HALFORDS - £500 spent and still not fixed

black_wings

Hi folks
Had our MOT last month at Halfords. We advised them before carrying out the MOT that the service light comes on whilst driving and as soon as this light comes on the car starts juddering a lot and had cut out a few times.
They proceeded to do the MOT and told us the wishbone (about £150) needed replacing but otherwise no problems with the car. We couldn't understand that since we knew there was a problem with it.

We had a conversation with them at length and explained that since it is an older car anyway, that we didn't see any point in repairing the wishbone to pass the MOT if the car had some other problems. We wanted a full understanding of what needed fixing to make an informed decision if it was worth it or not.

So they advised before replacing the wishbone for us to spend £50 for them to do a full diagnostic of the car. They did this and told us that the filter in the exhaust was blocked up so that we should pay around £25 to get it cleared out and that should fix it. Fine. We did that but proved no help at all. So they advised that something in the exhaust needed changing and would cost £250. They assured us that this was the cause of the problem from the results of their diagnostic work and that paying this £250 would fix the issue. We thought we had all the information so agreed and proceeded to pay out around £500 in total.

We've driven the car twice since then and it's apparent that the issue hasn't been fixed at all as yesterday the light came on, the car was juddering and actually failed to start we had to try multiple times.

I appreciate with an older car that problems will occur but the reason I am a bit miffed is because we wanted all the information at hand to know what needed fixing and how much it would cost in order to make an informed decision about whether to spend the ££ repairing the car or get rid of it. We've paid out for something which was not the source of the problem.
We've had to explain at least 5 times the problem and they don't seem to be taking it on board or providing any ideas what's causing the juddering.

They have agreed to take it in today for another diagnostic test free of charge this time.

Any pointers on where we might stand would be so appreciated. I have no idea what rights (if any) we have with regards to repair works being carried out which weren't the source of the problem we reported to them.

I am prepared that we probably just have to suck it up and move on but if we can do anything it would be good.

ratrace

What car is it?

black_wings

It's a vauxhall corsa

ratrace

diesel or petrol? what year? what mileage?

we need more information about the car

DoaM

Corsa what? e.g. engine size, fuel type, gearbox type, precise model.

black_wings

Hi guy's sorry I didn't put the info about the car; I thought it was more about the £ we keep spending at Halford's and our rights with them but if you also have a clue of what might be wrong with it of course that's super helpful too
It's a Corsa SXI 16V 2001 1.2 engine. Petrol. It is a fair age and has a lot of miles on the clock.
So I do totally get that it's an old banger to some people and we were mentally prepared to be replacing it this year we only decided to keep it another year since it passed the MOT and they said the £500 would fix it which it hasn't. So now we've spent out and it still needs scrapping by the looks of it.
Note: my car knowledge is very low.

BeenThroughItAll

When were the spark plugs last changed?

Sounds more like a coil pack or plugs to me rather than exhaust related. Lambda sensor would be an outside possibility or possibly a blocked cat, but that would normally show up all the time not just after a while.

Coil pack could just breaking down, often gets worse as they heat up.

black_wings

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

When were the spark plugs last changed?

Sounds more like a coil pack or plugs to me rather than exhaust related. Lambda sensor would be an outside possibility or possibly a blocked cat, but that would normally show up all the time not just after a while.

Coil pack could just breaking down, often gets worse as they heat up.

Cheers for that suggestion. I've had a google and the description of when to know if spark plugs need changing does sound very similar to the issues we are having with the car.
If that is the problem should this be something which Halford's picked up during the diagnostic test?

AdrianC

black_wings wrote: »

If that is the problem should this be something which Halford's picked up during the diagnostic test?

By "diagnostic test", they mean that they plugged it into the computer and checked for fault codes. The codes probably came back with an emissions fault, which they then started to sort by simply swapping bits around, rather than pausing and thinking. This is only to be expected, because the people at Halfords aren't proper mechanics, and don't do thinking.

When was the car last serviced? I mean properly serviced? Not just taken to Halfords for an MOT and (if it's lucky) an oil change?

wgl2014

As above get the plugs changed, I would also consider adding a can of fuel system cleaner through. Bg44 and Archoil are both good. These items are cheap and easy to do.

black_wings

AdrianC wrote: »

By "diagnostic test", they mean that they plugged it into the computer and checked for fault codes. The codes probably came back with an emissions fault, which they then started to sort by simply swapping bits around, rather than pausing and thinking. This is only to be expected, because the people at Halfords aren't proper mechanics, and don't do thinking.

When was the car last serviced? I mean properly serviced? Not just taken to Halfords for an MOT and (if it's lucky) an oil change?

We paid £50 for a full diagnostic test. They didn't tell us in much detail but they just said the test would cover a full check of the car and would establish the problem.
The car has a service once every 6 months.