Rizwan Ishaq

I bought a Hyundai i30 from Autohero with the Premium warranty. Within days of delivery the engine warning light came on permanently.

The car has been immobilised since 1 September at Automóviles Bonaparte, the workshop Autohero themselves assigned. That workshop completed the diagnosis and sent the repair quote to Autohero on 2 September.

Autohero's own website states: "Respondemos en 24 horas laborables y, una vez recibido el presupuesto, en 48 horas laborables te enviamos el acuerdo de reparación." That deadline passed a long time ago. No agreement, no date, no written explanation.

What has actually happened:

- Every answer has come by phone, never in writing, despite my asking for written confirmation in every single call and email.
- The explanations keep changing. First it was an oil leak. Then they had requested a second quote from another workshop. Then that second workshop was on holiday.
- Nobody will tell me which workshop it is, when it reopens, or how a closed workshop that has never seen my car is supposed to produce a quote for it.
- When I asked for the diagnosis and fault code of my own vehicle, I was told data protection prevented them from giving it to me. It is my car.
- The workshop has now contacted me directly because my car is taking up space in their yard. Autohero told me by phone they will remove it, but again did not put anything in writing: no destination workshop, no collection date, no timeline.

Autohero have confirmed in writing that the quote will be approved "sea en un sitio u otro". So they accept they are paying. This is not a coverage dispute. It is purely their internal process leaving a customer without a car indefinitely.

I paid extra for the Premium warranty precisely so that a fault would not become my problem. Two weeks into ownership I have a car I have barely driven, no vehicle, no date, and no written communication of any kind.

If you are considering Autohero: the buying process was fine. What happens afterwards, if anything goes wrong, is a different company entirely.

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UPDATE – 15 September

Autohero have replied here saying that when the incident was reported it was the holiday period, that the workshop could not attend to me until 20/09, and that they therefore had to find an alternative.

That is not what happened.

The workshop they assigned, Automóviles Bonaparte, attended to the car on 1 September and sent them the quote the very next day, 2 September. There was no wait until 20/09.

They then told me by phone, on several occasions, that the second workshop was on holiday and that this was why nothing could move forward. I contacted that second workshop, My Garage Bilbao, directly. They were not on holiday, and they confirmed they had sent their quote within a day.

I have now spoken to both workshops. Both tell me the same thing: they are waiting for Autohero's answer. Every time I call Autohero, I am told they are waiting for the workshop.

In the meantime I was told to collect my unrepaired car from the workshop — again by phone, again with nothing in writing, and when I asked for a copy of the email instructing this, I was refused on data protection grounds.

On my most recent call I was told the turbocharger part has been ordered, which does not match the reply posted here saying the quote is still being processed.

Three weeks on, I still have not received a single written communication containing a diagnosis, a fault code, or a concrete date. That is all I have been asking for.

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FINAL UPDATE – resolved

The repair has now been completed at My Garage Bilbao and the car is back with me. The turbocharger was replaced, along with the engine oil and filter, and the fault codes were cleared. Autohero covered the full cost, as their warranty provides, and I paid nothing. After requesting it, they also sent me the workshop documentation.

Credit where it is due: the claim was honoured and the work was done properly. My Garage Bilbao in particular were straightforward and easy to deal with throughout.

I am leaving the rating as it is, because the outcome is not what this review was about. Autohero never disputed that they would pay. The problem was that it took roughly a month, during which I had no car, no written communication, no diagnosis, and explanations that turned out not to match what the workshops told me directly.

If you buy from Autohero and something goes wrong: the warranty does work. Be prepared to chase it, keep everything in writing, and call the workshops yourself — they were far more forthcoming than Autohero's own customer service.