shoddy chevvy garage. help!

RandyRos

i phoned the general manager of norwich TN and he just said the same thing, they dont HAVE to replace them.

the manager of TN norwich phoned tonight. he said the engine will cost £1400 to fix, but they have cut us a deal and will only charge £1149. he gave me overnight to discuss it with hubby and think about it.

what the hell do we do? its all very well saying we have a good case, take it further etc, but we need a car. we live out in the country, crap buses etc. they have promised me a courtesy car on weds, but how long will they let me keep it? not long enough for this to go to court i bet. will we have to "pay under protest"? and if so, how many kids will we have to sell to make £1149??

Homersimpson

Ring chevrolet and ask them whether the tensioner and pulleys should have been changed, not the dealer or anyone connected to the dealer.

The manufacturer will have to give you an honest answer and this is a yes of no answer. They should also give you a service schedule for the car to prove/disprove this.

Also ask the garage to show you the workshop manual procedure for the belt, it will tell you whether to replace the tensioner and pulleys or how to check them.

Contact details are here:-

http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/contact/


Bear this in mind, they may have a big shiney show room and lots of people in suits but they are still car dealers who are all a complete bunch of bar stewards and will not hesitate to rip you off.

£1,149, make them a counter offer if you can get the right info from the manufacturer, see them in court!

RandyRos

i already did phone chev uk, homer....

just phoned head office who put me thru to customer aftercare. they said the pulleys etc are normally only inspected, but most chev garages will replace the whole lot as "good practice"

I think I'll write to them & get a difinitive written response.

i *should* be getting a courtesy car tomorrow, in which case i guess i will pick it up, so i can ask for the workshop manual there.

RandyRos

i phoned Consumer Direct, who work with trading standards and they said DO NOT pay TN, as if we do, even if its "under protest" then we will lose our right to sue. they said to get the car to another garage and get it fixed and claim the money back in the courts. and also to get at least 3 quotes for fixing it.

so i phoned the manager at TN asking exactly what the damage is, so i can get quotes elsewhere. he said they dont know EXACTLY as i havent given permission for the head to be sent to the engineers for evaluation. I told him i'd been advised by TS and CAB etc that i have a good claim against them and he said he's have a word with the area manager, S, and get back to me. He also said he wouldnt charge me for putting the engine back together if i took it elsewhere.

bigjl

The worst case scenario is 16 valves and 16 new valve guides, along with all the appropriate seals and gaskets plus new water pump, pullies, tensioner, belt etc.

If there is no damage to the actual head itself, unlikely, or damage to any pistons, then that should be it, try and get access to your car and take some digital photos of the pistons, any damage will be obvious.

This isn't dificult to price up, the fact they are saying the head needs to go away is a stalling tactic, if they phoned up the machine shop they use they could easily get a price over the phone, not exact, but a worse case scenario.

Also the fact they have given you a quote for the work means they already know how much work is needed, they are just trying to be awkward.

RandyRos

so i will tell them to phone the engineers and get a worse case scenario then? then TN can tell me the rest of the damage & i can get quotes

esmerobbo

What size engine is this? Sorry if you have already said!

RandyRos

1.6L engine

esmerobbo

Have a look here.

http://www.gates.com/europe/file_display_common.cfm?thispath=Europe/documents_module&file=TB_022_Daewoo%205419XS1.pdf

They are probably the biggest belt manufacturers in the world and they certainly say change belt and all pulleys.

If you read the bulletin it will explain the coolant staining.

RandyRos

thanks robbo, that will be good ammo