Motor Ombudsman claim process

DavidT67

Hi folks,
Hoping someone with expertise / knowledge of Motor Codes / Ombudsman dispute resolution can provide an informed answer.

In brief, car was taken to a garage with one fault and two new faults appeared during diagnostics process.
After much back and forth after three months garage has resolved original fault and one of the two additional faults, but is unable to resolve the remaining fault, which was not present at the outset.

Their full and final offer is to waive all costs provided we collect the car promptly.

However, we are minded to make a claim to the Motor Ombudsman due to the loss in value for the car now having an unclearable fault, which will make it hard to sell. Car now probably worth £500 for parts / scrap.

But we are concerned that their may be more downside rather than upside, if the ombudsman finds in the garage's favour we will face a large bill, £2K, for the garage's work?

So in our shoes would you accept the car back, with a loss in value of circa £2K or go to ombudsman.

Thanks in advance

rich13348

What is the unclearable fault?

pappa_golf

and the remaining fault is?

DavidT67

All three faults related to electronics and various control units.
Unresolved issue is with electronic parking brake failing to release.

forgotmyname

A garage has partially fixed your car and because they cannot fix a fault that was not showing until the previous fixes were implemented is now saying they wont charge you and your not biting their hand off?

Your car will have depreciated the same amount in their hands or yours. Where is the loss? You had a faulty car and still have a faulty car with some new parts that will cost you nothing.

Take the car elsewhere.

If the new garage say the fault was caused 100% by the previous garage and
willing to put it in writing etc then go back and claim for the repairs (possibly
minus the original repair cost). But you would need to prove they caused it and it
didnt just happen in their care but another fault like the battery dying and losing an
ECU setting.

DavidT67

OK, thanks for the input, good to get alternative views on this.

As you say, how to prove whether fault was caused by garage or they just revealed it is a problem.

toomanyshoes

As far as i understand the motor ombudsman/motorcodes is funded by the garages who are its members and so i wouldn't bother as they are unlikely to be impartial. How they are allowed to be called an onmbudsman is anyones guess.

bigadaj

toomanyshoes wrote: »

As far as i understand the motor ombudsman/motorcodes is funded by the garages who are its members and so i wouldn't bother as they are unlikely to be impartial. How they are allowed to be called an onmbudsman is anyones guess.

Virtually all such schemes are industry funded one way or the other, certainly all the financial ones.

It depends on the separation between the revenue raising and the arbitration service really, most are set up to favour the customer in theory but whether that works in practice is a different matter.

CarWorries

Hello - sorry to hear about your problems. If you are running up against a tight timeframe, do be aware that if you submit a complaint to the Motor Ombudsman they first need to consider your issues (which won't be done overnight) and then (and only if they think you have a valid issue) they will give the other side 15 working days (essentially 3 weeks) to put forward their side of the argument BEFORE the adjudicator reaches a decision. If you don't agree with the decision, you do have one chance to have that decision reviewed by the Ombudsman - and even then you don't have to accept it. Timewise, do you have that flexibility up your sleeve?

Have a look at the Consumer Rights Act and see if you fit under any of the criteria there. I don't know the age of the car, but that legislation contains details about who has the obligation to prove inherent manufacturing faults; the right to reject/refund.

You should also have a look at the Motor Ombudsman's website and the various Codes listed there to see if you can identify a particular breach of commitment by the garage. Also have a look at the reviews on the Motor Ombudsman's service and of any cases that they have decided. That might give you a 'feel' as to whether you are likely to get a favourable outcome.

Regarding the Motor Ombudsman - we have just rejected the adjudicator's initial decision in our case and asked for a review. It was a disappointing outcome as we certainly felt that other parties should have been given a ticking off for their part in our brand new car's break down and delayed repair. However, we've asked for a review so, naively, I live in hope of a fair outcome.

Good luck

welfayre

Unless the garage you're complaining about are signed up to the scheme you'll be wasting your time.

DavidT67

Thanks CarWorries, and yes welfayre garage is signed up to Motor codes /ombudsman.

The value of going to ombudsman adjudication seem to hinge around whether one party or another could prove or disprove pre-existing undiscovered faults or not and what fair value for the vehicle would be with or without those faults.

A friendly solicitor thinks case is warranted, a friendly independent garage owner advises it's not worth the aggravation for likely payout...