Garage damaged my car

bajangal

Ok. This is Part 2 of this scenario.
Since taking the car in I hadn't heard anything from the garage until Friday, when they told me that they had got all the parts in to repair the car. They said that it should be ready by Monday (yesterday). I phoned them yesterday, to be told that they hadn't finished and it should be ready today. So I collected the car today......

1) they have replaced the two front lights

2) the front bumper has been replaced - but it is secondhand - and it has three ribbed dents in it. Very visible to the eye.

3) the offside left panel is slightly damaged at the corner - they either didn't see it or was hoping that I wouldn't see it. Once again, very visible to the eye.

4) The bumper is not fitted properly. There is a clear gap between that and the left hand light. My finger fitted between the two.

Those are all I could see due to it getting dark. I will check again tomorrow for anything else that they might have missed and take some photos.

I queried why they have fitted a secondhand bumper. Their words were along the line of: "we contacted Ford and they told us that a new bumper would take 4-5 months. We decided to get a secondhand one so that you weren't driving a courtesy car for that time".

I said I wanted a NEW bumper and a NEW side panel - simply because they were in pristine condition when the car came in. They have agreed. I got a written agreement that they will replace the parts "in approx 4 months".

I have taken my car as I didn't want to leave it there for 4 months and the courtesy car was pants to drive.

What should my next action be. I don't want to sit back and wait for 4 months and I really don't want them to touch my car again. I don't even trust that they did a good job on the MOT or service.

Would I be in my right to take the car elsewhere to get fixed and forward the bill to them.

Any help would be appreciated as I am really gutted by all this.

bajangal

Anihilator wrote: »

Did it fall off? Or did a mechanic accidentally drive it off the front as he put it on the ramp?

The latter sounds more likely in which case it shouldnt have been a big drop or such, more a front end collision

Either way it sounds ridicolously incompetent.

Insist on them paying for an inspection afterwards to confirm its roadworthy at a garage of your choice.

Did it pass the mot

Apparently it did pass the MOT, but what else could they have said, considering they (supposedly) serviced it as well.

Rolandtheroadie

bajangal wrote: »

Apparently it did pass the MOT, but what else could they have said, considering they (supposedly) serviced it as well.

A service doesnt guarantee an MOT pass.
If it will take THEM 4 months to get the part's, it should take other places the same unless they have them in stock surely.
Get quotes from elsewhere and timescales.
The garage may be waiting for genuine replacement panels though. Other places may be using equivilent parts.
Then if other places are quoting genuine ford parts and reduced timescale, tell the original garage.

anewman

They'd also need to be sprayed wouldn't they?! Would hate to see the paint job done by a bunch of amateurs, would rather it was done by a bodyshop that specialises in those sorts of things.

bajangal

scotsman4th wrote: »

A service doesnt guarantee an MOT pass.
If it will take THEM 4 months to get the part's, it should take other places the same unless they have them in stock surely.
Get quotes from elsewhere and timescales.
The garage may be waiting for genuine replacement panels though. Other places may be using equivilent parts.
Then if other places are quoting genuine ford parts and reduced timescale, tell the original garage.

I will phone a couple of dealers tomorrow and see what their timescales are. Thank you.

goldspanners

have you called a ford dealer to ask availability for a bumper for your car? they should be able to get it quicker than 4 months. failing that the garage could have got a bumper form a body pane specialist who would keep bumpers on thier shelf so to speak.

ive got a bad feeling your being fobbed off in the hope you will forget or get bored and just disappear.

i think i would be taking some real legal advise on this,i would also get in touch with VOSA and as another person said HSE. really poor working practices here by the sounds of it.

get the car to a body shop for a real estimate on what exactly needs done and how long and how much.

did you see your old bumper and lights? this would give you some kind of idea just how big a bump your car got.

bajangal

goldspanners wrote: »

have you called a ford dealer to ask availability for a bumper for your car? they should be able to get it quicker than 4 months. failing that the garage could have got a bumper form a body pane specialist who would keep bumpers on thier shelf so to speak.
I will phone around Ford dealers tomorrow. By the time I had collected the car, checked it over, etc it was too late to do anything - except ask you guys for advice.
I don't know where they got the replacement bumper - just that it was secondhand - or how much effort they genuinely put in to getting a new one.

ive got a bad feeling your being fobbed off in the hope you will forget or get bored and just disappear.
This had crossed my mind - that is why I asked for their commitment in writing.

i think i would be taking some real legal advise on this,i would also get in touch with VOSA and as another person said HSE. really poor working practices here by the sounds of it.
Will do.

get the car to a body shop for a real estimate on what exactly needs done and how long and how much.
I have got details of a bodyshop in Ely - will be contacting them tomorrow.

did you see your old bumper and lights? this would give you some kind of idea just how big a bump your car got.
By the time I got to the garage, the bumper and lights had already been removed although the bumper was stacked against a wall. The main damage was on the left hand side - which was pretty manged and had paint on it. The other side only had a small crack.

Thank you.

Inactive

Your answer is at post#8.

That is disgraceful, do not let them get away with it.

Jakg

Probably a good idea to look at how the car fell - yeah you might have a cracked bumper, but could the suspension be knocked out of alignment?

Cars are built well, but certain components aren't designed to be knocked. For example if the car slid through the middle, I doubt the suspension is meant to take the force of the cars pushing sideways on the wheels...

bajangal

Inactive wrote: »

If you do have any problems, you can take the matter up with VOSA, they control all MOT Stations.

I contacted VOSA, but as it looks as if the car fell during the service - then there's not much they can do. The garage had said they would do the MOT first and then the service. (I took the car in at 9.00 am and got the phone call at 12.44 pm).