In reply to Ciro:
It won't get them out of the sale of goods act, which means it should be fit for purpose if maintained properly, but it may void the warranty if it's worded that way. They could try to argue the independent firm hasn't serviced it properly and it's the service provider that's at fault. I would guess, but not sure, that the onus would then be on you to show it was a manufacturing or design issue, not a wear and tear issue. Whereas if it's under warranty they would have to prove it's not within the warranty. (I'm not an expert on consumer law, but this is my understanding - maybe someone more expert will add to this or correct any misunderstandings)
As an aside in an area I know more about...
That's the main reason wind turbines are serviced by the OEM until the warranty runs out.... (then either a full service agreement is taken out with the OEM maintenance division, a 3rd party, or in house maintenance is carried out.)
