Our 2018 Jeep Compass has been waiting more than five weeks for an oil pump part. Our Fiat/Jeep dealer has now told us there was a production problem and the order with Fiat UK was cancelled. According to Fiat UK, the manufacturer needs an order of 200 before they’ll make it, and it could take up to a year to produce. The part could not be found anywhere in the world on the Fiat database. It seems incredible our four-year-old car is now obsolete.
AM, London
Global supply-chain issues have led to a shortage of some parts and delayed repairs, but your situation is ridiculous. Jeep, when I intervened, identified an “unfortunate set of errors”, and within five days the crucial part was on its way. It says: “We aim to maintain parts availability well beyond any local legal requirement to do so. Jeep has a long heritage of being there to support customers as vehicles get older, and there are no plans to change this.”
There is no legal requirement for spares to be available for a set period in the UK, but all large manufacturers have signed up to The Motor Ombudsman’s New Car Code, which makes the vague stipulation that parts should be available throughout production of a model and “for a reasonable period thereafter”.
If a car is less than two years old, or under warranty, the manufacturer has a legal responsibility to replace it with a similar spec if a parts shortage prevents a major repair.
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