Mechanic has damaged car

polkadot01

Yes I have text messages from him detailing the work he did. In them he specifically says he removed the injectors and that one was tricky to remove (this is the one that he has damaged).

I have taken it to my local Peugeot dealer who have advised me they cannot diagnose the rattling until they repair the injector as running the engine will cause more damage.

As he is now ignoring my communication I have written him a letter which I will be sending recorded delivery. It looks like this may end up in the small claims court, which is new to me.

mattyprice4004

I know it's of little comfort, but I've found a cheaper injector:

http://www.dieseljones.co.uk/common-rail-injectors/peugeot-common-rail-injectors/peugeot-207-common-rail-injector/peugeot-207-1-6-hdi-bosch-common-rail-diesel-injector-0445110239.html

ILW

parts do sometimes just break when being removed.

ThumbRemote

goater78 wrote: »

I would suspect more expensive mechanics own up to any mistake they make and then resolve it. I doubt they act like this joker did.

The number of times Arnold Clark crop up on these boards suggests that some more expensive places are just as bad, if not worse.

arcon5

Why won't the second garage touch it? Surely their job is to fix damaged cars? Irrespective of who caused it

mattyprice4004

ILW wrote: »

parts do sometimes just break when being removed.

That's a damn chunky injector to break - I'd give up and tell the customer as such as soon as it gave trouble.

Apples2

Injectors can be horrific things to remove. Loads of smaller independants won't go near them.

To see the difficulties trying to remove a stubborn injector, watch this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK8MqxEeMJY

polkadot01

There were chisel type scratches all over it, so i've no idea what tool he used to get it out. He's ignoring all my communication efforts.

Does anyone have any experience with the small claims court process and how likely I am to get a resolution in my favour?

ThumbRemote

If you have a good report from another garage, specifying what the damage is and the likely cause, I can't see the small claims court finding against you.

However that doesn't mean the mobile mechanic will just pay up, you still have to enforce the decision against them. You theoretically could still end up further out of pocket.