We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
shoddy chevvy garage. help!
We have a 2005 Chevrolet Tacuma that we bought from the Chev dealer in norwich in 2008. Not had a problem until now.
last september (end of) they did the 40k service, including the cambelt. I was told I MUST have this done to ensure the engine doesnt break. fairy snuff. £275 with a free MOT included I thought our car was safe from major mechanical breakdown. I was wrong. :mad:
New Year's Day, hubby and I popped up the garage in our car (3miles away & we live in the country). When we pulled out of the garage the car died. AA brought us home. The AA man suspected something to do with the cambelt. Then yesterday the AA came to take the car to a garage. He advised me against taking it to Thurlow Nunn up Norwich, where the work had been done on the cam and he suggested a local garage which he said is "more honest". We had used that garage with previous cars, so thats where our car went for an independant appraisal.
The independant garage has taken the cam cover off and has said that one of the pullys broke, which caused the cambelt to slip and probably caused damage to the engine.
The pulleys are usually replaced with the cambelt as they are part of the same kit. I spoke to Thurlow Nunn and they said they DIDNT replace the pulleys cos they "looked ok". I said "they obviously werent, were they?" to which the reply was "you cant always tell by looking". so then WHY NOT replace them as standard as other garages do? 2 independant garages I've spoken to are incredulous that TN didnt replace the pullys. i told the guy at TN all this. He just kept going back to the same line "they were inspected and looked ok". ggggggrrrrrrr
I stuck to my line of "they should have been replaced cos other garages do it" and he asked which garage the car was at. I told him, and I told him to phone and speak to them, which he refused to do. He asked what exactly they'd done to the car & i said just taken the cam cover off I think and he went off to talk to his boss.
He came back and said that whilst they dont accept theyve done anything wrong, they will pay for the car to be recevered up to them so they can have "a proper look at it". I said I'll phone back tomorrow after I've thought about it.
but what is the point of taking it to them as they wont accept responsibility and will charge us more than if the independant garage fixes it?? the independant garage owner is incredulous at how theyre behaving at Thurlow Nunn.
I cant phone the citizens advice till tomorrow and I need advice now please! Even the independant garage owner (Smith) doesnt know what to suggest. I'm all for going to Anglia News, but I want to know what my rights are please! Smiths is saying £600+ estimate to repair
last september (end of) they did the 40k service, including the cambelt. I was told I MUST have this done to ensure the engine doesnt break. fairy snuff. £275 with a free MOT included I thought our car was safe from major mechanical breakdown. I was wrong. :mad:
New Year's Day, hubby and I popped up the garage in our car (3miles away & we live in the country). When we pulled out of the garage the car died. AA brought us home. The AA man suspected something to do with the cambelt. Then yesterday the AA came to take the car to a garage. He advised me against taking it to Thurlow Nunn up Norwich, where the work had been done on the cam and he suggested a local garage which he said is "more honest". We had used that garage with previous cars, so thats where our car went for an independant appraisal.
The independant garage has taken the cam cover off and has said that one of the pullys broke, which caused the cambelt to slip and probably caused damage to the engine.
The pulleys are usually replaced with the cambelt as they are part of the same kit. I spoke to Thurlow Nunn and they said they DIDNT replace the pulleys cos they "looked ok". I said "they obviously werent, were they?" to which the reply was "you cant always tell by looking". so then WHY NOT replace them as standard as other garages do? 2 independant garages I've spoken to are incredulous that TN didnt replace the pullys. i told the guy at TN all this. He just kept going back to the same line "they were inspected and looked ok". ggggggrrrrrrrI stuck to my line of "they should have been replaced cos other garages do it" and he asked which garage the car was at. I told him, and I told him to phone and speak to them, which he refused to do. He asked what exactly they'd done to the car & i said just taken the cam cover off I think and he went off to talk to his boss.
