Bad Dealership/Garage Repair.

Shortie632

Hi all, I'm really desperate for some advice please,

I took may car to Right-Car Renault Dealership in Hull (recommended by my usual garage) they quoted £120 for a diagnostic. 24hrs later they called saying they’d done a diagnostic and couldn’t find the fault and asked for another £120 to do a more in-depth one. At this is the point I should have run for the hills but I rely on my car so much to get to my elderly mother around I agreed.

Two days later they called to say the cost would be just over £1,000.00, due to the age of the car and how difficult it was to get to the problem (I’m not car savvy), so I agreed. To cut a long story short, 10 days and 14 phone calls later I was faced with a bill for £1,634.09 (the car’s worth £3K max) because of other issues such as the filter needing cleaning etc. I managed to get them down to £1,259.00 and vowed never to return.

After 3 weeks I now have an oil leak either from the feed or return. How should I approach Right-Car because I’m sure they’re going to do a lot of back-peddling and as I said I’m not car savvy.

theatretony

Have they given you an invoice breakdown for the work completed? If not, get one. Like what filter needs cleaning? If it is air/oil//fuel pollen filter - they usually replace them.

Ebe_Scrooge

More details needed really before any meaningful advice can be offered.  Diagnostics can, unfortunately, be expensive on modern cars, and it's not always easy to isolate the cause of a problem.  Yes, it's infuriating, but it's a fact of modern life.

However - my immediate question would be, could the oil leak have been caused by something they did?  Maybe, maybe not.  Oil leaks do occur, especially on older cars, and it's quite possible that the leak is totally unrelated to any work that was carried out.

Shortie632

Got an invoice and they've logged. DPF re-gen, faulty Glow plugs, turbo pipe blocked. Found soot contents, dis-assembled front suspension and removed sub frame to remove DPF. Cleaned DPF and rebuild sub frame. My usual mechanic did a visual inspection and said it looks like it coming from the turbo oil feed or return. 

jimjames

theatretony said:

Have they given you an invoice breakdown for the work completed? If not, get one. Like what filter needs cleaning? If it is air/oil//fuel pollen filter - they usually replace them.

I assume for that money it's not an air filter and more likely to be DPF (Diesel particulate filter)

onlyfoolsandparking

Why did your usual mechanic not sort out the problem? My mechanic has never farmed out any of my cars no matter what's wrong with them, he's just fixed them. I get it that not all mechanics are equal but IF my mechanic HAD to use another garage for something specialist he wouldn't send me there he would sort it. I think you need a new mechanic.

Jumblebumble

onlyfoolsandparking said:

Why did your usual mechanic not sort out the problem? My mechanic has never farmed out any of my cars no matter what's wrong with them, he's just fixed them. I get it that not all mechanics are equal but IF my mechanic HAD to use another garage for something specialist he wouldn't send me there he would sort it. I think you need a new mechanic.

You do not seem to know much about running a business
The mechanic probably did not feel inclined to charge his customer for twiddling his thumbs for an hour or 2 while renault did their diagnostics probably using their specialist software
You presumably would feel happy to be double charged for the same thing?

onlyfoolsandparking

Jumblebumble said:

onlyfoolsandparking said:

Why did your usual mechanic not sort out the problem? My mechanic has never farmed out any of my cars no matter what's wrong with them, he's just fixed them. I get it that not all mechanics are equal but IF my mechanic HAD to use another garage for something specialist he wouldn't send me there he would sort it. I think you need a new mechanic.

You do not seem to know much about running a business
The mechanic probably did not feel inclined to charge his customer for twiddling his thumbs for an hour or 2 while renault did their diagnostics probably using their specialist software
You presumably would feel happy to be double charged for the same thing?

Maybe, maybe not, that's your opinion but why would a mechanic 'sit around for an hour or 2' when all he would have to do his drop it off then pick it up later when the diagnostics have been done which by the way I have seen my mechanic do this a few times (mainly auto-electric as he does very little in this area) SO 'presumably' you know less than me and my mechanic about running a business.

Never actually been double charged for any work I've had done, is it luck? is it skill? intelligence, common sense, who can tell eh. 

Oh by the way I ran a successful business for 20+ years retiring from it quite well but I digress........ 

BOWFER

onlyfoolsandparking said:

Why did your usual mechanic not sort out the problem? My mechanic has never farmed out any of my cars no matter what's wrong with them, he's just fixed them. 

Unless you're watching your car for the entire time it's there, you don't know he's not farming it out.
It's not an uncommon thing to do, due to lack of specific knowledge or time.

onlyfoolsandparking

BOWFER said:

onlyfoolsandparking said:

Why did your usual mechanic not sort out the problem? My mechanic has never farmed out any of my cars no matter what's wrong with them, he's just fixed them. 

Unless you're watching your car for the entire time it's there, you don't know he's not farming it out.
It's not an uncommon thing to do, due to lack of specific knowledge or time.

Well that's a possibility but not in my case, as I've said on here many times my mechanic is a good friend of mine and I usually stay with him whilst he or one of the chaps fixes my car there and then. Of course I do try and book repairs in with him and he's helped me more than once with a super fast repair when I've had a breakdown, I don't take the p**s out of him or his time as friends don't do that to each other but he always fits me in and he's always busy him and his 3 other mechanics. On the odd occasion it has took more than a day to fix my car I just borrow one of his many cars and go back when he rings me to tell me mine is ready, not rocket science.

I can't be the only person to have a good working relationship with a mechanic, does nobody trust anyone anymore or is that just here? 

Herzlos

onlyfoolsandparking said:

I can't be the only person to have a good working relationship with a mechanic, does nobody trust anyone anymore or is that just here? 

It's certainly an unusual relationship for a tradesperson. I've been using my garage for nearly 20 years and I'm not on the same kind of terms with the owners. Not all garages have spare cars kicking about either, so it sounds like he does sales and repairs?

I'd much rather a mechanic said "I can't figure this out, go to a specialist" than spent days fumbling about or sending it themselves anyway. My local guy is great, but there's so much to cover for a garage now to have in depth specialist knowledge about every make/model/variant.


Back on subject; that's not an outrageous figure for DPF work.

Was the oil leak apparent before the 3 weeks? It might have been them, but it might have been coincidence.

You can always call them and have them take a look, and risk that they'll charge you for the fresh work. Or you can try another Renault franchise, or try your local place.

Personally I'd try them first and see if it's something they'll accept is part of their previous work.