Should I pay dealer for inspection whilst under warranty?

[karl]

Recently the yellow engine warning light came on on my Mazda 2. I've had it since Sept 08 so it's well within warranty.

I took it back to the dealer. They "reset the engine management system", saying it reported a problem with the oxygen detector in the exhaust.

To my surprise they wanted to charge me £50 for this. When I asked why I had to pay this seeing as the car is still under warranty, they said the charge is for the investigation and as such isn't covered by the warranty, and in any case I may have put the wrong petrol in or something.

I managed to persuade them to waive the payment.

The light duly stayed out whilst I drove the car home last night.

It's back on again this morning....

[Riverside]

I wasn't aware that Mazda dealers had started to do this.  Ford dealers now charge for "inspection" in connection with warranty work as a matter of routine, they began doing so approximately 12 months ago.  I had owned new Fords for eight years (changing every three years when the warranty expired) and decided to change that once the "inspection" charges for warranty work were introduced, hence my purchase last year of a new Mazda.

[Si]

My last car was a Corsa and the engine warning light came on when the car was just over 2 years old.  We were going on holiday at the time so I went to nearest Vauxhall dealer on the route and they plugged it in and diagnosed a faulty sensor on the exhaust, same as karl's, and they reset the system as they didn't carry a spare.  No charge was made.

The next day, about 100 miles later, the light returned and I went to the nearest dealer, a different one, and again they plugged it in etc.  This time they also mentioned it could be the catalytic converter, but also reset the light and off I went. No charge was made.

The light then stayed out for several weeks, and a few hundred miles, and when it came on again I was back home.  I took it to the local dealer (the place I bought it from no longer held the franchise) and again it was diagnosed and a new sensor was ordered and fitted later. Again no charge was made.

In my opinion there should be no charge if the fault diagnosed is covered by the warranty, but if is not a warranty item they can charge for the inpsection.

[Andy2010]

It does seem a bit under handed to offer a 3 year "warranty" then find a way to charge for an "inspection" but I guess times are hard  :

I wonder if Kia have a similar policy? as they offer a generous 7 year warranty on all new cars!

[Chris1987]

at my local dealership, where i took my car the other day for warranty work, there was a sign on the desk saying there will be a £70 charge for any diagnostic/inspection carried out that finds nothing to be wrong with the car. so really they shouldn't be charging you if they found a fault.