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Bodyshop woes
Simulacraton
Posts: 91 Forumite
I recently had to get some body work completed on my damaged car, after someone forced me off the road and drove off without stopping.
My neighbour is a welder at a bodyshop and offered to correct the damage. I had a spare door in perfect condition, and ordered a new rear quarter panel from the car manufacturers. They delivered it themselves as they said they had experiences of couriers denting these parts. I am rather anal about my car and car body parts (it is a rare car, and becoming a classic), I kept it very safe and eventually a friend and I moved it to the body shop in a van, very carefully.
To cut a long story short, I had the work done. I went to get the car. He had asked for cash, and said a receipt would be forthcoming. He is my neighbour and chats to me for ages about my car, why should I be doubting him? I pointed out some dents in the (nearly) new door and panel, which had appeared, he said he would get them sorted for free. I drove off.
I had some issue with the paint work, and it needed correcting, but no big deal. He then said he would do the other arch, which had become rusty. I said okay.
He did the arch, his wife telling me she would draw up my receipt.
I expected him to fix the dents, but he didnt. When I got the car it was raining and dark, so I didn't see all of the work at the time of collection and handed over more money (about £1000 thus far , plus the panel costs of about £400). I later noticed ripples in the new section and a welding cut line, and some paint defects which could have easily been avoided...alarm bells started to ring. The car felt a bit grumpier than usual, and the next day I checked over it as the exhaust had seemingly been pushed further back out the back of the car, exposing the tailpipe more...
As I drove it more, I started getting constant misfires from the engine, I then had my electronic control unit become unstable, and eventually cause a breakdown a week later. I've spent £900 getting it fixed. It cannot be proven but the suspicion is MIG welding caused high voltage to damage the ECU. The ECU is currently being checked by the manufacturers, and I cannot use the car, a pain as I work miles away!
I've still not managed to get the car on the road after about 6 weeks.
Rust has started to appear under the new panel at the bottom along the sill, my local garage alerted me to a lot of underseal used along that edge of the car potentially hiding poor workmanship or rust (both in this case).
The otehr side, the arch he said he was going to rebuild himself to symetrically match the other side is in fact just a section cut off anotehr lower spec model Clio and welded on, it is the wrong shape and has visible ripples in it.
I approached my neighbours about it, and of course they denied it and brushed it off as nothing to do with them. It made me mad and I am sorry to say I felt my blood boiling and had stop myself from shouting. They now say I have upset them and refuse to discuss it any further or accept any liability. Previously tyhe welder had told me he forgot to use a precautions to stop the electronics from being fried from MIG welding. He now denies that and says he did take precautions...I can't prove the electronic failure sadly, but we are fairly sure it was his fault.
I am now unable to get a receipt for any of the work and am left with a big hole in my pocket, a non working car and bodywork that needs to be redone.
Should I get 3rd party body shop advice and legal advice or just put it down to experience? I am truly tired of being ripped off by people like this, I want to do something and not just let them get away with it. On the other hand, I don't want a dispute with neighbours to spiral out of control and become an even bigger bunch of stress than it already is.
My neighbour is a welder at a bodyshop and offered to correct the damage. I had a spare door in perfect condition, and ordered a new rear quarter panel from the car manufacturers. They delivered it themselves as they said they had experiences of couriers denting these parts. I am rather anal about my car and car body parts (it is a rare car, and becoming a classic), I kept it very safe and eventually a friend and I moved it to the body shop in a van, very carefully.
To cut a long story short, I had the work done. I went to get the car. He had asked for cash, and said a receipt would be forthcoming. He is my neighbour and chats to me for ages about my car, why should I be doubting him? I pointed out some dents in the (nearly) new door and panel, which had appeared, he said he would get them sorted for free. I drove off.
I had some issue with the paint work, and it needed correcting, but no big deal. He then said he would do the other arch, which had become rusty. I said okay.
He did the arch, his wife telling me she would draw up my receipt.
I expected him to fix the dents, but he didnt. When I got the car it was raining and dark, so I didn't see all of the work at the time of collection and handed over more money (about £1000 thus far , plus the panel costs of about £400). I later noticed ripples in the new section and a welding cut line, and some paint defects which could have easily been avoided...alarm bells started to ring. The car felt a bit grumpier than usual, and the next day I checked over it as the exhaust had seemingly been pushed further back out the back of the car, exposing the tailpipe more...
