Advice on claiming back fees from Garage?

sleepymy

Hello, I've had my mazda 323 at two different garages (well one was an electrical shop) because of backfiring problems and an engine light staying on.

The electrical shop ran a diagnostic and said that there was a problem with the coils, they replaced a coil and the problem continued so the swapped the new coil with the other one and the problem continued. They then said it must be the leads running to the coils so changed them and the problem continued. When my husband asked if they'd checked the sparkplugs they said the would change all 4 (at £18.50 each + labour) but didn't look to see if they needed changed. By this time they had taken just over £300 off us and we realised that they seemed to be quite happy to play about with parts willy nilly if we were footing the bill so we took the car back.

I then took the car to a Mazda dealer and asked for their diagnostic which diagnosed a faulty knock sensor. My husband asked if they were sure it was causing the problems because we didn't want to pay for yet more parts if it wasn't going to fix the problem. They assured us they were confident in the diagnosis and changed the knock sensor, the car was no better. They admited that they got it wrong, but made no mention of a refund for the £195 we had paid them. Instead they asked us to leave the car with them for a few days to see if they could diagnose the fault. They had the car for 9 days and eventually said we'd need to replace the cat. The car is only worth about £1,500 trade in and to change the cat would cost about £1,100. They said the car wasn't drivable and advised us to basically scrap her.

We picked the car up (it was still drivable) and, in desperation, took it to a spark my brothers use. He ran the diagnostic for about 2 minutes, said it was dirty oil and told us to buy the oil, filter & flush and get someone to change it. My brother changed the oil just over a week ago and the car has went so well since (with the odd backfire) that it passed it's MOT on Monday. During the MOT check it only needed the brakes & hand break tightened and the guy who worked on it said he'd gladly take it as a trade in if we see anything we like in his yard.

Now, what I'm hoping is that the MOT is proof that the cat is fine and evidence that the second garage didn't really have a clue what they were doing (they're a main retailer!). I feel that both garages have either been incompetent or worse and would really like to get my £500 + back considering neither of them actually improved the running of the car never mind fix it.

I've checked the consumer site but can't find anything regarding reclaiming for bad work and was wondering if anyone knows where I can start to claim this money back.

I'm figuring a letter to each with the threat of small claims action but don't have a clue where to find any legislation which might cover them.

Sorry this is so long, I hope someone can help cos I'm just scoundered with the whole farce

Conor_3

Dirty oil has never and will never cause the problems you describe and TBH, if the bloke you took it to said it was the cause of the fault, he's no better than the other two . It's still backfiring so it's not been fixed.

sleepymy

But why has is improved dramatically from the oil change then?

Locoblade

I agree with Conor, I can't see any way how an oil change would cause/cure a backfire. In addition you can't "run a diagnostic" to confirm dirty oil anyway, at least not on older cars, so if that's what you've been told, its almost certainly incorrect.

Even if whilst looking at the car a mechanic did decide the oil needed changing (by looking at the dipstick), there's no way they could immediately summise that the backfire fault was being caused by the oil, because there really is no relation.

Without getting too technical (or trying not to), a backfire is usually caused either when unburnt fuel is ejected down the exhaust manifold which is then ignited by the hot exhaust pipe, or when the fuel mixture ignites too early in the process which actually allows the incoming fuel to ignite before it reaches the main part of the engine and is sealed inside. The cause of this can be various things like incorrect engine timing, faulty sensors, failing ignition systems etc, but not oil. Oil in a engine is simply a lubricant, it isn't involved in this combustion process, it doesn't mix with fuel and to all intents and pursposes isn't present in the cylinder / combustion chamber area where the fuel comes from to cause the backfire, hence why it can't cause/cure a backfire.

I don't know the reason why your car has improved, its possible during the oil change process a badly connected/corroded wire causing the issue has been disturbed which has temporarily made things better, but everything the first two garages did, although not resolving the issue, sound like sensible things to change given the symptoms, although I do agree that given the car passed its emission test, it would suggest the cat is OK.

Hintza

You can't claim back what you have paid. This is one of the joys of car ownership. If you don't like it buy a new car in warranty and change when the warranty runs out.

I have seen folk running around for months trying to diagnose a problem. The garage will do it's best 99% time.

Bad luck.

hewhoisnotintheknow

how do you expect them to get everyhing right first time, theres a fault somewhere and they are trying a methodical method to find it?

Why was your oil so dirty? How often do you get it serviced

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

£1,100 for a cat?

The front section of my exhaust, including cat, cost £350 to buy. That's expensive, and it was a branded Mercedes part. I fitted it myself, but at a garage it would be an hour, two at most, of labour.

From what you've written, I think the garage has gone through the correct procedure. You'll have to accept that cars are complex machines and not often easy to diagnose when faulty.