Ok, wondering if anyone has any advice on this. My car is from 1999 (I think I am the second owner, I bought it two years ago through ebay motors), and the yellow engine light has been coming on continuosly for the last couple months. I have taken it to my mechanic (who is a great guy, trustworthy and knows his stuff when it comes to the inside of cars) and he did some online research and said it was the a throttle body failure which was under recall from several years ago, and that I should take it back to the car manufacturer to get them to fix the problem. He even gave me a printout of what he suspects the problem is, and told me to show them to confirm that's what it is. He isn't 100% sure because he doesn't have that particular company's specific diagnostic equipment, but he says he has a strong feeling that's what it is. So what should I do here, go to them and tell them to run a diagnostic check (which he told me should be free of charge), and then if that's what it is, they must fix it free of charge?
I have only even owned used cars and never thought before about making a claim on the warranty. I would have to look around in my files to see if I even have any paperwork relating to that. Since it is a 1999 model, I am pretty sure the main warranty is long gone, so I don't really understand how I am supposed to approach the manufacturer. Do I just go to them and say "my mechanic thinks it's xyz, can you check it out for me?" and expect them to run checks on my car free of charge? My mechanic said I should be able to talk them into fixing it for free, assuming the problem is what he thinks it is i.e. the throttle issue. Can I reasonably expect them to do that, or is there some kind of statute of limitations on car part recalls? What if they give me the runaround and try and charge me for something that is (I think) supposed to be free? They're actually not near to me, so I want to make sure I know what I am going to say to them before I go, and that I approach them in the right way.
I have no clue when it comes to dealing with warranties or recalls, so thanks for any help.
I have only even owned used cars and never thought before about making a claim on the warranty. I would have to look around in my files to see if I even have any paperwork relating to that. Since it is a 1999 model, I am pretty sure the main warranty is long gone, so I don't really understand how I am supposed to approach the manufacturer. Do I just go to them and say "my mechanic thinks it's xyz, can you check it out for me?" and expect them to run checks on my car free of charge? My mechanic said I should be able to talk them into fixing it for free, assuming the problem is what he thinks it is i.e. the throttle issue. Can I reasonably expect them to do that, or is there some kind of statute of limitations on car part recalls? What if they give me the runaround and try and charge me for something that is (I think) supposed to be free? They're actually not near to me, so I want to make sure I know what I am going to say to them before I go, and that I approach them in the right way.
I have no clue when it comes to dealing with warranties or recalls, so thanks for any help.