coolant temperature sensor damage after coolant change

Apia

Hi,
My car is skoda fabia 2010, i have it for 4 years and still has low milleage. Last year i took it for MOT at skoda and they recommended me to change the coolant, the price that they quoted me was £129. so afraid i will failed this year MOt, i decided to change the coolant, i found out that halfords will do it for £39.99. so i went with them. Not even a month has passed and now my the engine light was on, took it to my local garage and they told me that the coolant temperature sensor need to be replace. (it showed that the temp was -47 when it wasnt). is it possible that halford damaged the sensor during the coolant changed? if yes, is it possible to ask Halford to be responsible for the repair? the local garage quoted me £209 for the parts fully fitted. they reset the sign and the next morning it went back on again. thanks for your advice, i have zero knowledge regading car

reddwarf2002

If they had damaged the sensor I would expect the error code to come up within a few days. So I wouldn't blame them. The coolant sensor a common failure.

However £209 for replacing it seems way excessive. The sensor is probably about £35 for a genuine one, so another £50 for an hours labour should do it. Take it to a good independent, they should be able to do it for a lot cheaper. But do ensure that they either use a good brand or the genuine sensor otherwise it could cause running issues.

Craig1981

agreed with red dwarf

when i did a coolant flush a few years back, radiator started to leak, and had to be replaced!

bought radiator myself and my local garage fitted it in an hour, total cost £90.

only issue doing it like this is that parts are not guaranteed, only the work, and some garages tend not to do labour only

chrisw

Just to add, coolant is not part of the MOT and the car would not have failed because of it.

The garage were either making a helpful suggestion to keep the car in top condition or drumming up work.

System

Apia wrote: »

. Not even a month has passed and now my the engine light was on, took it to my local garage and they told me that the coolant temperature sensor need to be replace. (it showed that the temp was -47 when it wasnt). is it possible that halford damaged the sensor during the coolant changed?

No. Entirely coincidental. They don't go anywhere near the coolant sensor and to do so would require them to do much more work than just undo a radiator drain plug or bottom hose and drain the fluid out then refill through the header tank.

Barking up the wrong tree, I'm afraid. There's nobody responsible you can try to get to pay for your vehicle's repair.