Warranty Solutions Group (WSG) has called for an overhaul of the Consumer Rights Act to deal with rising software and technical issues.
It said dealers can carry responsibility for vehicle faults while manufacturers may control the software, technical information and training needed to resolve them, industry experts warn.
It added that dealers are increasingly being held responsible for resolving vehicle faults despite not always controlling the software, technical information or manufacturer support needed to diagnose and repair them, automotive industry leaders have warned.
It said diagnosing a fault is no longer necessarily a case of identifying and replacing a defective component.
What appears to be one problem can originate elsewhere within the vehicle, involve several interacting systems or only occur under specific driving conditions.
Warranty Solutions Group (WSG) believes this is creating a new challenge for retailers operating under the Consumer Rights Act, particularly where resolving a fault depends upon software, technical information, training or intervention controlled by the vehicle manufacturer.
John Colinswood, CEO of Warranty Solutions Group, said: “Modern vehicles have fundamentally changed the relationship between the dealer and manufacturer, but the way responsibility is allocated when something goes wrong hasn’t necessarily changed with them.
“A dealer can be responsible for resolving a customer’s problem while relying on somebody else for the software, technical information, training or manufacturer support needed to fix it.
“If the retailer doesn’t control the technology required to resolve a fault, we need to ask whether it is reasonable for all of the exposure to sit with the dealer. This isn’t about weakening consumer protection or shifting responsibility away from reputable retailers. It’s about making sure responsibility reflects where the knowledge and control actually sit.”
