Taxi Driver Online

I am being told on reasonably good authority that the Block Exemption Regulations (BER) have now finished.

These BER allowed vehicle owners to have their still under warranty vehicles to be serviced & maintained at independent garages, providing certain conditions & OE parts were used, without invalidating the warranty.

An alternative called the Right to Repair is being proposed, but is not available yet & may not become available.

This is particularly important to owners with vehicles still under warranty!!

Here are some web links relating to this matter;

http://www.r2rc.co.uk/landing/index.htm

http://www.r2rc.co.uk/home/content/view/27/97/

http://www.r2rc.co.uk/home/index.php

If anyone knows anymore please post; it's important to many of us to know where we stand with new vehicle warranties.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Here's another more informative thread;

http://www.fiaeurope.org/en/policy_stat ... 0000001266

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
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Good info Brum, how the hell are dealers going to cope with a massive increase in work load,
Hello can I bring my car in for a service, yes sir/madam, it will be six months before we can get you an appointment, but my oil needs changing now as it has reached the mileage in the book, that's OK just park it and wait for your appointment have a nice wait
Or my car need new brakes that's OK we will send a pick up truck to pick it up and charge you for the privilege

Can't see that happening, if it does it stinks of a Tory Government.

New Labour allowed it....through Europe I think.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

the arguement is that vehicles are now so "computer regulated" that it needs trained technicians to repair BUT, how technical is changing oil? this is the single most important thing you will ever do on an engine.

as for the computers, well a code reader can be had for £30 to tell you whats wrong, and dealers with (say) diesel-specific problems dont have £45,000 delphi test rigs standing in the corner of the workshop waiting to be used, they send pumps and injectors away!

The Block Exemption Regulations (BER) originated from the EU, Brussels where ever, were introduced in 2002 & were always going to finish in 2010, or at least in 2008 it was already known they were going to finish in 2010.

The Right to Repair Internet lobby (R2R) now want the BER extended under the banner of 'Right to Repair, but vehicle technology has moved forward at such a pace since 2002, with most vehicles entirely or almost entirely computerised.

The vehicle manufacturers are saying that it is no longer feasible to repair these advanced computerised vehicles in alternative garages, but R2R are asking for access to the technical info from the vehicle manufacturers. The vehicle manufacturers are then in turn saying, but if we give out that info, then we will be giving out our confidential commercial intelligence & knowledge.

And so the argument continues

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

its cobblers, all it needs is the diagnostic gear, £2K - and a list of error codes, its all still nuts and bolts

i fitted a new cam sensor saturday, thats electronic, im no technician...

I know it's all shoe-menders, but I'm only the messenger, FFS!!!

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
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Thats just what you want us to think.....its all your fault for telling them, you reap what you sow



Blissfull ignorance is great, some prefer it

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I know that BC, but it really annoys me

my normal workhops are Norflex agents, one of THE biggest fleets in the country, norflex buy with no warranties to get the price down, and rely on good workshops, with no hype

Sunday night & Herr Kapitän ist bereits betrunken!!

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

I dont know what that means.....but the answer is usually no

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Copy & paste it into an online translator; that's the whole fun of it.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

The block exemption isn't finished, but it is undergoing its periodic renewal process - a bit like Dr Who. But this has no bearing on the issue of warranties being used to keep vehicles within the authorised network. That's a matter that the Office of Fair Trading has dealt with: see my post on my blog at http://theblogexemption.blogspot.com/20 ... icing.html. The European Commission seems to have woken up to this at long last.
The current block exemption was due to expire at the end of this month. For vehicle distribution contracts, it has been extended a couple of years. for the aftermarket, it is going to be replaced, but the new rules will not look very different from what we have - at least in theory. There's a brief summary of these provisions here: http://theblogexemption.blogspot.com/20 ... irers.html.
There's a general problem that the whole tenor of European Union competition law has changed over the past 8 years, and it's much more open to vehicle manufactures now to impose restrictions which dealers and repairers are unlikely to challenge. The way previous versions of the block exemption have worked has given much stronger protection to dealers, authorised repairers and independent workshops. You're right to highlight the question of technical information, without which the independents don't stand a chance of getting newer cars in their workshops, even if warranties can't be invalidated, and the European Commission's solution (see http://theblogexemption.blogspot.com/20 ... uro-5.html) seems so out-of-touch it's incredible.