I want to strangle my mechanic!!!

Quentin

Mrs_P_Pincher wrote: »

I know the head gasket problem is separate from the MoT, and I know the difference between getting a car through an MoT and getting it serviced, but it seemed sensible to ask him to look at the two issues on the same visit. I didn't speak to him until I went to pick the car up.

The advice given, (and question asked of you about whether or not you discussed the water loss problem before giving authorisation for the MOT repairs) was relevant to your op. Your original post asked for advice on what to say to your garage when speaking to them because "I want my money back", so don't know why you are getting stroppy!

You have no grounds for demanding a refund. You authorised the MOT work!

If you were in two minds as to whether the car was worth spending money on, then that is the conversation you should have had before authorising the MOT repairs. As it is the garage contacted you for authorisation, and you gave it!

blued

The way I read your first post is that you put your car to your local mechanic and asked that he check for a water leak and then MOT it. He should have checked the leak before sending it away for the MOT but obviously didnt. If a head gasket was on the way out when it got to the garage then the car sitting idling for up to the length of the time they spent carrying out the MOT is almost certainly going to have made the head gasket worse.

A good mechanic would have checked the water leak first. He has just put it for an MOT, received the fail sheet, costed the job for him to do the repairs (may have been more than £250 and he's rounded it down because you are a friend of his wifes or less and he's rounded it up because that was your max!) and got it through the MOT.

I think because he is partly at fault he should offer to do the work to repair your car at a reduced rate. Not that you want that now though...

Have to say this is a common situation though. A guy I work with always puts his car to a friends husband and comes back with big bills for other things that they suggest he should get repaired at the same time. He just takes their word on whatever they say needs done!

Premier_2

Mrs_P_Pincher wrote: »

...It is virtually undriveable because it's over-revving ...

But the work carried out, i.e. "some welding, replacement trailing arms and bushes" would not affect how the car engine runs.

You hadn't mentioned this fault earlier in the thread, and so presumably therefore didn't ask the mechanic to investigate this matter when you took the vehicle into him.

If the over-reving engine doesn't affect the MOT results (and I'm not sure how it wouldn't affect it as the engine is tested at both idle & is required to be held at about half maximum engine speed for about 20 seconds to conduct emissions test correctly), then the mechanic has done exactly what was asked of him.

Dave101t

i think 'back street garage; says it all.
my brother used the same one too, for years, then they knacked up his car and he of course had no available remedy.

if the gasket is still only 'going'. do the job yourself with a friend, its suprisingly easy.

mchale

blued wrote: »

The way I read your first post is that you put your car to your local mechanic and asked that he check for a water leak and then MOT it. He should have checked the leak before sending it away for the MOT but obviously didnt. If a head gasket was on the way out when it got to the garage then the car sitting idling for up to the length of the time they spent carrying out the MOT is almost certainly going to have made the head gasket worse.

Totally correct, the mechanic should have checked for water leak 1st of all before doing any work on it for the MOT, especially it being a Rover

espresso

mchale wrote: »

Totally correct, the mechanic should have checked for water leak 1st of all before doing any work on it for the MOT, especially it being a Rover

So did the OP enquire about the coolant loss problem when they were rang for approval to spend £250 on the MOT work?

We know the answer to that one don't we!

:rolleyes:

bevanuk

By your description of the white smoke and engine temperature the head gasket has already gone. Explain your dissatisfaction and get him to do it on the cheap, then you have a MOT'd car with a new head gasket.
The job itself isn't complicated, just time consuming and the parts are cheap - maybe he can help you out.

darich

Mrs_P_Pincher wrote: »

It is virtually undriveable because it's over-revving and was up past the red on the temperature gauge after less than a mile. Oh and there's quite a lot of white smoke as well now. I had to nurse it the three miles home.

You might not have the choice of scrapping it now if the water temperature was past the red and you continued to to drive for three miles.

Why did you continue to drive the car if saw the water temperature in the red? It's red at the top of the guage because it's dangerous to be there. As soon as the temperature started edging towards that end of the guage you should have switched off and either topped up the water to continue home or called the AA.

If you've driven for too long with the water temperature there and "lots of white smoke" (actually steam from the boiling water leaving your engine) then you may have warped the head.
That is fixable but costs to have the head skimmed and it can only be skimmed so far.

Your could well be kaput already.

Morally I think the garage should have told you of the problem. But since you authorised the work for the MOT which he did and then gave you a certificate for, you'll be struggling to claim any money back since you authorised all work that was done.

mchale

espresso wrote: »

So did the OP enquire about the coolant loss problem when they were rang for approval to spend £250 on the MOT work?

We know the answer to that one don't we!

:rolleyes:

Irrelevant any mechanic worth their salt would know 214 rover + water loss= head gaskest , so if he was on the case he should have est the cause of water leak before doing any other work, its COMMON SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Volcano

Dave101t wrote: »

i think 'back street garage; says it all.

........I think it says nothing at all.

When you've got an old banger and a few hundred quid of repairs is the difference between keeping it or scrapping it, then you have to accept that they'll be certain faults that will occur that can instantly write it off (clutch going, headgasket, emissions and welding for MOT etc).

Your £500 car could go on for another 2 years and 20K miles, or it might splutter to a stop next week. I can see how the situation is annoying for you, but as others have said, get the head gasket fixed and you (might) get another year's motoring out of it. Dirt cheap still when you see how much new cars lose in depreciation each year.