Wrong diagnosis of car fault cost us over £300. Do we have any rights?

TiTheRev

I am not denying that that was what they diagnosed, but if it didnt fix the problem you wouldn't have paid for it! They have a system called speculative ordering and they could have returned the pump to VW with no loss to you or the dealership. It's YOUR decision to take the car away and buy your own pump for £300 on their recommendation. They could have tried the pump, then the 'controller' (what ever that is?!), then anything else that they wanted to, but at no cost to you except some time to allow them to diagnose it with proper guided fault finding. If you didnt keep taking the car away from them they may have chance to work it out 1st time.

mikey72

TiTheRev wrote: »

I am not denying that that was what they diagnosed, but if it didnt fix the problem you wouldn't have paid for it! They have a system called speculative ordering and they could have returned the pump to VW with no loss to you or the dealership. It's YOUR decision to take the car away and buy your own pump for £300 on their recommendation. They could have tried the pump, then the 'controller' (what ever that is?!), then anything else that they wanted to, but at no cost to you except some time to allow them to diagnose it with proper guided fault finding. If you didnt keep taking the car away from them they may have chance to work it out 1st time.

Or they could have charged you £1550 for the pump and a further £500 to £1000 for the ecu.
If a main dealer gets a recommendation wrong at £90 an hour, what do you pay for a decent mechanic to actually diagnose the problem?
Post what the fault was if you get another garage to sort it out.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Erm, why do you think you're entitled to any money back? The dealer offered their opinion, they didn't guarantee to fix the fault. Your husband then went elsewhere. Unless you paid the dealer for that fault diagnosis, you're owed nothing.

TiTheRev

The dealer was never given achance to back up their recommendation, as the OP took their car away before they had a chance to help. The dealer would NOT have charged them for the wrong part...it's the way VW do things! I should know

They only had an hour to make that diagnosis...show me a technician who can confidently make that kind of bold claim on any car or issue without getting it wrong??? We've still not eliminated the possibility that the 'recon' pump isnt at fault too?!?

mikey72

TiTheRev wrote: »

The dealer was never given achance to back up their recommendation, as the OP took their car away before they had a chance to help. The dealer would NOT have charged them for the wrong part...it's the way VW do things! I should know

They only had an hour to make that diagnosis...show me a technician who can confidently make that kind of bold claim on any car or issue without getting it wrong??? We've still not eliminated the possibility that the 'recon' pump isnt at fault too?!?

Well after it went back with a new pump to the dealer the op's post states
"They agreed on a price of £70 per hour, and after this further hour, stated that the problem was with the 'controller' and never with the diesel distributor pump."

They could have got it wrong twice I suppose.

TiTheRev

mikey72 wrote: »

Well after it went back with a new pump to the dealer the op's post states
"They agreed on a price of £70 per hour, and after this further hour, stated that the problem was with the 'controller' and never with the diesel distributor pump."

They could have got it wrong twice I suppose.

A 'new' pump that was actually a recon, and probably only guaranteed for 3months. What controller are we talking about?

rosie383

We did pay them for the diagnosis of the fault. I don't agree that it was the right thing to leave the car with them to fix at a cost of £1550. It would have been cheaper at that stage to scrap the car.
If we had left it with them, and they charged that amount and the pump DID work, then we would have paid out more than the value of the car IYKWIM.
I know that diagnosis is not an exact science, but when you take it to the experts, and they tell you what is wrong, why should we have to pay their fees to fix it? They were happy for us to take the car away, and I think we had a right to try to get the car back on the road for a lesser price.
If we had left it with them to fix, and the pump wasn't the problem, how much would we have been out of pocket to find that out? I'm sure we would have been charged for at least a few more hours of labour until we had the correct fault diagnosed.
As far as the controller is concerned... that's what they said is now the problem, and it looks like again being a very expensive part.
I am going to have a look at their T&C if I can find them, and see what it says about incorrect diagnosis, and monies paid for same.

gilbert_and_sullivan

It might have been better to have given the indy you probably used VW's opinion as to the fault and let them decide if that was the case.

A Diesel car out of warranty i wouldn't take to the main dealer but to a recommended Diesel specialist for proper evaluation and repair, sometimes all the diagnostic equipment in the world can lead a mechanic up the wrong path, thats where specialist knowledge and years of learning errors comes in.

Put it down to experience Rosie, we've all had things like this over the years luckily for you it was only £300 plus fitting (thats not meant flippantly), some have spent thousands having multiple components replaced where a tuppeny ha'penny item was all that was wrong, most of them never find out.

rosie383

My dh really doesn't want to let this drop. I know what you mean G&S, but he really feels he has been treated unfairly. He wants me to speak to Trading Standards. I will talk to them, but without any T&C from the dealership, I don't know how it would go. Their website services section states that all their work is guaranteed. Not sure if this applies to diagnostic services, or parts fitted.
It will all come down to whether they acted negligently or if it is reasonable for them to be allowed to give wrong diagnosis and expect people to accept it.
We had 2 different independent garages try to diagnose the fault before we took it to the dealer. So when they told us they knew exactly what the fault was, why would we doubt them? We had to act on what they said.

TiTheRev

rosie383 wrote: »

My dh really doesn't want to let this drop. I know what you mean G&S, but he really feels he has been treated unfairly. He wants me to speak to Trading Standards. I will talk to them, but without any T&C from the dealership, I don't know how it would go. Their website services section states that all their work is guaranteed. Not sure if this applies to diagnostic services, or parts fitted.
It will all come down to whether they acted negligently or if it is reasonable for them to be allowed to give wrong diagnosis and expect people to accept it.
We had 2 different independent garages try to diagnose the fault before we took it to the dealer. So when they told us they knew exactly what the fault was, why would we doubt them? We had to act on what they said.

Parts and labour are guaranteed for 2years...IF you have something fitted, not diagnosed.

How can a garage act negligently with a car diagnosis??? If 2 other independant garages couldn't find the fault why aren't you looking to sue them too?!

You would NOT have paid for the pump if it didnt fix the problem. You may have paid for more labour for them to investigate further (the same as any garage would!) but only with your consent.

You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't as a dealer :huh: