Unbelivable...

Wig

Agree with Bossyboots,

Not theft, but taking a vehicle without consent. Driving an uninsured vehicle it was not covered under the employers insurance as it was not inline with business, i.e. testing the vehicle. and it was not covered under his comprehensive insurance as he did not have your permission to drive.

Use of a vehicle in unroadworthy/dangerous condition.

Ignoring all that gaff because it's really not worth the hassle. What he says may be true - it sounds right, he has clamped one of the pipes so the fluid would not leak out. and hence the brakes will work with reasonable effectiveness.

He clamped the pipe presumably because it has a hole in it or there is something wrong further downstream like a leak on a brake cylinder.

If it has a leaking cylinder then a replacement would cost about Max 50 quid inc labour. If it has a perforated pipe, it might cost upto 100 quid to fix (I dunno the cost of a new pipe).

If there was nothing wrong with the pipe before he clamped it he might have damaged it beyond repair and thus he is responsible for replacing the pipe which he damaged by squeezing it shut - if he squeezed the metal pipe shut. He may have put a clamp on the rubber flexible hose part which can be removed, but still I would not be happy if someone did that to my car!

Ask him to tell you *exactly* what was wrong with the car brakes. and to tell you *exactly* what he has done to make it 'driveable'.

I can't believe that it requires 570 quid of work to fix the brakes. This would suggest the master cylinder has gone, but if that was the case then no amount of clamping would bodge fix it.

Get a second opinion, get a reccomendation of an honest garage in your area and ask them to tell you what's wrong with it but b4 you do make sure you know *exactly what he has done to make it driveable. Dunno where you got a figure of 195 for a quote from?

About the car disposal...You did not agree to a disposal, you agreed to let them find out for you if anyone was interested. It is still your car until you agree a deal with the person taking your car and you hand over the V5 slip.

*what you might do (as you have no clue on cars) ask this manager guy to fix your car free of charge and you won't tell his employers or the police about what he did.

AND PLEASE NAME THE GARAGE.

hawkwinddotcom

It maybe worthwhile contacting the AA legal department as it was them who took you to this garage in the first place.

herbert_goon

Hi and thanks for the comments.

I can clarify:

The malfunction was a split hose, causing fluid to leak out over a 2 week period. Being a bit of a lamo, I didn't realise handbrake light doubles as fluid warning. The clamp does nothing more than give the brake pedal "resistance" i.e. when you press it it comes back up again - without the clamp the pedal just squished to the floor. The car has 2 brake circuits - one is non functional so it's definately not a safe drive.

I already went to head office and they won't do anything until they have examined the car. The £570 quote for for a complete set of pads and disks (front and back) and a replacement rubber hose - this is where I am cynical as the car went through an MOT 2 weeks previously with no advisories on the braking system.

Dunno where you got a figure of 195 for a quote from?

Phoned the AA and asked for how much to examine the brakes.


I don't think I have much choice but to let the regional manager examine the car, but timing is a real problem for me as the next mutually acceptable time is in 2 weeks! This is due to a battle with a broadband supplier over their idiot engineer......what have I done wrong????????

madfrenchgirl

Please, Name the garage.

And I would report them to the police! If they had done that to you and you just get your car fixed and dont say anything they might think they got away with it and do it again to someone else.

I had a friend who had a Micra. One day, someone came round her place and slashed her fuel line and brake fluid hoses. They got the car towed to the local garage and they "fixed" her car. They "forgot" to fix the fuel line and petrol was leaking all over her brake pads! She realised that when going round the roundabout! She came back got it properly fixed and got a refund for what they done wrong. Still, she should have reported him to the police as this was purely endangering someone else's life and deceit as they never "fixed" the car.

