Car garage fitted aftermarket part against my request

prowla

bris wrote: »

It's nonsense tbh, the brakes are safe and unless you can prove you requested the exact part then you don't stand a snowballs chance in hell.


All this over brake discs that to me if I was hearing the case I would think your out for a freebie.


Your issue about safety and voiding your insurance is nonsense, if that was the case 99% of our cars on the roads would be death traps with void insurance as everyone fits compatible discs.

That's nonsense, TBH.

The garage failed to follow their instructions and fitted an inferior component.

Whether or not other cars have them is irrelevant.

Heck, some cars are on the road with drum brakes all-around; perhaps we should all go back to them then?

shaun_from_Africa

bris wrote: »

Your issue about safety and voiding your insurance is nonsense, if that was the case 99% of our cars on the roads would be death traps with void insurance as everyone fits compatible discs.

The only person who has written anything about insurance being voided is you. I simply stated that fitting parts that differ in specification from those originally supplied classes as a modification, something that any insurer will confirm is correct.

If the OP was to have an accident due to them not stopping in time and the vehicle is examined by an assessor and turns out to be the case that the brakes have been changed from the correct spec, they could refuse to cover any losses directly suffered by the OP even if those brake changes were not directly related to the accident.

Having non drilled discs may well not be compatible with the rest of the braking system, something that the manufacturer can confirm if needs be.

domdeath

Bris, if I were an observer to this case, I think I would agree with you that the onus is on the owner to prove they had requested the specific part. What would count as proof? In a car garage you generally wouldn't make a formal letter requesting the work to be done.

Would the following count as proof:

1. I initially requested the cross drilled part over the phone
2. The part fitted to the car is visually different to the part originally on the car and I was not informed of any differences before the work was done (I think it is reasonable to assume that any replacement parts to a vehicle in a garage would be like for like replacements unless informed otherwise)
3. I made a verbal complaint (which I later documented in a letter) upon first seeing the discs that had been fitted, before I had paid. If they were not the discs I was expecting, why would I have complained at this stage? (i.e. I had been misled - for the price I was initially quoted, I believed I was getting the original cross drilled discs, hence my surprise upon arrival).
4. My original letter to the garage posed a few options of outcomes I would have been happy with. One of these included the garage paying for a specialist to fit the cross drilled disc. Other than getting the cross drilled disc fitted (which is what I had expected in the first case), I would have not have benefited from this in any way (i.e. no monetary value).

bris wrote: »

It's nonsense tbh, the brakes are safe and unless you can prove you requested the exact part then you don't stand a snowballs chance in hell.


All this over brake discs that to me if I was hearing the case I would think your out for a freebie.


Your issue about safety and voiding your insurance is nonsense, if that was the case 99% of our cars on the roads would be death traps with void insurance as everyone fits compatible discs.

domdeath

Lomast, apologies but I have just realised I have omitted a key part of my opening question. I later discovered that when they said they "had spoken with the manufacturer", what they had done was put my registration into europarts and picked the part from there, and assumed europarts had the correct part. They had not had confirmation from the manufacturer that it is the correct part.

Lomast wrote: »

The other problem I can see is if he can prove the Manufacturer confirmed its the correct part as per your opening post then that can form quite a strong defense

arcon5

Where are the parts now?
Have you insisted they remove and replace them ? And specifically told them if they don't remedy it you will have them replaced elsewhere and seek a refund

pinkshoes

You need to get it in writing from the specialist that these are non standard parts that have been fitted.

I assume that you are not driving the car and using these plain discs?? (As that could be seen as acceptance). Have you got quotes to have the correct ones fitted, as you will need to return the plain ones to the original place that fitted them.

When they "forced" you to pay, what had you specifically requested at this point? Did you insist that they removed them and re-fit the old ones? Or fit the correct ones? Did you tell them you would be taking it to anther garage to have the correct ones fitted at their expense?

robatwork

Do you have any written proof that this part is not correct eg. from the specialist or from the manufacturer? I think you need this as a basis for any successful claim otherwise you'd be thrown out of court.

In fact there are car experts here and in motoring - let us know the model of the car, year, and any technical details about the brakes and someone may oblige with the requisite evidence.

Fluffybunny80

if the car is above a certain bhp then usually the breaks will come from the manufacturer with uprated breaks. but in my experience of cars, even an EVO doesn't come with drilled breaks from manufacture though I think they probably should

It would be a great help to know the make and specific model and Year of the car to help further

Have you had the car from new? if so, did you upgrade to performance breaks from the factory?

A lot of performance car owners will put drilled or grooved breaks on their cars as they are far superior at breaking than standard plains discs
but my worry here is, is that the drilled discs were an after market upgrade by previous owner which is definitely good for the cars breaking but is a modification not factory fitted.

wealdroam

The word you are looking for is brakes.

domdeath

The car is a 2007 Lotus Elise S2 (Toyota engine). I have had it for 3 years, so not from New. (and yes, I realise, Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious springs to mind)

I have had it confirmed from a Lotus dealership that cross drilled discs came as standard on the car from New. I have found the parts list and it lists the cross drilled disc.

The plain brakes are currently fitted to the car which I am driving as it is my only way of getting to work (without significant inconvenience). When they forced me to pay, I tried to say I want them to fit the cross drilled disc (they couldn't fit the old part as it is too difficult to align worn pads and discs) but they insisted the part they had fitted was correct. They told me to go to Lotus to prove it is the wrong disc, which I did.

I do not want to pay another garage to fit the new discs until I have had it confirmed I will be getting a refund as this will leave me significantly out of pocket in the short term.