Cam Chain snapped on new van after 20 months / 114k miles

[Gavino]

hello. Im really interested in the outcome of this?

[WhiteVanMan5]

hello. Im really interested in the outcome of this?

Me too.

It is the mediation in the morning: 10am to noon.

I'm not hopeful there will be any progress - I can't see the other side being prepared to offer anything, let alone anything reasonable.

Everyone I have dealt with to date has point blank denied the evidence before them. It will be interesting to see if there is any movement at all in their position given Stellantis have now acknowledged the manufacturing fault. The solicitors didnt respond at all to my email drawing their attention to the Stellantis recall. Indeed, the solicitors havent responded to me directly on anything I have contacted them about.

[WhiteVanMan5]

So, the mediation was last Tuesday - sorry for the delay in updating - I've been on the road since last Sunday and only just got home.

The important details:
- The mediator said that she qould not be able to come to an agreement beyond the amount of my claim, so my interest in pursuing a higher amount precluded the possibility of a formal binding agreement being drawn up in the mediation. However she said that we could continue with the mediation process which might lead to an agreement we could draw up outside of the process.
- The defendants could only make a token goodwill offer of settlement. They offered £100 which they told the mediator they understood I would not be accepting. Their rationale was that they had not been able to elicit a response from the part 20 defendant yet and could not offer anything meaningful until they were brought into the process.
- The defendants had one question for me - was the recall definitely for my vehicle and for my problem and did I have written evidence that this was so. I have absolutely zero doubts that this is relevant to my vehicle and specifically the same issue. I am 100% certain. But I have no evidence to show this to be the case (at the moment). When I put my VIN number into the recall database, it doesn't come up with this recall. Whether this is just a delay or whether it is because my vehicle has a SORN now I do not know. I have emailed Vauchall Customer Service, asking them to look at it again. They finally acknowedged me today and said they are looking at it again and will come back to me next week.

I guess my next step from here is to find a solicitor that can offer a free initial consultation and give guidance on my next steps, and specifically whether to switch tracks. Also to wait and see what Vauxhall say.

[des8]

I would wait and see what Vauxhall come back with before consulting a solicitor.
The more info you have when you talk to solicitors, the more you stand to get from a consultation

[WhiteVanMan5]

I have had a response from Vauxhall. To be honest I'm pretty stunned. Stellantis have accepted the manufacturing defect and extended the warranty.

This is the response I have received:
"I write further to my previous email.

Please be advised I have taken the opportunity to review your earlier case file to assisting us in our response to your recent emails.

While we note your disappointment and frustration with the situation surrounding your vehicle's failure, we can only kindly refer you back to our previous correspondence dated from 2023. We must advise you that our previous decision and position will remain unchanged, based on our review of the findings of the retailer's investigation of your vehicle in its failed state."

Whsts my best path from here? Push back with Vauxhall? My van is within the newly announced warranty. Or just continue down the legal route?

[WhiteVanMan5]

A couple of things to update:
- I have arranged a free 30 minute telephone consultation with a pretty large local solicitors on 5th September
- I had a letter through the post from the court today. "This claim has been transferred to the County Court at Lewes for allocation. On receipt, the file will be referred to a procedural judge who will allocate the claim to a track and give case management directions. Details of the judge's decision will be sent to you in a notice of allocation."

Does this letter put time pressure on me if I wish to switch track, or am I still relaxed about the timing? (i.e. can it wait till after I have spoken to the solicitors)

[des8]

You could write to the court, advising them you are taking legal advice on 5th Sept about increasing the size of your claim, and request that allocation to track be delayed to allow time for you to advise court of the final position.

Whether that is correct or not i don't know, but in the absence of other advice it's what I would do

[WhiteVanMan5]

I have just noticed that the date of the letter from the court was 6th August 2025. It arrived today! I hope I'm not too late.

I will send the following to the Lewes County Court tomorrow, unless you have any feedback for me.

Thanks for your support.

Re: Notification of Material Change in Circumstances
Dear Court Manager,
I write regarding the above claim, which I understand has recently been transferred to Lewes County Court for allocation following correspondence from the Civil National Business Centre (NBC).
I wish to note that the NBC letter I received today, 21 August 2025, is dated 6 August 2025. The letter confirms the transfer to Lewes County Court for allocation, with the file to be referred to a procedural judge.
Since issuing my claim, there has been a material change in circumstances. On 4 July 2025, the manufacturer of the vehicle at the centre of this dispute publicly admitted to a manufacturing fault which has consistently been denied by all parties I have pursued to date. On that date, the manufacturer also issued a recall and extended the warranty for affected vehicles.
My realistic claim currently stands in excess of £32,000; however, I capped it at below £10,000 in order to proceed on the small claims track. In light of the manufacturer’s admission, recall, and warranty extension, I now believe this materially changes my position and may affect the appropriate track for this claim.
Before taking any procedural steps to amend the claim or request a change of track, I intend to seek formal legal advice. I have an appointment with local solicitors scheduled for 5 September 2025.
I respectfully request that this information be placed on the case file for the procedural judge’s consideration before any allocation decision is made.
Yours faithfully,

[WhiteVanMan5]

Ok, I think it must be time for an update.

