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On the 10th Dec 2007 I took my car into the garage to have a pipe fitted to the air-conditioning pump. It had originally been broken when the mechanic fitted a new pump, he admitted what he'd done and offered to replace the pipe at his cost.
I dropped the car off at about 10am and went to work. At about 12.30 my mobile rang. "There's something seriously wrong with your car, there's water & oil pouring out of it and I think the head gaskets blown cos it's overheated" was what greeted me when I answered the call.
My partner and I rushed round to the garage, accompanied by a colleague who's an ex-mechanic. A rather nervous young mechanic greeted us, swearing he'd only left the car ticking over for 5 mins and it had over-heated causing major damage. "It must have had something wrong when it came in and it had no oil or water in it" Strange, because that morning I had driven in excess of 100 miles with no problems and I knew for a fact that the oil and water were fine as I'd checked them the day before. Added to all that the car has an on-board computer which warns you long before fluids reach dangerously low levels. The same mechanic had even commented on how smoothly the car was running when I dropped it off.
The upshot was that the garage owner, whilst not admitting liability agreed to carry out all of the work on the car free of charge, I reluctantly agreed to pay for parts up to £100. He promised I'd have the car back for Christmas. Despite constant calls and visits the car still wasn't ready by the Friday before Christmas, but was promised for Christmas Eve. Surprise, surprise, it wasn't ready and the garage was closed. They remained closed until 7th January - I was on the verge of reporting the car as stolen as there was no sign of it in the garage or yard when they finally got in touch. As yet no work had been carried out on the car, it hadn't even been stripped down.
To cut a long story short I called and wrote and visited constantly in an effort to get the car repaired or at least a date for completion. I was constantly promised "Next week, next week..." Finally, last month - 3 months to the day, they called me. But not to say it was ready, Oh no that would be too simple for these Muppet's. They'd built it all up again after having one of the heads skimmed, but it's a V6, it has two heads and they'd "thought" only one had blown so hadn't checked the other until now! Yes, you've guessed it the whole engine had to be stripped down again for the other head to be skimmed.
It's now nearly 4 months down the line, the engine has almost been re-assembled - I've been guaranteed it will be ready on 4 occasions in the last week, needless to say those promises have not been fulfilled. The tax has expired, the MOT has run out, they've managed to crack the windscreen, there are several scratches on the bodywork, the wiper blades have been removed (why?) and the upholstery is covered in oil.
They've promised it'll be ready tomorrow. If it was drivable it'd be out of there but when the engine is in bits what the hell can I do but carry on waiting and watching my car fall to bits.
By: Cuteface
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Mazza
they are just at it, my uncle got given a ford fiesta by a friend when he found himself without a car, it had been sitting in storage for a year and had done 70 miles from the last MOT, the guy who had it had bought it for his son, who bought a nice new car, the man didnt like it because it was too small and his wife didn't like it as it has tinted side windows and 5 spoke alloys, so it sat for a year.
A maechanic friend looked it over and said all it needed was a hoover and a wash, so he put it in for an MOT, it had new brakes, new shocks and a new oil change/filter as well as 3 brand new tyres just after the last MOT.
The garage took it in, said oh o it needs the headlights re aligned, 2 new tyres, a new radiator hose, the emissions are too high and we'll need to check the engine as well due to the emissions.
My uncle has no choice but to deal with this garage as it is the only one for 70 miles and thats that, they have done it to him with every vehicle he has had for the last 15 years and he's too polite so he will just pay up their rediculous made up charges, he's being nice and they just think he's a sucker.
The car has been in for "MOT" adjustments for 2 weeks now and when he phones them, they are "just working on getting the emissions down" come on its just a little petrol 1.2 fiesta, there are a lot worse old rattling deisel vehicles out there that they dont bother with..
Parts at such and such pounds, labour at 30 per hour times, lets see...thinks a bit...11 and a half hours...plus VAT..ahem..
I took my vauxhaul frontera to my local garage for the m.o.t and it failed just on a few little things ie. head light brackets, wiper blade, drive shaft gator and a circlip on the drive shaft.
Took it back yeterday to have the work done they told my wife that it would cost around £100 including parts and labour and to come back at 4pm to pick it up, went back and the truck was on the ramp with both front wheels off. They had fitted new brake pads, and a lower ball joint without asking can they fit them without asking. It didnt fail on these can you advise on what to do next?
Thank you
They should lose their business license for incompetance, breach of contact, and deceptive business practices among others. We can only imagine what horrors other customers have endured. I agree with others here who have said you are entitled to rental car fees and probably other damages. The longer you leave your car there, the worse it will be.
You gave them more than enough time. Now it is time for you to make legal choices, not them.
Most modern cars have more than one clock now, the new bmw 5 series has something like six seperate odometers stored in the ECU. If I was you have i'd have a word with my local VW franchise for some advice. If it turns out to be clocked offer the dealer who sold it to you 48 hrs to refund your money otherwise you're going to trading standards.
Most modern cars have more than one clock now, the new bmw 5 series has something like six seperate odometers stored in the ECU. If I was you have i'd have a word with my local VW franchise for some advice. If it turns out to be clocked offer the dealer who sold it to you 48 hrs to refund your money otherwise you're going to trading standards.
Imagine if you'd have got a hire car for 4 months and you were the one forking out for it! That's approximately £50 a day for around 120 days, I'm no mathematician but that's an awful lot of money just for a hire car.
I hope you get your car back in the condition you left it - it all sounds dodgy to me. Makes you wonder whether the young lad who said it was "running smoothly" took it out for a thrash what with it being a V6 or they're just conning you. Did they show you the evidence that there was no oil or water in it, that it had all poured out and that it'd been overheating? Surely there'd be tell tale signs if the head gaskets were on their way out?
As I say, they sound dodgy, would you be up for naming and shaming?
They won't be in a rush to do it because they said they'd not charge you the labour. You'd think they'd get onto it straight away so that it can be done, out their way so that your car isn't taking up the space for a car that they can make money on.
I suspect the wiper blades will have been removed... actually no, the whole arms should've been removed if they intended replacing the windscreen, not just the blades.
I'd suggest what Pugs has and report to trading standards, I'd also get them on damage to your property. Haven't they even put protective covers on the seats whilst they're working on it?
Francis
I delivered the car to an independant garage specialising in automatic gearboxes for over 30 years. I had been recommended to use the garage.
The owner said that he had done a lot of these and it would be ready within a week. There was a delay in getting the part but it was duly fixed and I collected it. It was quiet and ran smoothly, but would not run at over 30 miles per hour.
I returned the car ten minutes later and once again took the loan car while he looked into the problem.
That was 3 months ago, and although I telephone every week I get another reason why they can't get it running or can't get a part which has become necessary. Now I am waiting for the "computer to be rebooted".
I wish I had just put up with the noise, but as I was assured it was a known fault, and I could afford the quotation from a recommended garage, Plus he sounded confident, I went ahead happily.
I am now at a loss about what to do