Car in limp mode after MOT

dilby

Hi all -

Recently received a letter from Vauxhall regarding a recall on my wife's automatic Vauxhall Corsa (42k miles) to replace a spring in the handbrake. The only place for us to get it done was at FRF motors here in Swansea. The car also needed an MOT so we decided to get it done at the same time. We've only had the car for 12 months after buying it from a local garage.

The car passed the MOT fine and we were told handbrake now sorted, but on the way home the engine management light came on and it did not want to go out of 2nd gear (when in Drive). I called to complain and they reluctantly said they'd see me in the morning.

So in the morning I took the car there, and had one of the managers come for a drive with me where I demonstrated the problem and the engine management light also came on - so they can no longer say 'we can't find the problem' etc. He confirmed it was an issue and that it wouldn't have passed the MOT like that, and asked me to leave it with them.

This afternoon I received a call to say that the gearbox had gone, that they don't touch gearboxes, and I'd need to come and collect it. I explained that the issue has never happened before, that they themselves admitted it wouldn't have passed MOT like it was, and I have video and photographic evidence of it happening on the 20 minute drive home yesterday straight from collecting it. It's now a a bit of stalemate; does anyone have any ideas how I can handle this?

As I said this isn't an intermittent issue that has just got worse; its never done it before and now it can't be driven without it happening, so something has clearly happened to the car while it's been in their possession. They are simply saying they wouldn't have touched the gearbox while doing the handbrake, but I'm no mechanic so hard to comment on this.

Thanks so much

sevenhills

dilby wrote: »

As I said this isn't an intermittent issue that has just got worse; its never done it before and now it can't be driven without it happening, so something has clearly happened to the car while it's been in their possession. They are simply saying they wouldn't have touched the gearbox while doing the handbrake, but I'm no mechanic so hard to comment on this.

Thanks so much

No reason to believe a gearbox fault is related to it having its hand brake fixed.
Ask Vauxhall to diagnose your cars problem.

Nodding_Donkey

If the problem was caused by them why didn't the light come on straight away?

Mercdriver

sevenhills wrote: »

No reason to believe a gearbox fault is related to it having its hand brake fixed.
Ask Vauxhall to diagnose your cars problem.

FRF is the main Vauxhall dealer for much of South Wales, from Bridgend to Pembrokeshire. So OP might have a bit of work getting it to a dealership independent of FRF.

dilby

Hi - for the record the light did come on straight away. As explained when we picked the car up and drove it home the light was on and it wouldn't come out of second. My wife drove it home and I drove my car.

Mercdriver

dilby wrote: »

Hi - for the record the light did come on straight away. As explained when we picked the car up and drove it home the light was on and it wouldn't come out of second. My wife drove it home and I drove my car.

I wouldn't have driven the car home with the EML on, personally. Not so soon after any work being done. Avoids any accusations about exacerbating any issues. Trouble is EML represents so many different issues it's difficult to know how serious it is.

facade

Unfortunately, you actually have video proof that there was no fault when you collected it, as the fault appeared on your way home. Cars do just break (especially the easytronic corsa)



You need a professional diagnosis that points directly at the work carried out to get anywhere.

dilby

Thanks for replies so far. My wife is an anxious driver (which is why she has an automatic) and she was in end of day traffic, so although i suppose it's not ideal to take the car straight back I can understand why. We are only 20 mins away, and the light itself isn't too noticeable; it's mostly obscured by the steering wheel. So at small speeds you don't notice the issue as you're just crawling in traffic in second. It wasn't till about halfway on the journey she noticed something was up and she just wanted to get it home as people were staring at her etc and it was more stressful to find a spot and pull over. As soon as she came home she told me and i got in the car and could see light was on. Hindsight always good.

Mercdriver

dilby wrote: »

Thanks for replies so far. My wife is an anxious driver (which is why she has an automatic) and she was in end of day traffic, so although i suppose it's not ideal to take the car straight back I can understand why. We are only 20 mins away, and the light itself isn't too noticeable; it's mostly obscured by the steering wheel. So at small speeds you don't notice the issue as you're just crawling in traffic in second. It wasn't till about halfway on the journey she noticed something was up and she just wanted to get it home as people were staring at her etc and it was more stressful to find a spot and pull over. As soon as she came home she told me and i got in the car and could see light was on. Hindsight always good.

Yes hindsight is always 20/20. But you have to be prepared for the fact that it may just be bad luck...

System

My lad's Peugeot went in for a MOT last week. Drove it home, everything fine. Set off to work and an "Anti Pollution System Fault" warning light came up on the dash. Nothing to do with the MOT, just unfortunate timing.

Other than the emissions test on a diesel where they rev the nuts off it there's nothing done during a MOT that'll break a gearbox or cause an engine warning light to come on. Same with repairing the handbrake spring.

AndyMc.....

dilby wrote: »

Hi all -

Recently received a letter from Vauxhall regarding a recall on my wife's automatic Vauxhall Corsa (42k miles) to replace a spring in the handbrake. The only place for us to get it done was at FRF motors here in Swansea. The car also needed an MOT so we decided to get it done at the same time. We've only had the car for 12 months after buying it from a local garage.

The car passed the MOT fine and we were told handbrake now sorted, but on the way home the engine management light came on and it did not want to go out of 2nd gear (when in Drive). I called to complain and they reluctantly said they'd see me in the morning.

So in the morning I took the car there, and had one of the managers come for a drive with me where I demonstrated the problem and the engine management light also came on - so they can no longer say 'we can't find the problem' etc. He confirmed it was an issue and that it wouldn't have passed the MOT like that, and asked me to leave it with them.

This afternoon I received a call to say that the gearbox had gone, that they don't touch gearboxes, and I'd need to come and collect it. I explained that the issue has never happened before, that they themselves admitted it wouldn't have passed MOT like it was, and I have video and photographic evidence of it happening on the 20 minute drive home yesterday straight from collecting it. It's now a a bit of stalemate; does anyone have any ideas how I can handle this?

As I said this isn't an intermittent issue that has just got worse; its never done it before and now it can't be driven without it happening, so something has clearly happened to the car while it's been in their possession. They are simply saying they wouldn't have touched the gearbox while doing the handbrake, but I'm no mechanic so hard to comment on this.

Thanks so much

What from your car or did your nervous driver of a wife just happen to be filming when it came on?