As I drove it more, I started getting constant misfires from the engine, I then had my electronic control unit become unstable, and eventually cause a breakdown a week later. I've spent £900 getting it fixed. It cannot be proven but the suspicion is MIG welding caused high voltage to damage the ECU. The ECU is currently being checked by the manufacturers, and I cannot use the car, a pain as I work miles away!
I've still not managed to get the car on the road after about 6 weeks.
Rust has started to appear under the new panel at the bottom along the sill, my local garage alerted me to a lot of underseal used along that edge of the car potentially hiding poor workmanship or rust (both in this case).
The otehr side, the arch he said he was going to rebuild himself to symetrically match the other side is in fact just a section cut off anotehr lower spec model Clio and welded on, it is the wrong shape and has visible ripples in it.
I approached my neighbours about it, and of course they denied it and brushed it off as nothing to do with them. It made me mad and I am sorry to say I felt my blood boiling and had stop myself from shouting. They now say I have upset them and refuse to discuss it any further or accept any liability. Previously tyhe welder had told me he forgot to use a precautions to stop the electronics from being fried from MIG welding. He now denies that and says he did take precautions...I can't prove the electronic failure sadly, but we are fairly sure it was his fault.
I am now unable to get a receipt for any of the work and am left with a big hole in my pocket, a non working car and bodywork that needs to be redone.
Should I get 3rd party body shop advice and legal advice or just put it down to experience? I am truly tired of being ripped off by people like this, I want to do something and not just let them get away with it. On the other hand, I don't want a dispute with neighbours to spiral out of control and become an even bigger bunch of stress than it already is.
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Comments
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Nearly Classic Clio?...I think you've let your heart rule your head here.
Why did you pay without examining your car in good light? Why would anyone do that?0 -
I certainly wouldn't let this go.
It's hard to proof they damaged the electronics so you really need to start a dialog with them.
I'd also not mention it to your neighbough whilst away from his place of work. If you want to dispute it, do it during work hours at the workshop.
The workmanship has been done to a very poor standard so if they are unwilling to rectify make it known you will have it independently inspected and corrected elsewhere if they still do not rectify it.
Remember, this is a matter of business and not personal, make sure they realise this too.0 -
take it to a bodyshop that has pas 375 thatcham accreditation and get them to do a report for you with a view to taking legal proceedings
for the record you should never weld a car with any kind of electronic board in it without the minimum of disconnecting the battery earth attaching a surge protector or in extreme cases where multiple ecus are incorporated in the car by disconnecting them all prior to use an arc welding process on the bodywork
feel sorry for you but you really should have dealt with a proper bodyshop direct rather than helping the black economy thrive0 -
Looksguywalker wrote: »Nearly Classic Clio?...I think you've let your heart rule your head here.
Why did you pay without examining your car in good light? Why would anyone do that?
Sorry, your first comment is just opinion, or constructive? I don't understand.
2nd comment: Because otherwise I can't get my car back and at first it looked okay. They have me over a barrel.Remember, this is a matter of business and not personal, make sure they realise this too.
Thanks. Yes, it is hard to stop them taking it personally though...they have gone on for months about how good he is at welding. They are not taking criticism well.take it to a bodyshop that has pas 375 thatcham accreditation and get them to do a report for you with a view to taking legal proceedings
for the record you should never weld a car with any kind of electronic board in it without the minimum of disconnecting the battery earth attaching a surge protector or in extreme cases where multiple ecus are incorporated in the car by disconnecting them all prior to use an arc welding process on the bodywork
feel sorry for you but you really should have dealt with a proper bodyshop direct rather than helping the black economy thrive
What is a pas 375 thatcham accreditation? Isn't that for car alarms?
Not sure what you mean by black economy. If I had known they were bodgers I would never have taken my car there.
It is a Clio Williams 1 by the way.
I will take the car to another firm for a quote and a professional opinion.
Should I only operate in writing from now on? They just hang up the phone if I call.0 -
I have found the PAS 125 accreditation with a local firm, is this sufficient?0
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yes (•¿•)›0
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