He came back and said that whilst they dont accept theyve done anything wrong, they will pay for the car to be recevered up to them so they can have "a proper look at it". I said I'll phone back tomorrow after I've thought about it.
but what is the point of taking it to them as they wont accept responsibility and will charge us more than if the independant garage fixes it?? the independant garage owner is incredulous at how theyre behaving at Thurlow Nunn.
I cant phone the citizens advice till tomorrow and I need advice now please! Even the independant garage owner (Smith) doesnt know what to suggest. I'm all for going to Anglia News, but I want to know what my rights are please! Smiths is saying £600+ estimate to repair
If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all 
0
Comments
-
-
-
danksshady wrote: »thats not a very helpful comment :undecided
About as helpful to the OP's as yours was really.;)0 -
Assuming it was the tensioner that broke, then yes, most garages do replace these as part of the timing belt replacement due to this very reason. You'll often find that they replace the water pump, too, as these can be weak and leak, and the pulley on these can break, too. Plus, you're only really paying for the cost of the water pump, as all the labour has been taken up on the cam belt replacement as the water pump is accessed at the time anyway!
I can't think why they wouldn't replace the tensioner, as it's no extra work really and tend to come as a whole kit. Maybe the stealer wanted to pocket the new part?0 -
AA man was wrong.
You must give TN a chance to look at it and correct their error if they where neglient. Why worry until they do this.
I doubt they would recover it unless they intended to do something about it.
In the meantime research what the manufacturer recommends is included in a 40k service and hope this includes replace the pulleys rather than inspect. If it does the garage were neglient; if not you are pretty screwed in my view and need to look for a goodwill gesture as you will never prove that Chevvy acted negliently when they inspected and opted not to change.0 -
Ring a couple of different dealers in another part of the country tomorrow, and ask for a price to replace just the belt, see what they say to the idea. That should tell you what should have been done. What does it say on the receipt?0
-
Assuming it was the tensioner that broke, then yes, most garages do replace these as part of the timing belt replacement due to this very reason. You'll often find that they replace the water pump, too, as these can be weak and leak, and the pulley on these can break, too. Plus, you're only really paying for the cost of the water pump, as all the labour has been taken up on the cam belt replacement as the water pump is accessed at the time anyway!
I can't think why they wouldn't replace the tensioner, as it's no extra work really and tend to come as a whole kit. Maybe the stealer wanted to pocket the new part?
thats what I was thinking... :undecided Smith's said it's a/the "adjuster pulley" thats broken. That made the belt slip and they can only guess at the engine damage at this stage. Nothing was mentioned to me about a water pump. Actually, when the TN man was trying to convince me £275 was a good price for the 40k service, he said "the cambelt is almost £200 on its own!" making out like they werent making a profit out of it.If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all0 -
MrRedundant wrote: »AA man was wrong.
You must give TN a chance to look at it and correct their error if they where neglient. Why worry until they do this.
I doubt they would recover it unless they intended to do something about it.
In the meantime research what the manufacturer recommends is included in a 40k service and hope this includes replace the pulleys rather than inspect. If it does the garage were neglient; if not you are pretty screwed in my view and need to look for a goodwill gesture as you will never prove that Chevvy acted negliently when they inspected and opted not to change.
that baffled me as they wont admit any responsibility at this present time. plus, if they keep refusing responsibility, we will have to pay to have the car taken back to Smiths to be fixed as they will be cheaper than TN and tbh we dont trust them anymore.If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all0 -
Adjuster Pulley will be the tensioner.thats what I was thinking... :undecided Smith's said it's a/the "adjuster pulley" thats broken. That made the belt slip and they can only guess at the engine damage at this stage. Nothing was mentioned to me about a water pump. Actually, when the TN man was trying to convince me £275 was a good price for the 40k service, he said "the cambelt is almost £200 on its own!" making out like they werent making a profit out of it.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 353.5K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.1K Spending & Discounts
- 246.6K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.1K Life & Family
- 260.6K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards