Exhaust Is 4 Months Old On A Used Car I Bought And It's Rattling, Can I Get It Replaced Under Warranty?

[TilliA]

I bought a car 3 weeks ago and the exhaust has started to rattle badly. the back box was replaced in October 2014. I phoned the garage to ask if the warranty would cover a replacement and was told that the warranty only covered the person who paid for the exhaust to be done!

Is this right?

[tonyav]

It's most likely one of the hagers that's the problem, TillA, they are usually a rubber doughnut shaped thing one has probably become unhooked.

[tonyav]

The warranty probably does only cover the person that paid for the exhaust to be replaced. Could you get hold of the receipt.

[Buenchico]

When I last had a badly rattling exhaust unit on a car it was simply down to the failure of a rubber component holding it in place. A replacement part cost less than £3 and my local garage fitted it for free. So you might well be fussing about (almost) nothing.

'Warranties' (and 'guarantees') aren't part of your statutory rights; they're a 'gift' from the manufacturer, retailer or installer. As such, the firm providing the warranty/guarantee is free to determine the conditions that apply. (It's perfectly legal for a firm to offer a warranty with a condition that requires you to take the car to their depot in Tokyo at 3am on February 29th - while singing the Albanian National Anthem backwards - in order to get a problem resolved. So they can equally include a condition that a warranty is 'non-transferable', as most warranty providers normally do).

[Hopkirk]

I agree with the above - failing exhausts blow, not rattle.

It could be that the heat shield is coming away from the car, rattling on the exhaust. If so it is nothing to do with the exhaust and wouldn't be covered by even the best warranty.
A bit of a shove, or the fitting of a large washer to a failed attachment may cure it.