I had a free telephone consultation with solicitors - solicitors I rated because they have always been excellent when the family have used them for house moves. Basically the telephone consultation was a waste of time and felt more like a marketing exercise. They couldn't tell me anything until I contracted them. I decided to proceed with that. They said they would get back to me with a quote, but it might not be immediately. I said that was fine. I didn't hear from them after about one month so chased it up. They didn't respond. After 2 months, I chased it up again, and again they didn't respond. 10 days later, I happened to be near their offices, so popped in. No-one was available to see me, but they gave me a different email address to try. Again no response. About a month after that, I gave up on them and contacted a different, smaller, more local solicitors. (Mid December) - they've been super responsive and super quick (but very expensive!!!).

Currently I'm pursuing the route to switch track, however an outstanding question I have is that it appears that even if I win my case, it probably won't be enough to cover legal costs and I'll still lose money, even when I win!! If that is correct, then it seems I will be forced to remain in the Small Claims track. Forgive me, the law is an ass! It's not there for "normal people". (Obviously the solicitors shut down for Christmas and New Year which is why I don't have a response to that question yet).

Aside from that, I have today received 2 documents from the Small Claims court:
1) General Form of Judgement or Order: Upon reviewing the court file it is ordered that 1. List for preliminary hearing to assess if Claimant has sufficiently particularised the claim, time estimate of 45 minutes, in person. Dated 18th September 2025.
2) Notice of Hearing: Take Notice that the Preliminary Hearing will take place on 16 March 2026 at 2:00 PM at the County Court when you should attend in person. 45 minutes has been allowed for the hearing.

As I recall, it was a deliberate decision with guidance received here to keep the particulars of claim vague and incomplete.

[des8]

Unfortunately Pezza hasn't been posting recently.
I have had a quick look back over the thread and if your claim was as in post 45, I can't really see any problems (but I am not legally trained so beware!)
Perhaps the court has only read the first couple of paragraphs of your POC, as it doesn't actually state therein that the claim is " because the goods were not of satisfactory quality"

[AGreen8]

Unfortunately Pezza hasn't been posting recently.
I have had a quick look back over the thread and if your claim was as in post 45, I can't really see any problems (but I am not legally trained so beware!)
Perhaps the court has only read the first couple of paragraphs of your POC, as it doesn't actually state therein that the claim is " because the goods were not of satisfactory quality"

Hi, I have been following this case for a few weeks now.
There seem to be many thousands of people who have experienced this cam chain failure and Stellantis/ Vauxhall/ Peugeot have managed to fend off every claim.
My local dealer wanted a non refundable £1,100 to dismantle their failed engine, which I declined.

Anyway, I am following your case with great interest - when you win, I will start my claim.

P.S.
Not surprised your small town solicitors declined to take on the might of Stellantis legal team.
Your second choice of Solicitors looked like "money now and if we fail, still your money".

Keep it up, you have right on your side, plus thousands of other people watching carefully.

[WhiteVanMan5]

Hi, I have been following this case for a few weeks now.
There seem to be many thousands of people who have experienced this cam chain failure and Stellantis/ Vauxhall/ Peugeot have managed to fend off every claim.
My local dealer wanted a non refundable £1,100 to dismantle their failed engine, which I declined.

Anyway, I am following your case with great interest - when you win, I will start my claim.

P.S.
Not surprised your small town solicitors declined to take on the might of Stellantis legal team.
Your second choice of Solicitors looked like "money now and if we fail, still your money".

Keep it up, you have right on your side, plus thousands of other people watching carefully.

Thank you for your support.

It's cost me an absolute fortune to get this far. Our legal system is so broken. It's what they rely on. It is virtuially impossible for laymen to take on the large corporate enterprises (yes I am doing it, but even if I win, the recompense will come nowhere near my losses and costs).

Just under a month until my first hearing. My first proper test!

And yes - there are without question thousands that have been impacted by the exact same problem.

[AGreen8]

Thank you for your support.

It's cost me an absolute fortune to get this far. Our legal system is so broken. It's what they rely on. It is virtuially impossible for laymen to take on the large corporate enterprises (yes I am doing it, but even if I win, the recompense will come nowhere near my losses and costs).

Just under a month until my first hearing. My first proper test!

And yes - there are without question thousands that have been impacted by the exact same problem.

