Car developed electrical faults while in for repair

saint_david

My car broke down 3 weeks ago (clutch + pedal box problem) and was towed to a garage specified by myself.

Whilst in for repair, the garage phoned to tell me that the wiring loom beneath the steering column was burnt/melted and the indicators weren't working.

They've had an auto electrician in whos said its serious and will cost between £400 - £500 to get sorted.

I've had no issues with the indicators prior to it going in for repair at the garage. They say the pedal box may have damaged the wiring loom when it broke or shoddy work by a previous garage may be to blame.

Do I have any choice other than to cough up and get it fixed, or are the garage responsible and trying to fob me off? For what its worth, the bill BEFORE the electrical work is over £830.

w.dws

Damaged could have been caused when the car broke down as i'd guess that you had no problems with clutch or pedal box before the breakdown either. The garage that you choose to get it towed to was one you specified and so i'm guessing that it's one you trust. You don't have to have the work carried out by this garage and the garage certainly aren't responcible for faults on a broken down car you have had towed to them. However, it could be worth you getting an auto electrician of your choice to inspect the damage to wiring loom and give you a price for repair.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

you could ask the garage what part of the loom is burnt/damaged, what car are we talking about? new 08-present, moderate old Y-08, old old 11 years +
im may just be that you could get the info on what part of the loom is damaged and purchase from salvage or order main dealer, and just pay for the fitting as youve supplyed the parts. bear in mind not all engines in the same range of vehicles have the same engines and differ slightly as per ENGINE CODE so you would need the loom for your engine e.g vauxhaul astra 1.4 x14xe engine code wireing loom may not fit a astra 1.4 x14ce engine as the plugs ends may be different and have different wireing.


sounds baffling but if you can give as much info to a dealer like your registration number this would help them an you source the loom quickly and easily and engine type so you can hunt for the loom in a salvage and be right for the garage first time.

the other option you would have is to have your own auto lecky cast his professional eye over the loom thats damaged, if it repairable all well and good if its cheaper than purchasing a new/used loom. if not he may have to manufacter his own with what is left of the loom and this is where it tends to get pricey as he has to solder,order cable of the correct size and colour, and when built will have to test the loom with a circuit tester to see if it operates properly extensively and is time consuming and costly.

i dont think the garage is at fault of something like this and lucky they spotted it as your indicator on your instrument panel may have worked but the actual indicator flashing may have not.