Advise please. garage crashed my car!!!

s_b

liam8282 wrote: »

Personally I would want the car looking at independently to make sure that they have fixed everything properly.

This is how i would approach the situation.
Are you sure head office are in the equation too? just in case its being cobbled together by the manager of the branch trying to save his job?

liam8282

maryarm wrote: »

as far as i can tell, front brakes, caliper and something to with the drive system???? they are being very non specific

As I said brakes etc are usually just wear and tear and shouldn't have been caused by the accident.

I would be worried about the drive system, as this could have been caused by the accident. It could be anything, as you said the garage has been non specific, for all you know you might need anything from a new steering rack to a whole new drive system.

I really would not accept the car back or the repairs until they have been inspected and approved by an independent garage.

vax2002 wrote: »

You also own a car which is accident damaged repaired and substantially lowered in re-sale value, you have let them take you on a right dance here.
It should have stopped the second they crashed the car.
The Drive may be drive shaft excessive movement, they are designed to collapse in an impact.
Time to contact one of those un insured losses claim solicitors.
Claim for the loss of Value Due to The damage repair on the car.

The value of the car will only be affected if the damage has been recorded by the insurance companies in the result of a claim being made, in this case as the damage has been caused and repaired by the garage I doubt they will have wanted to get any insurance companies involved.

Even when you make a claim on your insurance, the damage is not always recorded and if the repairs are carried out to the correct standard the car value will not be affected at all.

Hammyman

vax2002 wrote: »

You also own a car which is accident damaged repaired and substantially lowered in re-sale value

Rubbish. It would only be if it was a recorded write off. Hell with my Mondeo, if it had a new front end it would add £100s to the value as it would mean there was no longer 153,000 miles worth of stonechips - my front bumper looks like it has acne.

As for the two weeks, sounds about right. I would actually be worried if it was less and want to know what corners were cut when respraying the car.

[Deleted User]

If they turned around and said I'd have to wait 5 days due to their over booking error, I would of just gone else where.

maryarm

right we have the car back, but its gonna have to go back. the wing has not been put on properly. have got the advisory. it says
"nearside front anti roll bar drop link has play"
has any one got any idea what on earth that means.
Thanks for all the advise, we are gonna get it independently checked and are contacting head office to clarify that they are aware and raise our concerns with them.
We waited the 5 days because it was still the first appointment we could get locally

pendulum

Do you really think they would have issued advisories and thus drawn your attention to problems for which they think they might have caused?
The advisories will have had nothing to do with the accident.

It sounds like they have acted reasonably in fixing your car and providing a hire car for you. Unless the repair turns out to be unsatisfactory I can't see that there's anything more to be done.

pendulum

maryarm wrote: »

"nearside front anti roll bar drop link has play"

That part costs about £6 - £10 and doesn't take long to fit, you could suggest they sort that for you as compensation for the inconvenience of having to return the car for the inproperly fitted wing. They may do it.

molerat

Halfords would not have carried out the body repair themselves, ask them who they used. If the repairs are not up to standard get them to sort it. Take it to another bodyshop for an inspection.

Drop link wear is a fairly normal fail item and very difficult to spot without getting right under the car on a ramp or pit, unlikely to have been caused by what would probably have been a low speed impact.

pitkin2020

I wouldn't trust their MOT TBH, I would take it for another MOT elsewhere to check they aren't bodging that to just cover themselves. I certainly wouldn't trust the garage that crashed my car to provide a proper MOT on it for sure!!

pitkin2020

pendulum wrote: »

Do you really think they would have issued advisories and thus drawn your attention to problems for which they think they might have caused?
The advisories will have had nothing to do with the accident.

It sounds like they have acted reasonably in fixing your car and providing a hire car for you. Unless the repair turns out to be unsatisfactory I can't see that there's anything more to be done.

They are just advisories though, if they were failures no they wouldn't draw attention to it. With the advisories though you could go another 5 miles or 5000 miles before it becomes an issue. Next year when the MOT is done again that when the real problems could come to light and it will be too far down the road to go back to them. I would get another MOT done now for piece of mind. £50 for an MOT now could save the car being scrapped next year when you find there is more damage to the chassis etc that you won't be able to prove was their fault.