Garage wanting payment for non fix

lincsdan86

Hi, all just looking for some advice on a situation.

Asked a friend of a friend who owns a garage to take a look at my car (leak from the oil sump).

Anyway regardless of that, the car is still leaking oil and now he wants payment of £250. Of which £50 is parts and £200 labour. When he had it he did work that I did not ask for, putting oil in the gear box.

Now I appreciate the time it took him to try and fix the car but my view is at the end of the day, I'm going to have to take it to another garage to get the job done properly.

What do I do, do I pay him or refuse? Another problem is that I dislike confrontation and he seems the type that enjoys it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Flyboy152

So, he said he would fix an oil leak, but he hasn't succeeded and he wants paying for a substandard job?

I think I know what I would say to him.

What car is it?

lincsdan86

it is a fiat stilo. 1.9 JTD. What would you say to him Flyboy152? wud it be diplomatic? lol

mumto2loves

hi
i'd personally just give him a call and say its not fixed. you don't need to be confrontational about it.
friend or not i can't imagine he would expect you to pay a £250 bill for nothing?

Flyboy152

lincsdan86 wrote: »

it is a fiat stilo. 1.9 JTD. What would you say to him Flyboy152? wud it be diplomatic? lol

Sadly, no. Hence the reason for not posting it on here.

But seriously, I suggest you write to him explaining the reasons for your refusal to pay and go from there.

As far as I am aware the Stilo 1.9JTD never came as an automatic, so I can't see why he would have any reason to charge you for transmission fluid/gearbox oil.

lincsdan86

apparently the gear box was bone dry hence the fluid.

Flyboy152

lincsdan86 wrote: »

apparently the gear box was bone dry hence the fluid.

But the gearbox and engine use the same oil. There is no separate oil for the gearbox. Did the red oil light come on at all, before he "worked" on it?

lincsdan86

no red light, just a patches of oil outside the house and parents house and pretty much everywhere i parked it

Flyboy152

lincsdan86 wrote: »

no red light, just a patches of oil outside the house and parents house and pretty much everywhere i parked it

If the sump was "bone dry," the red light would have come on a long time before he had it. It sounds as though he is trying to rip you off.

Personally, I think you are best not to pay him any money at all. Just write to him, politely explaining why you are refusing to pay and tell him to take a run and jump (use your own words though ).

lincsdan86

the gear box was bone dry, the sump still had some oil in there, sorry not explaining myself properly

Flyboy152

lincsdan86 wrote: »

the gear box was bone dry, the sump still had some oil in there, sorry not explaining myself properly

No need, it's all rubbish (him, not you ), the sump is the lowest part of the engine/gearbox (unless the 1.9JTD has some sort of anomaly that I am unaware of). They are not mutually exclusive, they occupy the same space*.




*To all the petrolheads out there, yes, I know that's not strictly correct, but it is for the ease of illustration for the OP.