Unroadworthy car returned after MOT pass and repairs

anewman

Took car to a garage for an MOT yesterday. It failed on the list below and I agreed for the work to be done.

• Both rear axle bushes
• Front coil spring
• Front brake hoses
• ARB ball joint dust cover

However it was returned with the following new faults

• A rear brake shoe binding (wheel getting extremely hot, acrid burning smell, smoke)
• Car pulls to left when braking
• Handbrake loose

It's pretty clear to me that their negligence while performing the repairs has caused these faults.

My plan is to return to the garage and hope they can rectify these faults. My questions are:

Under what circumstances could they reasonably be allowed to charge for any repairs under these circumstances?

Would it be worth complaining to DVSA about the garage passing a vehicle that should have failed, given it seems it has passed but would only fail now due to damage caused by their repairs?

forgotmyname

What did they do to the rear brakes whilst changing the rear bushes?

Did they even move any braking components? Maybe your just unlucky that your caliper seized on that day?

One of those where it wont start and the owner says it was working yesterday.... Today is not yesterday.

anewman

forgotmyname wrote: »

What did they do to the rear brakes whilst changing the rear bushes?

Did they even move any braking components? Maybe your just unlucky that your caliper seized on that day?

One of those where it wont start and the owner says it was working yesterday.... Today is not yesterday.

They shouldn't have touched the rear brakes, other than if they were bleeding them when replacing the front hoses.

If they were careless and didn't properly support the axle when replacing the bushes, that could conceivably have caused damage.

For it to happen straight after the MOT on the first journey, it clearly is the garage's fault - and don't plan on using this garage again for an MOT in future.

Joe_Horner

anewman wrote: »

They shouldn't have touched the rear brakes, other than if they were bleeding them when replacing the front hoses.

I think that was forgotmyname's point.

anewman wrote: »

If they were careless and didn't properly support the axle when replacing the bushes, that could conceivably have caused damage.

Unlikely. You haven't mentioned the car but unless it's RWD with an old fashioned solid axle there's really not much to support.

anewman wrote: »

For it to happen straight after the MOT on the first journey, it clearly is the garage's fault - and don't plan on using this garage again for an MOT in future.

It's not "clearly" at all. Things break. Things seize. Sometimes they do it with no warning. Until you know what the fault is, you can't say who (if anyone) is at fault.

The answer is to take it back and explain the problem politely, WITHOUT accusing them or getting stroppy.

That way, if it is something they've done, they'll get it sorted and if it's a coincidence you've got a fighting chance of them sorting it as goodwill.

If you go in aggressively they'll still sort it if it's down to them, but don't expect any goodwill at all if they can find a reason that it might not have been.

anewman

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It's not "clearly" at all. Things break. Things seize.

But why would they do it straight after an MOT pass, when the brake test printout clearly shows everything is fine?!

Joe_Horner

anewman wrote: »

But why would they do it straight after an MOT pass, when the brake test printout clearly shows everything is fine?!

Because something went wrong. It happens.

A few months back I put fuel in my car and it cut out 2 miles later and refused to restart. It turned out to be a seal failed on the lift pump allowing it to suck air with the fuel. Nothing to do with the new fuel even though it happened immediately afterwards.

In your case, it could be a handbrake cable seizing and locking one side on, or a brake pad breaking up (not common nowadays but not unknown), or a flexi pipe that's failed internally. None of those would have shown up on a brake test if they hadn't happened yet.

It could also be something they've done, but give them a chance to look at it before accusing them - there really isn't a better way to lose any chance of goodwill for unlucky coincidences than by going in accusing!

reddwarf2002

Here's the thing OP; it might not be the garage's fault. I recently had my car MOT'd and during the test the caliper started seizing slightly.

The brake pads were changed, but when I investigated it myself it turned out to be the handbrake mechanism that was sticky. Cleaned that up and it's be running great.

If it's an older VAG group car and the car doesn't get used much then I would suggest you check this before changing pads and caliper which my mechanic suggested!

anewman

I guess it's possible something like the cylinder failed when they bled the brakes. I don't know if garages perhaps use something that sucks fluid through the nipple or applies pressure to the reservoir on top of the master cylinder (ala Eezibleed). I did notice the nipple cover was missing though, and only this garage has done work on them, which makes me think their work is a bit sloppy. They always seem to forget to put something back too like the locking wheel nut or the nut cap remover.

Also they replaced a tyre that didn't need replacing. I had gone to a tyre place less than a week and 100 miles before and asked them to replace all 4. I knew 2 would certainly fail the MOT and another was getting close. This tyre place refused to replace the one the MOT garage replaced saying it was fine. I noticed after they put this as an "advisory" whereas on the phone quoting the work they implied it was a fail. This also leads me to feel a bit paranoid about the garage.

I agree accusing won't help. Hopefully I can get this sorted and try other garages in future where I won't have to check if my locking wheel nut has been put back.

forgotmyname

I had a brake light bulb fail during the test once. The MOT guy tests all the lights at the entrance of the ebay, then forward onto the brake rollers then onto the ramp.

Lights all fine then the brake test all fine, as he stopped on the ramp the bulb no longer worked.

System

The irony of complaining about getting an unroadworthy car returned when you've been driving around in one with two broken springs and two bald tyres quite happily....

anewman wrote: »

But why would they do it straight after an MOT pass, when the brake test printout clearly shows everything is fine?!

My wife's car passed the visual brake inspection. During the brake test afterwards a hose burst. Sods law.

Your car is a poorly maintained shed that doesn't get serviced properly as the MOT fail and your admission of driving around on illegal tyres demonstrates very clearly. MOT tests stress things like brakes beyond normal daily use limits and this can cause things to fail which may not necessarily fail during the test but can very soon after especially on a shed of a car which only sees a garage once a year when the MOT is due.

anewman wrote: »

They shouldn't have touched the rear brakes, other than if they were bleeding them when replacing the front hoses.

If they were careless and didn't properly support the axle when replacing the bushes, that could conceivably have caused damage.

If they had to remove the arms to replace the bushes they may have had to disconnect the rear brakes. Not supporting the axle properly wouldn't cause damage and if it did it would be the backplate on the hub which could get bent but you'd hear that and it wouldn't cause brake binding.

n217970

I'm confused what brake is binding? Calipers keep being mentioned but you said brake shoes in the OP.