What are my rights?

Swash

Hello everyone,

I have an issue with a private garage I have used to fix my car. 8 weeks ago my friend dropped my car off at the garage and explained the fault I was having. I couldn't take it myself as I was abroad with work.

The original fault was to do with an ABS sensor. My friend called me at the beginning of September and said, according the garage owner, I need a new timing chain, and that would clear the fault I was having. He quoted £850 for the chain and the sensor replacement.

I said that's fine as long as the fault is cleared and it is ready by 23rd September, which was the day I got back to the UK. He agreed on the date and I payed £450 up front as his 'card machine wasn't working'.

A couple of days before I landed in the UK, my friend called to double check it was ready and got no answer. I called on the day I got back (23rd) and was told I need to call on Monday as the boss wasn't there.

I did so, and was told my car was still in pieces in his garage. Over the next couple of weeks I called numerous times to be told each time that my car wasn't ready. He then told me that because he had removed the clutch, it wasn't adjustable so I had to pay for a new one, £160.

I agreed because at this point I just wanted my car back as I a model in the middle of buying a house and needed it to travel home. It took 2 weeks more of phone calls, him saying he had a problem with his supplier getting the clutch.

I turned up on Wednesday to collect it after he told me it was ready. As I was stood in his office, he then informs me they haven't yet done the sensor, and it would be ready by 1430.

He eventually dropped it off on Thursday night, after I payed the outstanding £600. I have since learnt that the original fault is still there, exhaust fumes are coming in my car as I drive, through the vents, and a bracket that my battery is supposed to sit on is in my boot, not attached to anything.

I am so stressed out with all of this and feel like I have been taken for a mug and don't know what my next step should be.

Sorry for the long post, thanks in advance for any help.

Swash

AdrianC

You took it in for an ABS sensor... or to stop the ABS light coming on? Replacing a sensor would replace a sensor - but if the fault causing the light was something else, then...

I'm presuming the engine came out for the timing chain, so replacing the clutch would be plain common sense - and suppliers do have problems. Yes, it should have been road-tested properly and the exhaust and battery problems noticed - but easily missed in the rush to get a pain in the backside job finished and back to a customer that's been chasing him (utterly justifiably, a month after the agreed date, nearly two months after the car was left)...

Swash

An ABS warning light comes on (amongst others) when I drive it, mostly when I put it on cruise control. He diagnosed it as the sensor. He has apparently changed the sensor and the fault is still there. I understand changing the timing chain is a big job, which is why I gave him time even after the agreed date had passed. I just feel like he is being dishonest. I have paid over £1000 to have my car fixed and it now has more problems than it did when I took it in.

I have since found out that a work mate of mine is going through trading standards about him, and the owner is also awaiting trial for selling dodgy cars and telling people they have a new clutch etc when they don't.

salubrious

How on earth do you go from an abs sensor to a timing chain? - What was the reason for changing the timing chain?

dannyrst

salubrious wrote: »

How on earth do you go from an abs sensor to a timing chain? - What was the reason for changing the timing chain?

I was thinking this.

Did your timing chain even need changing?!

Swash

It was an unrelated (I presume) fault that my car had. I took it in for the ABS fault, he found the timing chain fault, which in all fairness didn't surprise me because the engine didn't sound like it was running normally.

arcon5

What car is it?

Muscle750

Firstly i would question the £160 clutch seems cheap plus if its a diesil it would have a DMF which is expensive a renault one is around £400 and i would ask to see the old timing chain. What car is it and does it even have a timing chain or does it have a cambelt. The garage sound like a right harry and billy set up.

Swash

Thanks for your replies. It's a BMW. I'm going to take it in for him to finish the jobs he started, and if he messes me about take it further from there. We will see next week how it goes. Is the next step solicitors?

patman99

It should not have needed a new timing chain. These usually last for the lifetime of the car (around 50k miles on a BMW 'M4' diesel engine).

At a guess, if the problem appears when you use cruise control, then it is more than likely a problem with the module behind the steering wheel with all the switches poking out of it.

My friend had the same issue and the garage diagnosed (correctly) that the unit needed replacing. Cost him £395 all-in (and that was with a 2nd-hand unit).

I have a distinct feeling that the garage have conned you big time.

Swash

Nothing I can do now I guess. Thank you