Alternator replacement issues and a possible problem with a garage.

Eric3000

It's hopefully nothing but I'm a little worried and anxious about a garage I took my car to for repair yesterday.  I'll try to summarise the situation as best I can.

Sunday I called Greenflag as my car would not start. They said it was my Alternator. I've only had the car about 6 months by the way and it's a 2006 Zafira.

Tuesday (yesterday) morning Greenflag delivered my car to a garage I spoke to on Monday who said they could do the work on Tuesday. 

Tuesday midday I got a call from the garage asking if I was sure I wanted the Alternator replaced as it was relatively new. I explained again that Greenflag tested it and said it needed replacing and that Greenflag also mentioned it looked newish, but that it could have been a cheap refurbished one. 

I called the garage back yesterday late afternoon to ask when I could pick up the car as I never heard anything from them. I was told they had only just ordered the alternator and it would arrive Wednesday (today). He also said it was a nightmare job and that they had to remove the wheel and move the engine to get at the alternator - something he never mentioned when I originally spoke to them on the phone, in fact they gave me the impression it was a straightforward job. The person I spoke to sounded really annoyed for some reason and seemed to not like me asking when the car would be ready to pick up, and annoyingly said "look we'll just call you when it's done OK".

It's almost 24 hours later and I still haven't heard anything from them and I will give them a call soon. But after speaking to them yesterday when they sounded really irritated by me or something, I'm getting more and more anxious and am starting to think ahead if there will be problems, like the work isn't done properly. 

I want to say that I'm always really polite on the phone to anyone and I used to work as customer service telephone operator, so it's not like I'm an unpleasant person to talk to to on the phone. I'm also aware that not everyone is polite on the phone has sometimes people just have a bad day, but right or wrong, I have a growing feeling something isn't quite right.

Last year I had a nightmare with a used car I bought from a dealer that was unfit to be on the road, and now I just want to be proactive.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice in case I have any issues with this garage. 

ricky101

Hi,

Sounds a little strange,  as checking the alternators output is a simple, quick job for any garage.

Wow, removing a wheel, must be such a big job for any garage, can they manage it  !!

Seems on the Zafria its mounted low down in the engine bay so it needs accessing from above and below, but even so, its just a standard job for any half decent garage. Do not know the 'book' time for such a job, but would think 1 hour about right for a genuine mechanic.

You could always ring a local Vauxhall dealer and ask them for a parts and labour quote for the work, and just happen to ask how the labour relates to time taken if they do not mention it.

Hopefully your garage will get the job done soon and be in a better mood, though clearly one to avoid in future, as with a car 14 years old afraid repairs will always be needed, though hopefully not too often

Eric3000

Thanks for your reply.

About the same time you replied I got a friendly call to say I could pick it up. The owner of the place was there and he was a really friendly chatty old chap and we talked about the history of the garage and how he'd been in business for 30 years.

As for the car, so far so good, the problem seems to have been fixed. Just one little issue I've encountered is that I now have to keep my finger on the button to close the windows all the way, but I'll troubleshoot that myself now online and hopefully find an easy solution. I'm happy the audio system still works OK and isn't asking for any codes.

So maybe the fella I spoke to was just having a bad day, or had indigestion, or his horse didn't win, who knows. Although I think their customer service could be a little better, they were £100 cheaper than 3 other places I called and the chief is a decent bloke, so long as a wheel doesn't fall of in the near future I think I would consider returning to them again.

Live and learn   

facade

Eric3000 said:

Just one little issue I've encountered is that I now have to keep my finger on the button to close the windows all the way, but I'll troubleshoot that myself now online and hopefully find an easy solution. I'm happy the audio system still works OK and isn't asking for any codes.

The battery has been disconnected, and the windows have forgotten how to work (beats me why, they can only go up until they stop) Look up learning on the interweb, but usually you wind them all the way down, holding your finger on the button continuously, keep it on after the window is down for a count of 5, then wind it all the way up and hold the switch again for a count of 5 and the auto close should work again.

Eric3000

facade said:

Eric3000 said:

Just one little issue I've encountered is that I now have to keep my finger on the button to close the windows all the way, but I'll troubleshoot that myself now online and hopefully find an easy solution. I'm happy the audio system still works OK and isn't asking for any codes.

The battery has been disconnected, and the windows have forgotten how to work (beats me why, they can only go up until they stop) Look up learning on the interweb, but usually you wind them all the way down, holding your finger on the button continuously, keep it on after the window is down for a count of 5, then wind it all the way up and hold the switch again for a count of 5 and the auto close should work again.

Ah that did the trick nicely. Thank you very much!