Spare Parts

[secsee1]

Can anybody tell me the law on how long spares should be available for from manufactures, I ask this because a good friend of mine bought a wheelchair for her husband, i'ts not quite 3 years old and a couple of parts on it are failing, she contacted the manufactures and their answer was "we no longer make that wheelchair so parts are not available any more"
I always thought there was a law about stocking parts for a given amount of time, after all working on that basis we would all be dumping our cars, TVs, fridges and freezers etc. any help on this would be great, thanks

[gness]

Hi, Sec....not sure about an answer to your question...I think a law came in last year about informing customers......

However, a friend of mine, now dead so I can't ask him, ran a small business repairing and servicing wheelchairs.
If your friend is lucky she may find someone in her area who does the same... might be worth a google.
Three years use from a wheelchair isn't really acceptable......x

[woofgang]

There is no law. As gness says, your best bet is to find a repairer or maybe to search around for a second hand chair and strip it for parts.

[Peter Pedant]

hopeless innit

10 y for car parts ..
I know because I have an upmarket car 15 y old which now wont go for lack of a part

[KARL]

I seem to remember a regulation/law being introduced and publicised a good while back (probably 20 years or more) whereby spare parts must be available throughout a minimum length of time after the "item" ceases to be produced. I cannot recall for certain the number of years but I am fairly certain it was at least 5 years, possibly ten. Whether that rule has been changed I do not know - the requirement may have been determined by that nasty entity the EU (and forced upon the aspiring paradise called the UK).

[gness]

I had a noodle around, Karl......lots of complications....like implementing a rule when the company had gone bust......the latest update I found was 2015... But I had lost the will to live by then...x

[Old_Geezer]

I can't see how one could enforce such a law. The manufacturer merely has to say that the item is not designed to be repaired. If it goes wrong then it's slung. Of course I can believe that bastion of sanity, the EU, taking no notice and imposing the law anyway.

[Prudie]

I don't know of any law but in fact a trip to the local dump shows we are indeed "dumping our cars, TVs, fridges and freezers etc". Very wasteful

[vulcan42]

"
For how long do manufacturers have to provide genuine spare parts?
The short answer is that there is currently no legislation that states that spare parts have to be available for any set period of time, either in UK or EU legislation.
What this means is that if you buy any equipment such as a compressor, dryer or pneumatic tool, the manufacturer or brand owner has no responsibility to ensure that spare parts are available for any set period at all, and you have no recourse in law to challenge a genuine spare part not being available."
Greg Bordiak,BCAS Technical Officer.
Possibly the following may help.
http://www.specialisedorthoticservices.co.uk/knowledge-centre/spare-parts-servicing/

[bhg481]

Maybe the answer is for people to "name and shame" manufacturers on sites such as this/facebook/twitter etc when we feel that we have been let down. Merely stating that spare parts aren't available for something can't result in any legal action, surely? What part are you looking for on what make of car, PP?

[secsee1]

Thanks for your answer everyone, as a result I think she intends posting about the company on "social media" as she thinks it may stop others from buying from this unfair company

[Peter Pedant]

bhg

ECU PF 20648 PC
for a 2000 RR seraph

it is one of the circuit boards ....

[bhg481]

I find that very surprising, PP; I thought they looked after their customers better than that. I don't think naming and shaming that particular company will have a big effect on its sales though.