Dealer claims car was in an accident

So I have a 2013 Evoque that I bought used last year. It is still under warranty and I took it in to the dealer for a leaky tail light (lots of moisture that doesn't clear) and a rattle from the rear of the car.

They called back and said it looks like it's been in an accident (which there are no records of) and therefore the tail light and the liftgate alignment won't be covered under warranty.

When pressed further, they claimed the "seals" had been tampered with on the tail light. A couple weeks back I took off the tail light to check to see if there were any holes or damage causing it to leak. I noticed the foam tape along the top of the housing had half fallen off, so I glued it back on. Now the dealer is claiming that it was in an accident because of that.

I also have never noticed any alignment issues with the tailgate (rub marks, visible alignment issues outside).

Can they really deny warranty coverage if I just re-glued the foam tape? What recourse do I have?

Quick update, the dealer is now covering the tail light under warranty (no word on why), but says that the tail gate misalignment will not be covered as it is "outside the window" to be fixed under warranty. He mentioned it is only fixed within 12 months of delivery under the warranty. That seems exceptionally strange.

What is the normal LRNA warranty on a used Evoque - 12 months or 24 months? In the UK we are currently getting 24 months on used cars but it is a "special deal" and normally you would get 12 months here. However the tailgate misalignement here would be covered under the standard 3 years manufacturers new car warranty not the used car warranty.

The balance of the factory warranty is fully transferable in the US. I don't see how the lift gate wouldn't be covered under that unless it was misused or in an accident (which to my knowledge it was not), contributing to the misalignment.

It seems like they are claiming that this only occurs from the factory, and that it is not possible for it to come out of alignment during normal use. If you don't claim it within 12 months, you're out of luck?

If it has been repaired in the UK then there is another 12 months warranty on the repairs, if they were done by an LR dealership at an approved repair centre. Do you know when the damage was repaired?

(29-11-2016 07:53am)XFullFatTim Wrote:  If it has been repaired in the UK then there is another 12 months warranty on the repairs, if they were done by an LR dealership at an approved repair centre. Do you know when the damage was repaired?

There was no damage that I am aware of. They only think it was damaged because I re-glued that foam tape and they therefore think someone "was in there" and "tampered" with it.