ?

Hi Dave,

I found the MMC attitude to warranty work very variable, in some cases I found it quite a a battle to get work done, but in the end most of the stuff I wanted fixed under warranty was fixed.

This included some big ticket stuff such as an engine-out work, extensive front-end respray when a cracked wing stay resulted in extensive bonnet flexing. In some areas they were extraordinarily generous replacing (after a bit of a contretemps) all 5 (horrid) chrome wires with 5 (fabulous) Stainless wires to get rid of a nasty drive train clunk. In other area they were mean, they would not pay to have a rear-hub repacked with grease in an initial attempt to get rid of the aforementioned clunk.

I don't know how many miles you have done (or indeed what the MMC's mileage restriction is). But in the first instance I would let RPM know that you are "pretty P...d off" with the attitude of the MMC and to discuss the issue with the MMC on your behalf. If that fails, talk to Mark Baldwin direct

One good thing in my experience about the trads is that once a problem has been fixed they tend to stay fixed. It took 2 years to get mine fully debugged but since then has largely been faultless

Caveat to the above. My experiences relate to the period 02-04. Someone else may post on more recent experiences

My Plus4's heater fan knob failed after 3 months. Apparrently a fairly common fault. My Dealer Newtown Motors replaced the middle Panel under warranty from the factory without any quibble whatever.

I'm not sure what the factory comment was as my dealer handled everything. I have to say that Newtown (Peter Constable) have been a pleasure to deal with from the outset - swapping MPH to KpH etc.

I am surprised as well, i can understand brakepads and other consumable bits not included, but a mechanical cable would be expected to last as long as the car.
I remember you telling me this was going to a be an every day car for you, this is out of the ordinary for a typical Morgan owner. You are perhaps only expected to do 5k max in your warranty period.
Can't remember the details of my Sport warranty but i am sure you are studying yours
Best of luck

Morgan has a warranty limited to 2 years and 30,000 km whatever comes first. Note that the warranty does not cover driving on "unreasonable road surfaces".

In general, park the car in first gear and use the handbrake only when parking on a hill to avoid the parking brake to stick or the cable to be under stress for prolonged periods.

Harald

Hi Dave,

Really sorry to hear you're not happy with MMC's decision.
We claimed for it in the normal fashion and it was rejected.
However, now that Morgan are back from holiday, we'll get it touch and try to swing their decision round.

I must say though that my experience with other manufacturers with regard to handbrake cables mirrors Morgan...it's seen as a "wear and tear" item.

We'll call you once we've spoken to our friends at the factory.

In the meantime keep saying nice things about us and we'll keep you on our Christmas card list!!

Chat later.

I'd agree with what Russell says. Because, in general, the replacement or not) of 'wear and tear' items is governed by the warranty rather than consumer law generally, the onus passes from the dealer to the manufacturer.

(I'm not a Scots lawyer but but my understanding is that the position is the same in Scotland as in England and Wales except for a slightly shorter period to claim)

All a dealer can do is bring his or her best offices to bear on the Factory using arguments such as image, customer goodwill, repeat custom etc and hope that works.

From the manufacturer's point of view, they will want to balance cost against happy customers and under 'cost' they will want not to set a precedent which might then bite them if there is later litigation by another customer over a similar item.

The only 'formal' way to establish a case here would be to find out if the same part has been replaced before in the same circumstances. That will be both very time consuming, difficult, always open to challenge and probably not viable vis -a -vis the cost of the item being complained of.

Needless to say, my comments above are just personal opinions

G

when the drivers seat on my Defender split I wrote to Land Rover who said it was a wear and tear item but as a goodwill gesture[and to avoid setting any precedent] they sent me a voucher for a free service, perhaps you could ask Morgan for a similar gesture. [btw I repaired the seat myself for £40 and claimed a free £800 major service.....]

Land Rover replaced failed welds on the seat bases of my Discovery Mk1 at 6 years old (72000 miles) - first by rewelding (failed again) then complete new bases. I made the argument that it was a safety issue. That might be worth trying - the safety angle.

Thanks for all your suggestions and comments. RPM did try again to sway the decision in my favour from MMC, but it seems that hand brake cables are definately classed as a wear and tear item....oh well. Thanks to Russell for trying so hard. So back to clocking up the miles again in the torrential scottish summer sunshine where the roof is definately a wear and tear item!