Hi, when you win, there will be many more claims targeted to Stellantis.
Let me know if I can assist at all and I wish you the very best luck.

[WhiteVanMan5]

Hearing on Monday.
Defendant has appointed new solicitors.
New solicitors just sent me a new directions document.

DRAFT DIRECTIONS

Warning: you must comply with the terms imposed upon you by this order otherwise your case is liable to be struck out or some other sanction imposed. If you cannot comply you are expected to make formal application to the court before any deadline imposed upon you expires.

BEFORE [Deputy] District Judge in the County Court at Lewes on 16 March 2026
UPON hearing the Claimant in person, counsel for the Defendant/Part 20 Claimant and the Part 20 Defendant not attending on the basis that it would not be proportionate for it to travel to the Court
IT IS ORDERED THAT
1 The claim be allocated to the Fast Track on Complexity Band 3.
2 At all stages the parties must consider settling this litigation by any means of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
3 Disclosure of documents will be dealt with as follows:
3.1 by 4pm on [6 weeks after date of order] the parties must give to each other standard disclosure of documents by list and category.
3.2 by 4pm on [7 Weeks after date of order] any request must be made to inspect the original of, or to provide a copy of, a disclosable document.
3.3 any such request unless objected to must be complied with within 7 days of the request.
4 Evidence of fact will be dealt with as follows:
4.1 by 4pm on [14 Weeks after date of order] all parties must serve on each other copies of the signed statements of themselves and of all witnesses on whom they intend to rely and all notices relating to evidence. All witness statements must be verified by a statement of truth in accordance with Part 22 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
4.2 Oral evidence will not be permitted at trial from a witness whose statement has not been served in accordance with this order or has been served late, except with permission from the Court.
5 Expert evidence is directed as follows:
5.1 The parties have permission to rely on the jointly instructed written evidence of an expert.
5.2 The expert’s report will be confined to issues relating to the condition of the Claimant’s vehicle and whether the vehicle purchased by the Claimant was (or would have been) of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose at the point of sale.
5.3 By 4pm on [10 weeks after date of order] the expert should be agreed and instructed, and if no expert has been instructed by that date the Claimant must apply to court by 4pm the following day for further directions. The Defendant’s solicitors are to prepare the first draft of the instructions to the expert, to the extent possible the parties should agree their content.
5.4 By 4pm on [14 weeks after date of order] the expert will report to the instructing parties.
5.5 By 4pm on [16 weeks after date of order] the parties may put written questions to the expert.
5.6 By 4pm on [18 weeks after date of order] the expert will reply to the questions.
5.7 A copy of this order must be served on the expert by the Defendant with the expert's instructions.
5.8 The expert may apply direct to the court for directions where necessary under Rule 35.14 Civil Procedure Rules.
5.9 A party seeking to call the expert to give oral evidence at trial must apply for permission to do so before pre-trial check lists are filed.
5.10 Unless the parties agree in writing or the Court orders otherwise, the fees and expenses of the expert shall be paid by the parties giving instructions for the report equally.
6 Schedules of Loss will be dealt with as follows:
6.1 by 4pm on [20 Weeks after date of order] the Claimant must send an up to date schedule of loss to each other party.
6.2 by 4pm on [22 Weeks after date of order] the Defendant and the Part 20 Defendant, in the event of challenge, must send an up to date counter-schedule of loss to the Claimant and each other.
7 The trial will be listed as follows.
7.1 The trial window is between 10 November 2026 to 8 December 2026 inclusive.
7.2 The estimated length of trial is 1 day for judicial reading.
7.3 By 4pm on [20 Weeks after date of order] pre-trial check lists must be sent to the court and the Claimants to pay the appropriate trial fee.
8 The trial directions are as follows:
8.1 Not more than 7 nor less than 3 clear days before the trial, the Defendant must file at court and serve an indexed and paginated bundle of documents, which complies with the requirements of Rule 39.5 Civil Procedure Rules and Practice Direction 32 paragraph 27. The parties must endeavour to agree the contents of the bundle before it is filed. The bundle will include:
8.1.1 a chronology.
8.1.2 a case summary.
8.1.3 a trial timetable.
8.2 the parties must file with the court and exchange skeleton arguments at least 3 days before the trial by email.
9 Each party must inform the court immediately if the claim is settled whether or not it is then possible to file a draft consent order to give effect to their agreement.
10 Costs in the case.


Does section 5.2 exclude the durability clause of the SOGA that I am relying on? Anyone see anything else I might be missing?

[Frank1]

1. and 10. are very important.
Do not consent to the application for this draft order Argue for your claim to remain in the small claims track. Research the advantages for a LIP in the small claims track.

Also argue that your expert report is suitable. The inspection of engine parts was carried out at the appropriate time. These parts after all this time that has passed will have caused the parts to deteriorate.