Car Repair, who should be responsible for the bill?

talksr

Hi, I booked our car into the garage today to have the bearing replaced as it was very dangerous.

After spending many evenings after work trawling the net, I found a seller on ebay who has a very good feedback rating and seems to be selling lots and lots of car parts. I checked and checked with them the part I needed was correct.

It was due to be fitted today, and as I was told, it was the correct part. However, the part appears faulty and as a result the ABS on my car is now not working since the new part was installed. The garage could have put the old part back but this was very dangerous. They have advised that I really need to get the ABS sorted asap as this is an MOT fail and in the current slippery conditions it is really not ideal.

They have told me it seems highly likely that the part supplied has a faulty electronic circuit board inside and this will need complete replacement (whole part will need changing).
The trouble is this will mean I will need to pay again now for the work to be completed.

Is the ebay seller responsible for these fees? As I was unable to test the part before asking a mechanic to install it for me as I have no idea how these parts work and you cannot test the part until it is fully installed.

I was already finding it hard to pay the bill, but it seems through trying to save some money and source the parts myself, I have ended up even worse off.

Any help would be great.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

paying for the extra part and labour would be your responsability, you would have to purchase the new part, send the old part back faulty for refund and pay the labour charges.

this is the draw back to a garage fitting supplied parts.

usually a wheel bearing doesnt affect the ABS but if it was a hub and bearing this should of come with the ABS ring.

MetalMan_2

Catch 22 here. I'm sure the eBay seller will replace the part, but I doubt very much he will reimburse you for the garage labour.

Similarly, I doubt the garage will waive the labour time. At the end of the day, you supplied a part which they fitted as prescribed, a process which most garages hate doing simply given cases like this. It's nigh on impossible to tell if a part is good until it's all fitted and very often the customer will supply the wrong part.

It's all understandable as everyone wants to save money repairing their car, of course! Sadly when it backfires, it could end up costing you a lot more. You never know, the garage may cut you some slack on the bill. But don't count on it.

Things like this aren't unusual. Most parts from eBay have usually come off of scrappers and most certainly will have been lying around for a while. Most often, they won't be in shelter either.

If you want my advice, just pony up for the garage to replace and repair properly, put it down to experience and get on with it; I'd bet the garage will try to sort you out too, see if they can keep you as a customer. Ultimately, with the winter months coming, you don't want to be driving s defective car, especially with any precious cargo on board.

Notmyrealname

talksr wrote: »

I was already finding it hard to pay the bill, but it seems through trying to save some money and source the parts myself, I have ended up even worse off.

Any help would be great.

Unless you've been a mechanic, this is usually the case 99% of the time the customer supplies their own parts. if you use second hand parts then this is also the case quite a lot if you're not fitting them yourself.

I would never ever fit second hand parts that I could not test if I was paying someone else to fit them.

forgotmyname

Thats why i always tell people to avoid 2nd hand parts if paying someone to fit them for you.

Fitting it yourself all you lose it a bit of time.

Now the problem is the seller will say the part worked when they removed it. The garage say it doesnt work when
they fitted it.
They could both be right and you were unlucky.

Or the part could be faulty OR the garage may have damaged it OR the part maybe different to the one removed.

Garage bill doubles because they have done the work twice.

Sadly either way the costs will fall onto you. You wont be able to prove either way.

marlot

We regularly get people on here complaining about their bills and how they could have got the parts cheaper on eBay. Garages have to source parts they can trust, from suppliers who can deliver quickly (eg. within the hour), and who know the variants for each part so can supply the right one. The garage then has to stand behind the quality of the part and its fitting. So its not surprising that the garage charges a bit more than you can get it for yourself - when you have the luxury of a day or too looking for the part, don't mind if it takes 2 days to arrive!

Sorry you've had to learn this lesson the hard way. You now don't know who is at fault - the garage, the parts supplier (or indeed both). You can't show that the garage have done anything wrong, so have to pay them twice, I'm afraid.

talksr

Hello all thanks for all of your advice. I think I have learned a very valuable lesson. The car was dangerous though, I could not afford the massive estimates I was given so I tried to do what I could with the limited cash I had. As usual this has backfired and I am now even worse off with a car which now has no abs making it very dangerous when braking especially in these wintry conditions. Apparently this is even an MOT fail which really is a fantastic Christmas surprise.

I have suspicions the garage have not installed the part correctly, as there are a barrage of fault codes now showing on the car which were not present before, some of which bear no relation to the part which was installed.
I emailed the ebay seller and got the following back from them...

hi.very sorry to hear of your abs problem...something of a rare occurance as our electrician tests every hub we ship out for abs sensor operation voltage,resistance etc,as we do with starter motors,alternators ignition coils etc so so you receive a perfect part..the only common problem we have ever had with these particular hub types is damage occuring during the fitting process to the delicate magnetic impulse abs ring on the back of the hub...when mechanics hammer the hub in place the impulse ring must be protected from shock and damage ..if this gets nicked or marked on assembly the sensor will not pick up its pulses correctly and an abs fault will be shown..to enable us to ship another part out we need either the suspect part back to our depot where inspection for installation damage and sensor re-testing will be carried out... then replace if damaged the magnetic impulse ring for you or replace the whole assembly whatever is nessesary...or we can take a holding deposit which will enable us to ship out a replacement today,this can be organised over the phone at our shop on xyz and speaking to bloggs...then once the suspect hub is received back and inspected as long as the fault is not caused by installation damage a full refund on your holding deposit can be refunded...as for claims for labour please read our returns policy attached to every listing we have for sale for full details...however regardless of our policy if the fault is prooven upon inspection not to be installation related and the sensor is defective we will come to an agreement over labour costs...regards..bloggs

I have taken the wheel off today to find the wiring for the new part cable tied to the car and the clips broken, so it is not looking great.

Flyboy152

Surely the fitters should have a duty of care to carry out their work with due care and skill; part of that should be ensuring that the correct part is fitted. Why did the fitters not identify the part was faulty and/or incorrect?

colino

To be honest I'd try to get my money back from the seller, but doubt if they'll wear it, claiming to have been fitted incorrectly. Equally, as the fitting garage didn't supply, their not going to strip it down again for free.

Perhaps a better, recommended local indie will be better. If they have any sense they will not fit parts they do not source (and can then be held liable for) and wouldn't do daft things like hammer bearings that should be pressed or fit bearings with pick-up sensors, in the wrong way round.

talksr

Hello all, I have just been to a proper dealership garage and they have supplied and re-done the work for £330.
Now I have the job of sending back the faulty one as well as paying for the postage and waiting to see what sort of compensation they will give me if any, which I think is highly likely.

forgotmyname

unlikely i think.

Can you prove the garage did not damage the part when fitting?