wobbley

I've heard of this before, some years ago though. But I suspect it goes on a lot. The so called 'mechanic' claims it's not worth repairing when in fact it is. A split hose is not expensive at all. And the fact that it has split probably means the master cylinder (most expensive part) is working fine. Sounds like the usual ploy of trying to tell you that the pads/shoes and or disks/drums need replacing when they actually have plenty of wear in them. A brake inspection at most places will cost nothing. If I were you I wouldn't let the original garage (Which I see you still haven't named !) touch it again. If they tried to con you they are guilty of an offence. If they drove the car in an unroadworthy state they are guilty of an offence. Certainly it is a matter for Trading Standards, and when things become clearer, possibly the police.
It makes me peeved when I hear of these tyre exhaust and brake companies offering mechanics a "parts incentive bonus" which encourages them to 'find' faults on your car whether they exist or not. I know it's a case of 'some good- some bad' with companies like Kwik-Fit and ATS but this type of problem is far too common and no amount of 'naming and shaming' on undercover TV programmes seems to make it better.
Good luck with it and please tell us which company it was?

madfrenchgirl

was it Vauxhall? lol

no honestly, do not let them get away with this!

totally off topic, but:

back in June for the service, they tried to make me believe that i had to pay 180 pounds to replace a badly corroded oil sump... well we had a look and there are traces of oil on the sump coming out of the seal... a seal costs 3 pounds at most! And I check my oil and where I park and there has never been a leak!

For my MOT, I went to the local scrapyard: they do not have a reapri service so no reason for them to "fail" you on purpose. Also i asked them if they knew someone trustworthy for changing brakepads and services (who would use the parts I 'd have purchased) and they pointed me towards someone whom I trust now!

If I were you, I would try to befriend your local scrappy!

Wig

Where is the clamp? can you see it? is it clamping the flexible brake hose? I hope he didn't clamp your metal brake pipe that would mean he is responsible for a new pipe.

For your information I had perished brake hoses a couple of weeks ago, repair bill from the garage was quoted 30 pounds each side = 60 Quid total. You don't have to do them both sides unless they are both perished. One side/pipe at a time is perfectly acceptable. I did them both myself for cost of the parts only = 36 pounds for 2 pipes, manufacturer dealer parts, so better quality than what the garage might have fitted.

If I were you I would inform trading standards of this whole affair. I cannot believe your brakes will be needing complete replacement just because one flexi pipe has failed, they lied to you and you need to report them to trading standards. I would also report the taking of a vehicle without your consent, and driving without insurance and unroadworthy condition.

NAME THE GARAGE

Wig

DO you also know (obviously you don't) that if a garage signs a vehicle as good for an MOT, and after such a short time it needs repairs to this extent, the garage who gave you the MOT is liable to foot the bill for those repairs.

So if the second garage is telling the truth you might have a claim against the MOT garage. For the total repair bill.

If they are lying, you might have a claim for just the one flexi pie failure....**BUT I DOUBT IT**

I know this because a guy bought an old Jaguar, second hand, the second hand dealer had it MOT'd by his friend in the trade, so it was sold with full MOT. A week or 2 later the rear axle fell off whilst going round a roundabout. The inspection showed prolific rust all over the underside of the jaguar. The jag owner made a claim against the MOT tester for the total repair bill totalling 1000's of pounds.

herbert_goon

Ok

I have decided to get the AA to examine the vehicle at the same time as the operations manager for the national "tyre, brake and exhaust" chain.

I know you want me to name the garage, but I don't want to do that until i have this appointment set up. If that last clue isn't enough....they aren't neccessarily the "boys to trust".

I'll post the outcome.

Thanks for all your comments and if anyone has anything else to add please feel free.

quester

OMG, what a horror story, I wonder how this will unfold ?

Some three years ago, I phoned up a local garage to remove
an old car that was really not worth fixing. The vehicle was parked, on the road, outside my home for ONE day whilst waiting for the tow truck to collect it....

Meanwhile on the same day, the police knocked on my door,, asked about the car & wanted to see tax, insurance and MOT certificate for the vehicle. I explained to the police officer that I was waiting for the vehicle to be towed away that very same day, to be scrapped.
It wasn't a vehicle that was being driven about or anything like that (the policeman
hinted that the incident had been reported by a vindictive neighbour) I was under the impression that even he felt that he had better things to be doing with his time.

But...nevertheless...in time, it went to court, and I was given SIX POINTS on my drivers license and a fine for one hundred and some pounds. For a motor car I wasn't even driving.

Just seems rather unfair to me.