Garage misdiagnosed fault - already paid

ejb1979

Hi,

I dropped my car off last week at a ford dealership for an MOT, service and to reprogram the key fob when it stopped working after I replaced the battery.

I was subsequently told that the key could not reprogrammed and would need to purchase new keys and get these programmed for the car. These had arrived on Friday, but they did not have time to program them, so I was advised to pay everything up front (including the new keys + programming which was £300) and then bring the car back in today for them to finish.

I got a call from the garage today to say that the keys could not be programmed as there was a fault with the instrument cluster (it flickers intermittently) and this would need to be replaced for £920. They offered me a discount small discount on this (about £150) when I asked for one, but am speaking to the service manager tomorrow as I am not happy with this.

Does anyone know if I am entitled to get the work done for the price I paid in the first instance or how I should approach this.

Cheers,

Ed

AdrianC

ejb1979 wrote: »

Does anyone know if I am entitled to get the work done for the price I paid in the first instance

No.

They misdiagnosed, true. They've offered you a 50% rebate on the cost of the work for that - and you're better off than you were, because you have brand new keyfobs.

But was that misdiagnosis unreasonable, given the information they had available? Probably not. Had you mentioned the intermittent dash flickering to them?

ejb1979

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I wasnt particularly clear in my post - apologies. They have offered me £150 off the cost of new instrument cluster not off the keys, so I will have to pay 300 for the keys and then 770 for the new cluster (down from 920). If they had just said a new cluster in the first place I would only have had to pay 920 max instead of the 1070 they want to charge now.

The garage was aware of the fault (possibly) as they noticed it during the last service and quoted me for a replacement cluster then. Also on the MOT certificate they note that the odometer is not working in the milage section - so must have realised that the cluster was faulty.

Cheers,

Ed

EdGasketTheSecond

So 1 key had a flat battery and now you are faced with a £1200 bill maybe less £150? Doesn't really make sense. You can usually program the fob to the car yourself; check YouTube videos for how to do it.

Goudy

It's a common Ford fault, particularly with the Focus , you can actually get the cluster repaired for a fraction of the Ford replacement part and you won't suffer from the same issue again, which is likely with a Ford supplied replacement.

Just google "ford instrument cluster".

AdrianC

ejb1979 wrote: »

I wasnt particularly clear in my post - apologies. They have offered me £150 off the cost of new instrument cluster not off the keys, so I will have to pay 300 for the keys and then 770 for the new cluster (down from 920).

The difference is the same.

Goudy wrote: »

It's a common Ford fault, particularly with the Focus , you can actually get the cluster repaired for a fraction of the Ford replacement part and you won't suffer from the same issue again, which is likely with a Ford supplied replacement.

Just google "ford instrument cluster".

Take it to a franchise main dealer, you are always only going to get the "official" fix, which won't involve third-party repairs to parts, but will simply be replacement.

Penelopa.Pitstop

I would request refund for the new keys and return them, after all, you don't need them and it was their mistake.

m0bov

Get your money back on the keys, you might have to pay for the diags. Then, try an Indy.

unholyangel

ejb1979 wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I wasnt particularly clear in my post - apologies. They have offered me £150 off the cost of new instrument cluster not off the keys, so I will have to pay 300 for the keys and then 770 for the new cluster (down from 920). If they had just said a new cluster in the first place I would only have had to pay 920 max instead of the 1070 they want to charge now.

The garage was aware of the fault (possibly) as they noticed it during the last service and quoted me for a replacement cluster then. Also on the MOT certificate they note that the odometer is not working in the milage section - so must have realised that the cluster was faulty.

Cheers,

Ed

I'd maybe try for a refund of the key and return it to them under the consumer rights act - as they've effectively sold you goods to serve a purpose (fix the problem) and those goods are not fit for that purpose.

arcon5

Get your refund and go to a non main dealer