Nissan Main dealer in france.

[Jezz_man]

To cut a long story short I have a Nissan Almera 1.5 petrol car 2005 plate.

It broke down in France and i had it towed at my own expense to a Nissan Main dealer in France. I spoke to the people in reception who were quite helpful and asked them how much they would charge to run a diagnostic to find the cause of the car not starting.

They would not commit themselves to a price so I made a point of telling them that i did not want to spend too much as the car was only worth circa 400 Euros!

After i got back to the UK i emailed them reiterating that I did not want to spend much.

They eventually did the diagnostic some 2 weeks later and told me it was beyond repair as the ECU had failed and this cannot be fixed.

They then told me the bill was 405 Euros!!! When I questioned the bill they they had spent 4 hours on it and that if i did not pay the bill and remove that car they would charge me 20 Euros per day storage which amounted to over 500 EUROS at the time in March!

I called a Nissan main dealer in the UK and they said they charge a fixed price diagnostic fee of £90 + Vat so i have been ripped off!

 

The car is still there as Corona Virus meant they locked down until 11th May.

They are now in touch asking me to pay the bill and remove the car, which I cannot do due to travel constraints!

 

So my question where do i stand with this and are they likely to pursue me through the courts to get their money if I just ignore them from now on?

 

Thanks

 

J

 

[BankFodder]

That is the level of Fwench consumer service for you. I suppose it could have happened in England as well – but as they are a main dealer, you would expect it far less.
Why did they take so long to do the diagnostic?
I can't imagine that they are going to follow through for €400. I would suggest also that you tell them that for the greater portion for which they had the vehicle, it was awaiting repair by them and that no customer would be required to pay storage during this period. You can tell them also that you have checked English prices with Nissan and that is clear that they are ripping you off. Tell them to keep the car and to go and "do the other thing".

[Jezz_man]

Thanks for the encouragement.

Do you or anybody else know anything about Debts being chased across European borders?

 

 

[BankFodder]

Well they would have to secure judgement in France and then have it transferred to UK – have it confirmed there and then forced.

For this kind of value I can't imagine they would start.

 

I'm not particularly familiar with French law – but I do believe that there is a moral aspect to contracts – and so therefore the principal which is enshrined in UK statute – the supply of goods and services act 1982 – most likely exists in France. The principal being that where a price hasn't been agreed then a reasonable price will be implied.

You seem to have excellent evidence that the money they are demanding is not a reasonable price. They should have engaged with you the beginning and agreed a price. Their loss