My Faulty car in which i almost died

Mr_Bond007

Dear Ladies and gents-

I just need some advice as to the course of action to be taken. I purchased a new BMW in 2007 currently still under warranty from the dealer. Recently it had a fault where a pump was replaced by the dealership. Upon return the vehicle ran ok for a couple of hours but suddenly as i was travelling down the M1 with my kid in the back the car engine ceased running, and all my electrics locked up in the pouring rain which impaired my visibilty my vehicle almost carrired off the hard shoulder as my steering wheel ceased to move and locked in its position whats worse as this happened the failure of ABS and Air bags indicator came up showing they will not work. I genuinely thought for a few minutes i was going to die along with my my 4 year old child.

Thank God- Some how we survived this traumatic experience.

I got on the phone to emergency BMW services where a engineer came ASAP he looked at the car and said the part that was replaced was not replaced properly and a nut was left out when it was changed causing it to tear the belt controlling the electrics and steering of the car hence why the car ceased. It was obviously negiligence on BMW's part which caused the malfunction it could have been alot worse, the odds where stacked against me when that vehicle ceased running and when i think that i may not even have been here today with my kid to tell the tale we survived its really scary and traumitising recollecting those minutes. I am very angry that our lifes were jeopardised my poor kid is so traumitised, to extent afarid to even get in a car.

My question- What could i do? What course of action would be advisable and how would i go about it? And any other info and guidance all you experts can give would be appreciated.

Antcipating you responses

Thank you in advance

anewman

Do you have what the guy said in writing, and signed identifying the person making the comments and their knowledge/technical ability? That would be my first port of call.

Ginger_Nuts_2

Is this a question on who to claim off for nearly dying Or is it a post about bad workmanship leading to a traumatic experience? Personally I would go to the BMW dealership and kick up merry hell, married with the fact you have proof the engineer who came has recorded the details of the poor repair. Not quite sure what you're wanting to achieve

zappahey

Have a stiff drink, make sure it's fixed free of charge and move on.

Mr_Bond007

No i do not have it in writing but i do have a independent witness who heard the engineer state what he did the engineers name was noted. Infact earlier in the week when the vehicle was taken for repair the same engineer was sent out and he suggested that i should book it in with the dealer.

@Ginger Nuts well to be frank i'm !!!!ed off with the work carried out considering the mechanics @ BMW get paid a fortune. Either way i'm looking for compensation?

@Zapphey it would be fixed free as its covered by warranty.

Generali

Mr_Bond007 wrote: »

@Ginger Nuts well to be frank i'm !!!!ed off with the work carried out considering the mechanics @ BMW get paid a fortune. Either way i'm looking for compensation?

@Zapphey it would be fixed free as its covered by warranty.

If you're looking for compensation then get a lawyer and sue them. What loss do you have to sue them for? Have you had to miss work or something as a result of this experience for example?

lincroft1710

I doubt if you would get compensation for an accident that didn't happen. If the BMW dealership complete the second repair(s) satisfactorily under warranty and without charge, then all you could claim for would be any out of pocket expenses incurred as a result of negligence/component failure, which could include a payment for time you spent waiting for engineer and not being able to continue your journey. In respect of your child's trauma, any defence solicitor would probably say this is temporary and delay matters until your child is better.

It's not that I think that your experience was a trivial matter, it's just that trying to pursue a claim will be stressful, costly and may not get you the outcome you are hoping for.

Ginger_Nuts_2

Cant see you having any real case for a claim to be honest, it's all maybe's and perhaps and what if's, the car stopped safely in the end, there was no physical damage to yourselves or the car apart from the repair so what is your basis for claim
As said before, have a stiff drink, and just kick up hell in bmw dealership, now if it was an official bmw technician who came out they should have the exact details of the fault discovered, if it were just a roadside repair bloke, like usual big recovery companies, wouldnt really put too much credance on their diagnosis at roadside;)

hewhoisnotintheknow

we had something similar with our golf, bad earth seems most likely

hewhoisnotintheknow

^ I meant dodgy earth was most likely on our car, not op

paintpot

I understand your anger, shock and what ifs.

Personally, I would want assurances that my car was repaired this time around by someone competent and I would want it checked and signed off by a managing technician.

I would also want to formalise my complaint with BMW so that they investigate their procedures/training and the staff member(s) who signed your car off as safe to be released from the garage.

There will be a job sheet for your car as to who carried out the work and as stated above if it was a BMW recovery person their job sheet should record the problem that caused the incident and this should be available to BMW. I would also expect them to do their own inspection of your car to determine the cause of such a failure.

The most important thing is that this does not happen again to anyone else.

I had an issue with BMW when I had one (not serious like yours though, poor service and workmanship) and they told me that every job is checked and signed off so there should be two signatures on the job sheet. Your garage may work differently I don't know.

The most important thing is that you and your child are safe and well. You may wish to cc any correspondence to their head office.

I would expect at the least a gesture of goodwill from them along with an apology and an investigation at their end. Maybe a free servive, tyres etc. It depends how far you want to take it.