Car passed MOT - no speedometer on drive home, very upset.

marliepanda

This is my first post in the motoring part of the forum so apologies if I give too much info/not enough info.

3 weeks ago I took my car in for MOT, a week before the due date in the vain hope any work done would be done before the MOT expiration date. Failed on some minor issues and also a passenger airbag fault, they booked it in for a week later to look at, and then a few days later diagnosed a fault which meant they needed to replace the passenger airbag.

My car is old, and nackered, dont get me wrong, but I weighed up the cost of the 'new' airbag and thought if it got me another year out of my car Id be happy, so we went ahead with the repair.

2 weeks later I go to pick my car up. It was finished at 4pm and by the time I got there they were closing up. Start to drive my car home and very quickly notice that my speedometer isnt moving at all. Turn around, drive back, get a pretty disinterested response that they hadnt noticed it and Id have to ring them back next week to book it in to be looked at as they were now closed. I asked if it was safe to drive home and they said 'yes just go easy' He then says 'oh youre timing chains about to go, you need to decide whether to get rid of the car or get it sorted.'

Considering I'd just dropped £200 to get it through its MOT I was a bit annoyed and said 'why didnt you say that before I spent money fixing my car?' and he simply replied that he hadnt noticed it 'until today' (which I dont really believe, my car has been rattly for a while but its old, and it worked, and all I wanted was another year out of it. Spending £200 to get it through an MOT to be told its about to die at any minute wasnt really my idea of service.) It stalled twice on the way home and sounds MUCH more rattly than I remember, though I have spent most of the past 2 weeks getting a lift in an EV so maybe Im just not as tuned into the car noise as I used to be.

Honestly Im so wound up. Told my car is on its way out, sent home with no speedometer (but a MOT pass??) and without an appointment to get it fixed. Double charged for my MOT as its on my invoice again but I already paid it.

Sorry for the long post, and I dont really know what Im asking. Part of me wants to tell them to take their parts back and do a chargeback on my card for the pointless money I feel like Ive spent.

sheramber

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/retests

marliepanda

sheramber wrote: »

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/retests

They told me they don't charge for MOT retests if they do the repairs.

I was given no choice about taking it back home with me, I had to.

I took it back at the very next opportunity they offered me which was days. Its not my fault they took so long to diagnose and fix the fault, and at no point was I told they were charging me again for the MOT. My invoice even says:

MOT £25
MOT retest £0

Plus its come back so much worse than when it went in

reddwarf2002

From the sounds of it they sound like a cowboy outfit. I think they fully know what they have done to your speedometer. The reason he probably mentioned the timing chain is to condemn the car and get you off their back now that they have caused other issues. Just out of interest is it a backstreet garage and have you had dealings with them in the past?

marliepanda

reddwarf2002 wrote: »

From the sounds of it they sound like a cowboy outfit. I think they fully know what they have done to your speedometer. The reason he probably mentioned the timing chain is to condemn the car and get you off their back now that they have caused other issues. Just out of interest is it a backstreet garage and have you had dealings with them in the past?

Its a family run place that my family has used for years. I have used them fever since I had a car, so around 9 years..

He half heartedly mentioned that they had been 'messing around with the electrics' whilst sorting the airbag so maybe thats what it was. Ive had a car with a totally defunct timing chain before and managed to keep it going for a little longer. The timing chain on this one is 5 years old. I know my car is old and honestly another year would be more than my moneys worth, I guess I just think its crazy to get a car back in worse condition after an MOT and spending £200 to fix it up a little.

onomatopoeia99

It sounds like they should refund you the second MOT charge, that's most likely to be an admin error.

Passenger airbag won't be anywhere near the speedometer drive if it's a mechanical speedo. If it's an electrical speedo driven from a sensor then who knows if they could have dislodged a connector somewhere.

It would be quite an effort to deliberately make a timing chain worse than it was and I don't believe they've done that. I've replaced chains in the past and I'm not sure how I'd go about it to be honest - the tensioners on the ones I've worked on have been sprung so don't need adjusting, I'd have to actually take off the chain or tensioner then replace with a more worn items, and that's far too much effort. You don't want the chain to fail though, that's like a cam belt failing. for the damage it can cause.

missile

A worn timing chain could break tomorrow or last for years. Depending on the value of the car(?), your best option might to run it until it breaks then scrap the car.

marliepanda

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

It sounds like they should refund you the second MOT charge, that's most likely to be an admin error.

Passenger airbag won't be anywhere near the speedometer drive if it's a mechanical speedo. If it's an electrical speedo driven from a sensor then who knows if they could have dislodged a connector somewhere.

It would be quite an effort to deliberately make a timing chain worse than it was and I don't believe they've done that. I've replaced chains in the past and I'm not sure how I'd go about it to be honest - the tensioners on the ones I've worked on have been sprung so don't need adjusting, I'd have to actually take off the chain or tensioner then replace with a more worn items, and that's far too much effort. You don't want the chain to fail though, that's like a cam belt failing. for the damage it can cause.

I think it may be a belt rather than a chain, I forget which it was.

Honestly once it goes, the car goes, so as long as I dont veer off the road into a ditch Im keeping it going despite any timing chain issues. Like I said maybe its because Im used to a quieter car that suddenly its more noticeable but its just so so rattly.

They also did a brake pipe and some bulbs. The speedo is a mechanical one.

IM just done with it, I think. I guess I thought another year would do me fine and I feel its come out of the garage 10x worse than when it went in. I can live without a passenger airbag, but not my speedometer.

marliepanda

missile wrote: »

A worn timing chain could break tomorrow or last for years. Depending on the value of the car(?), your best option might to run it until it breaks then scrap the car.

Thats absolutely my plan, I'm more annoyed about the speedo to be honest. Its just all got on top of me a bit (not the car....)

missile

I can see why you are annoyed and it does seem too much of a coincidence. What car and we would be able to advise whether it is chain or belt and cable or electrically driven speedo? If belt not so expensive to change but electric speedo could be cheap or expensive to repair. Make sure you get an estimate before authorising any repairs.

You might want to get car repaired somewhere else?

marliepanda

missile wrote: »

I can see why you are annoyed and it does seem too much of a coincidence. What car and we would be able to advise whether it is chain or belt and cable or electrically driven speedo? If belt not so expensive to change but electric speedo could be cheap or expensive to repair. Make sure you get an estimate before authorising any repairs.

You might want to get car repaired somewhere else?

Its a NIssan Micra K12 I believe, 2004 reg.

Honestly the way I feel at the moment I feel like they can whistle if they ask for money to fix the speedo. Ive never had any issues with it before and for it to suddenly not work after they do the airbag fix? Id take it elsewhere but dont I have to give them opportunity to fix their mistake if I did ever need to take it further (chargebacks etc)