How to complain about garage?

TRK

Hi, I'm just looking for a little advice.

I had my car In for an MOT a while ago and it failed on several things. I left my car with the garage to replace the parts and retest it and they returned it to me the same day with a pass certificate.

However I recently took the car to somebody else for an oil change, only for them to tell me that one of the same parts that it had been failed on had cracked. Apparently it didn't look as though it had been
replaced for a long time if ever.

I'm very angry about it, more for the safety aspects of it than getting ripped off and also worried that if they did it to us they may be doing it to others. I want to make some kind of official complaint about them but I'm not sure how to go about it.


Thanks for any advice

harveybobbles

You'd be amazed how dirty new parts can get.

My dad had a track rod end replaced on his car recently, but when I was changing a wheel for him not long after, the track rod end looked quite old.

I know for a fact the track rod end was replaced as it was me who did it.

Your MOT garage probably used a low quality part which has failed - why dont you go back and ask them if there is a guarantee wit hthe part? Probably find its 12 months.

Rather than wanting to blame and complain.

benham3160

What parts were they? You will have little redress with VOSA as they need to examine suspect vehicles quite quickly after an issue of an unjustified certificate.

TRK

It wasn't just dirty, it was completely corroded. The mechanic who flagged it up reckoned it had probably never been changed. The car is 15 years old and this part was supposed to have been replaced just 3 months ago. Are you really telling me that a trained mechanic wouldn't know the difference between a part that was 15 years old and one that was only 3 months old?

And why shouldn't I complain about somebody potentially urging my family and myself at risk by firstly saying they'd completed essential repairs they hadn't and then passing a car they knew was faulty? What if it had caused an accident? Would I still be 'blaming and complaining' to put in a complaint then?


It could be a simple mistake but maybe it's not and they're doing this to other customers. I think it would be pretty irresponsible for me to just ignore it.

TRK

It was a front anti-roll bar.

benham3160

TRK wrote: »

It was a front anti-roll bar.

Anti-roll bar, anti-roll bar bushes or anti-roll bar link?

A failed roll-bar is unlikely (does happen mind) more than likely to be the anti-roll bar links.

What vehicle is it? That may help clarify?

TRK

Sorry my mistake, it was an anti roll bar link. The car is a Renault Clio.

benham3160

TRK wrote: »

Sorry my mistake, it was an anti roll bar link. The car is a Renault Clio.

If the mechanic has been examining the anti-roll bar, (which will be getting a bit corroded by now) it'll more than likely be the factory bar and that's where it'll stay until the car is scrapped.

The links get nasty quite quickly, it's unlikely the car has survived 15 years on the factory links anyway (they're a consumable, Clio's are quite heavy on consuming them too).

I haven't seen the car, I can't say for certain but have you possibly been having a cross-wires conversation with your mechanic? The job to replace the links should have been quite a reasonable cost, replacing an anti-roll bar with a new one would have been a hefty bill.

colino

I was going to guess a drop-link. Prices are so competitive now for volume cars that there is a huge race to the bottom price for suppliers. I personally don't fit the cheapest of the cheap anymore, last year someone came back with a clanking from the front end of a Vectra. It had a had a new droplink fitted the day before and with less than 40 mile use it looked filthy and was broken.
Unfortunately there is a huge glut of Chinese rubbish, not only on ebay et al, but finding its way onto factors shelves. Buy recommended parts only and know the source and you wont go far wrong.

benham3160

colino wrote: »

I was going to guess a drop-link. Prices are so competitive now for volume cars that there is a huge race to the bottom price for suppliers. I personally don't fit the cheapest of the cheap anymore, last year someone came back with a clanking from the front end of a Vectra. It had a had a new droplink fitted the day before and with less than 40 mile use it looked filthy and was broken.
Unfortunately there is a huge glut of Chinese rubbish, not only on ebay et al, but finding its way onto factors shelves. Buy recommended parts only and know the source and you wont go far wrong.

Spot on, there's an awful lot of dross, and like you say especially with a lot of factors in direct competition with eBay some utter rubbish is finding its way on the factors shelves too.

TRK

Thanks for the info. Obviously I must have misremembered him saying it had probably never been changed. However, there was definitely no misunderstanding over the fact he was sure it hadn't been replaced 3 months ago. He emailed me some photos and I emailed back asking him to confirm that it was the same part. He did and also said that in his opinion it hadn't been replaced 'for several years'. I know he also had trouble removing it because of the condition.

I just want to be able to lodge a complaint with the authorities so they're aware if it and if other people complain about it maybe they will investigate it.