Garage damage

Dougie1308

Well all sorted now, the point is they should have mentioned  what may happen,
We were thinking of having the whole system replaced, Main dealer £756, this Vauxhall dealer £ 1000. Flexi pipe at MD £385, this garage £325, so thats why we went to them, as we bought the car from them, but ended up costing over £100 more. We were going to PX the car with them for a brand new Vauxhall, but not now, so they have lost a decent sale.
Thanks for all the replies.

Dr_Crypto

Sounds like the bolts were knackered anyway and it wasn't possible to remove them without them shearing off. That's the reality of workmanship - sometimes the unexpected happens and a job turns out to be bigger than expected. 

angrycrow

Some cars are know for bolts siezing and shearing. Can't comment on vauxhall but when I owned a Fiat the bolts felt like they were made of chocolate and every time I worked on it (felt like almost every weekend) a bolt would snap. Yet I have very rarely snapped bolts on any of the other cars I have worked on. Exhaust fixings have a particularly hard life and it is common for them to seize or break. Where a exhaust section has pressed in studs (other than the manifold) I tend to take them out and replace them with stainless bolts so they are easier to undo if I need to change a different part of the exhaust later. 

EdGasketTheSecond

onlyfoolsandparking said:

fred246 said:

MinuteNoodles said:

Dougie1308 said:
 they came and told her some bolts had sheared off on some part and they need to get a specialist in to fix it, and its going to cost her at least another £300. She in no uncertain terms told them their fortune ! Surely this is their incompetance , anyway they agreed a price of just over £400, I dont think she should pay the extra, they broke it they fix it. I might add this is a reputable company, not a shady concern, So should she pay just the quote or the extra ? Thanks in advance.

 it's a cost that is one the customer has to bear.

It's a cost the customer has to bear even if it is total incompetence because they seldom own up to their incompetence.

????? that doesn't make sense, how can a bolt (old and seized) shearing off be incompetence.

You can shear off almost any bolt if you are careless. Conversely if you are careful, then most bolts can be eased out with heat and liquid wrench.

onlyfoolsandparking

EdGasketTheSecond said:

onlyfoolsandparking said:

fred246 said:

MinuteNoodles said:

Dougie1308 said:
 they came and told her some bolts had sheared off on some part and they need to get a specialist in to fix it, and its going to cost her at least another £300. She in no uncertain terms told them their fortune ! Surely this is their incompetance , anyway they agreed a price of just over £400, I dont think she should pay the extra, they broke it they fix it. I might add this is a reputable company, not a shady concern, So should she pay just the quote or the extra ? Thanks in advance.

 it's a cost that is one the customer has to bear.

It's a cost the customer has to bear even if it is total incompetence because they seldom own up to their incompetence.

????? that doesn't make sense, how can a bolt (old and seized) shearing off be incompetence.

You can shear off almost any bolt if you are careless. Conversely if you are careful, then most bolts can be eased out with heat and liquid wrench.

Well obviously. Anything CAN be broken if one is careless, the point I was making was if an old and seized bolt sheared whilst taking off it was always going to do that due to it's condition. I was pointing out Fred's distrust of garages lol.

On a more positive note I have used the same mechanic for over 30 years with him servicing and repairing around 8 cars for me and OH over those years, he's never once mentioned to me about a bolt shearing off, whether one ever has on any of my cars I actually don't know I'd have to ask him but I suspect he just considers a sheared bolt as part of his job and just get's on with the fix.    

johnsmith12

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MinuteNoodles

fred246 said:

It's a cost the customer has to bear even if it is total incompetence because they seldom own up to their incompetence.

Have you never ever had a bolt shear? Given how much DIY mechanics you claim to do I'd question your honesty if you say you haven't. When it did would you say you were incompetent and were the cause or would you quite rightly say it's because two bits of metal had effectively corroded into one and the rusty thread had been weakened by the corrosion?

Goudy

I don't have any doubts about rusty old bolts shearing and who's liable, what bugs be about this post is this:
£300 for a front exhaust pipe on a Vauxhall and £300 worth of damage to bolts?
Ok, now they burn off the U clamps off the exhaust, but they're only a few pounds and usually factored into the price of a replacement.
The rest of the exhaust is hung on rubbers, no £300 there.
The undertray? Maybe a few sheared bolts there, but a whiz through with a drill and a thread insert or two, there isn't £300 there either, even cheaper if you use a few speed nuts, which is what most undertrays use to hold them on.

The front pipe at £300 is dear enough, but what have else have they done to cause that amount of damage?

531063

Goudy said:

I don't have any doubts about rusty old bolts shearing and who's liable, what bugs be about this post is this:
£300 for a front exhaust pipe on a Vauxhall and £300 worth of damage to bolts?
Ok, now they burn off the U clamps off the exhaust, but they're only a few pounds and usually factored into the price of a replacement.
The rest of the exhaust is hung on rubbers, no £300 there.
The undertray? Maybe a few sheared bolts there, but a whiz through with a drill and a thread insert or two, there isn't £300 there either, even cheaper if you use a few speed nuts, which is what most undertrays use to hold them on.

The front pipe at £300 is dear enough, but what have else have they done to cause that amount of damage?

Yeah & what about manifold bolts they are more than likely whats sheared which can be a common problem on most cars when you come to replacement.

AdrianC

Goudy said:

I don't have any doubts about rusty old bolts shearing and who's liable, what bugs be about this post is this:
£300 for a front exhaust pipe on a Vauxhall and £300 worth of damage to bolts?
Ok, now they burn off the U clamps off the exhaust, but they're only a few pounds and usually factored into the price of a replacement.
The rest of the exhaust is hung on rubbers, no £300 there.
The undertray? Maybe a few sheared bolts there, but a whiz through with a drill and a thread insert or two, there isn't £300 there either, even cheaper if you use a few speed nuts, which is what most undertrays use to hold them on.

The front pipe at £300 is dear enough, but what have else have they done to cause that amount of damage?

The nuts need cutting off... but what about the studs they're on? The studs aren't a separate bolt - you can't just put a new one through. It'll cost more to remove the other section of pipe, drill, tap, put new studs in than to simply replace it. And what are the mounting flanges like? Is there a hope of getting a decent seal?

Sometimes, the easiest - let alone quickest and cheapest - solution to an exhaust is just to replace the whole damn lot in one go.

I hate exhausts.
I had the mid-pipe on my old car go a couple of years ago. The back box looked fine... until I gave it a paddington stare with a big screwdriver. I spent AGES removing the mid-pipe from the sliding joint into the old flexi/cat/down-pipe... And that promptly failed a couple of months later.