Advice about dodgy repair on car

crank_girl

Hi forum! I'm after a bit of advice about a problem I'm having with a mechanic...

It's a bit of a sorry saga stretching back to July. I had my Mazda Bongo serviced by a local mechanic. I asked for the standard service - oil and filters. I collected my vehicle and then took it out for a drive only to breakdown in quite the most catastrophic way at the side of the motorway (with two dogs in the back!) There was a lot of white smoke coming from the back and a bubbling noise coming from the engine.

The recovery agent quickly deduced he couldn't fix it there and then. I mentioned I'd just had it serviced and he was surprised as there was absolutely no coolant left when he checked. He towed me back to the garage I'd just come from and said I should ask whether the coolant levels had been checked. I mentioned this to the mechanic who said "You never asked me to check coolant!"

Having checked this out with the recovery agent and my mechanic brother-in-law I understand that this is the secondmost important check in a service. Phoned the mechanic back absolutely fuming that a) he didn't check and b) he tried to shirk responsibility. To cut a long story short he accepted some responsibility for the problem and agreed to provide labour for free once he worked out what the problem was. Turned out to be a cracked cylinder head. Ouch!

I sourced a second-hand (skimmed, pressure tested and guaranteed for a year/12000 miles) head at the end of August. I got my vehicle back on 13th Oct. I phoned on 13th for an update and was told it was ready to go. He said I owed him £35 for a head test and anything I wanted to give for the labour as he'd spent a lot of time on it. I asked if it had been test driven and was told that wasn't necessary - it was running fine.

I called round to test drive it for myself before accepting it back repaired and noticed white smoke coming from the back. I was told that was normal - just vapour in the exhaust. Whilst driving I pulled up at some traffic lights and nearly tipped over backwards. The engine is underneath the seats and they hadn't bothered to clip them back into place or to secure the central console back in place. Five minutes into the test drive white smoke started to pour from the back. I pulled over and switched the engine off. White smoke continued to pour out for a good minute or so. I called the mechanic who assured me its a brand new problem and nothing to do with his work. He told me to wait for it to cool down and bring it in.

I'd lost faith in him by this point and took the van home. When I checked it over I noticed damage to the paintwork and that the upholstery was covered in oil.

I've contacted trading standards and quite frankly I'm confused. Apparently I have to return the vehicle to him for him to make good on his mistake. But as far as I can see I've already given him that opportunity in allowing him to repair the vehicle after he neglected to complete the service I paid him for. My other concern is that he's not fitted the head properly and damaged it. If I return it he can claim it's a dodgy head (which is a possibility I guess) and cover up his mistake. I'll then get caught in a dispute between the machine shop that provided the head and the mechanic. I also don't trust the mechanic to complete the work to a good standard. He's cocked up once, maybe twice.

What's the best next step? I'm sending the mechanic a letter of complaint detailing the things I'm unhappy with, but what next? Independent engineer? I've tried contacting other mechanics to get them to evaluate the work and then potentially make good on the repairs (with a view to suing the original mechanic for the cost) but none want to get involved where there might be legal proceedings.

Thanks for reading my lengthy tome! Knowing nothing about cars and little about consumer rights I thought it best to include everything.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Sarah

Unity

The following article might be of use to you: -

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Lambeth.WebApps.TradingStandards/Detail_AdviceConsumers.aspx?DocumentNo=122488&Classification=Motor_vehicles

In addition if you are a member of the RAC, you could ask them for advice - they may even be able to check the van over for you - at a cost obviously, but if you did need to claim against the mechanic you might be able to recover the costs.

It's a rotten situation to find yourself in and I wish you luck with it.

crank_girl

Thanks Unity. I'll check out the link.

I'm not a member of the RAC - I did ask my recovery agent if they performed such checks but sadly not.

custardy

does the garage have priced services?
eg £x for a 50 point service or whatever?
the reason i ask is some garages do just an oil change.so if you ask for oil and filter then that is what you get.
if however you were getting a basic service then checking fluid levels should/would be part of it

crank_girl

custardy wrote: »

does the garage have priced services?
eg £x for a 50 point service or whatever?
the reason i ask is some garages do just an oil change.so if you ask for oil and filter then that is what you get.
if however you were getting a basic service then checking fluid levels should/would be part of it

I don't know that they have priced services. However, I did ask for a basic service and specified oil and filters as part of that.

The mechanic acknowledges he was remiss in the servicing, agreeing to do the work for free.

deanos

Mazda Bongo

Im sorry for this.............

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

What a name for a car !

Good luck OP

Keeop

Hi Sarah,

Do you have free legal advice as part of a home insurance policy? If so, it's worth getting in contact with them as if you have a good case, they will sort out any independant reports etc. Failing that, a trip to your local Citizens Advice Bureau should prove useful. There's also a government run phone line you can ring for 'Consumer Direct' - just Google it as I can't paste links! On that site you will find both advice, sample letters, plus you can speak to a real person!

Cheers.
Keeop

crank_girl

Thanks Keeop. Will check my policy.

Hey deanos - what's in a name? It's a fantastic campervan and one of the nicest vehicles I have ever driven. :P