Problems with van repair carried out by garage

ledge97

Hi ! Back in November 2022 I bought a van that developed an oil leak in the sump, long story short i didn't get anywhere with the person i bought it off and decided to get the work done at a garage. The garage investigated the leak, provided me a quote for the work to be done, and carried the work out as agreed. The work was carried out in May 2023, and shortly after, the van was still leaking. I then took the van back to the garage a month after for a separate issue and raised my concerns to the garage about the leak. They told me they would have a look whilst the van was being worked on, to which they went on to say it wasn't the sump leaking it was instead a gearbox leak. 

I've now taken it to a different garage for inspection, and turns out the repair that was carried out was inadequate, and they've damaged the engine block in the process which has caused it to leak. The mechanic who inspected it has provided me photos and videos of the damaged/ dodgy repair.

How should I approach this with the garage ? Should i have a verbal conversation first and then go down the legal route if that fails ? Also... I still have the estimate from the garage but i've lost the invoice and receipt for the sump repair, so is the debit card payment on my bank statement adequate proof ? (it's got the garage business name on transaction). I've also made several debit card payments to the garage since for other repairs, which i do have receipts for, it's just the sump repair receipt I've lost. The garage is also a RMI approved member. 

Many thanks !

m0bov

Claim for the repair from the garage that damaged the engine. You will need to provide them with some evidence, but I would'nt want them near the van in case more damage is done. Sounds like they cross threaded something.

You might need to pay for an inspection and go to Small claims for this. How did you pay for the first repair and is this a business transaction?

ledge97

Thanks, paid by debit card in person, so have proof of payment on bank statements. Also still have estimate, which outlines the work required. Yes business transaction 👍🏼

sevenhills

ledge97 said:

I've now taken it to a different garage for inspection, and turns out the repair that was carried out was inadequate, and they've damaged the engine block in the process which has caused it to leak. The mechanic who inspected it has provided me photos and videos of the damaged/ dodgy repair.

That is just one mechanics opinion against the other, you need more information.

What did the first garage do, replace the sump gasket, was the sump in good condition before the repair?

Are these garages dealerships or small independents?