Garage hid damage to car, who to complain to?

[pboae]

My sis had a new clutch in her Fiesta on Friday. On Sunday her car overheated, and you could see a pipe was split. She took it to a different garage (near where she had broken down) and that garage showed her where the pipe had split and been *glued* back together again. She has had the car 18 months and there is no way it would've held that long, plus the positon of it makes it look very much like it was damaged during the clutch replacement.

Luckily we were with her in our car when it happened, but it could've failed when she was on the motorway, or when she had the kids with her. I am shocked that a garage would be so irresponsible.

I have suggested she asks for the damaged pipes back when she picks the car up and takes it to the first place and asks for an explanation, my Mum says she should go straight to Trading Standards. I can't see the first garage owning up, so maybe Trading Standards is best. Is there anywhere else that would be more appropriate? She isn't after compensation or anything like that, just wants to make sure that they don't do this to anyone else.

[Cumbrian Male]

I would be handing them the pipes the new garage bill and a report from the new garage as to there findings.

I would want an explanation, the cost of the repairs and lots of grovelling.

[DavidHM]

If the garage broke the car, they owe her for the damage and so she should get a certain amount of compensation for it.

However, unless and until the garage has had the opportunity to make good the damage (your "cover up" could easily be called an "ineffective repair") then there is little or nothing that Trading Standards either can or will do.

[pboae]

When if first happened she rang the original garage first and they said it sounded like the water pump had gone and if she brought it to them (at her own expense) they would look at it for her. But it was going to cost more to have it towed there than it would to get it repaired locally. So I would say they did have the opportunity to make it good. But in any case, even if they had implemented an 'ineffective repair' they should still have told her they had damaged the car in the first place, or at least owned up once the repair had failed.

She has the damaged pipes now anyway, and the car has been fixed, so she is going to back to the first place and see what they say.