Faulty Chain belt issue at 22km

[Smasterson]

Hi,

Looking for some help please. We purchase a one year old DS7 in October 2022 the car was serviced by the dealership at 14,500km. We had a service booked in for December 10th at 42,000km so 27,500km since last service. Our car broke down last week and we were told the that the chain belt had broken and that full new engine is now required at a cost of €7,000 they are refusing to honour a warranty as we have no other service history. I would like some advice if it’s possible for a chain belt to go like this with such little mileage on it. We are devastated as still owe money on the finance and we do not have €7,000 to pay. We are looking for proof that the chain belt had to be faulty and regardless of no service history should still be replaced and should not have gone. Any help advise would be greatly appreciated.

[RichardW]

Presume it's a 1.5 diesel? These have a cam chain in the head that is a weak point, failure that early is uncommon however. I'm not sure if these can be fixed without removing the head, but it should be possible to fix it cheaper than that.

[Smasterson]

Hi thank you yes it’s the 1.5 diesel. there are not willing cover it under warranty, I’m struggling to understand how we need a new engine after only 27,500km is this a common?

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi

There is a known issue with the 1.5 DV5 engines as Richard pointed out. It concerns the 7mm camshaft chain failing. There is a replacement procedure that involves replacing the chain with an 8mmversion, along with all the exhaust valves rockers and other components - so not just a straight chain swap.

Unfortunately, PSA will NOT simply undertake the replacement until the signs of failure are detected. Specifically noises coming from the timing area. If these are detected at service or due to a customer concern, they would then have to investigate and undertake the checks for a replacement / upgrade under warranty.

This is where you will have a problem. Vehicles must be serviced annually or within the specified mileage whichever comes soonest. If the vehicle has missed a service, has exceeded the time or mileage for a service, or has been serviced outside the official dealership but you do not have the evidence to show that the vehicle has been serviced according to the manufacturer's specifications and checks, then they will say they have no obligation to honour any warranty or provide any goodwill gesture.

This is why it is essential to ensure an evidenced full service history before purchase - especially for a nearly new vehicle that's a few years old. Even though a vehicle may be out of standard warranty (generally 3 years for PSA vehicles), for some issues, the manufacturer will extend to warranty - like for Adblue Tank failure or the timing chain issue as in your case to 5 years or more.

I'm sorry this isn't what you want to hear, but any goodwill gesture is entirely dependent on DS Automobiles, but if you have missed or had it serviced outside the recommended intervals, they will basically say this is something they would have checked for at the time, being a known problem.

I too have DV5 engine and have no issues at present but then I only have 26k miles on the clock, but I have made them aware of the potential issue and always have it dealer serviced, just in case.