AA Problem

hb1

My car broke down and the AA came out and diagnosed a failed injector. They replaced it on Saturday, coded it to the car and charged £420. On Tuesday, (yesterday) the car broke down, exactly the same symptoms as before. The AA came out. Diagnosed that the same injector had failed, put a new one in, coded it, explained that it had to be programmed to the car etc, which they allegedly did, took it for a few drives around the block to let it get used to the parameters of the vehicle, told me it was all sorted, parked it on the drive and went on their merry way. I got in the car this morning to go to work, it chugged, shuddered, lost power, lurched forward, moved at a snails speed with no power and spewed out white/grey smoke that smelled of burning (diesel burning, timing is out, flooding with diesel). AA came out, diagnosed that the car isn't accepting the coding that they're putting in for the new injector and that it now needs to be towed to a main dealer to have the software updated and to reflash the ECU to get the car to accept the injector. They'll tow the car FOC as a goodwill gesture and I've got to pay for the car to be programmed. 

Does this sound fair? My thoughts are they haven't finished the job (because they haven't got the equipment to code it), the car is now in a worse state than it was before (it wasn't burning diesel before this) and then as for the guy on Tuesday - how could it be possible that the car was running just fine on those several trips around the block yet I start it up and the problem was instantly apparent?

daveyjp

AA are a bit too quick to do jobs, I'm sure they are on commission.

Did the AA check the "faulty" injector by swapping it with another to ensure it actually was the injector and not something else in the system affecting injection to that cylinder?

In a similar vein a friend's car overheated, AA turn out and diagnosed a faulty pressure cap on the coolant system.  They fit a new one, but make no further checks of other components.

A week or so later same issue, coolant topped up.   The issue was actually a failing water pump, but too late as cylinder head damage had occured, water in oil, oil and water in turbo, lack of lubrication, engine failure,  car was written off.

Stateofart

So AA diagnosed it, tried two new parts, agreed to tow it to a dealer for a software upgrade and you're moaning about the cost of the software update.  I think you lucked out here, it could have cost you hundreds.  It will smell a bit of fuel as the injector hasn't been working.  It'll be fine.

Mildly_Miffed

daveyjp said:

AA are a bit too quick to do jobs, I'm sure they are on commission.

They have one job - get you moving again.

They may do something that is a temporary fix, not a permanent one... The Ts & Cs of every breakdown cover are very clear about that.

ThorOdinson

They should at least refund the failed repairs.

hb1

Stateofart said:

So AA diagnosed it, tried two new parts, agreed to tow it to a dealer for a software upgrade and you're moaning about the cost of the software update.  I think you lucked out here, it could have cost you hundreds.  It will smell a bit of fuel as the injector hasn't been working.  It'll be fine.

I think you missed the part where I said the car is chugging, has no power, lurching and blowing smoke as its burning diesel.  Its not going to be fine and it doesn't just smell a bit of diesel.  Its not driveable.  This was after the injector specialist from AA said it was running fine.  Its burning diesel because the timing is out and the engine is flooding I'm told.  They've basically offered to tow it to a garage because they've washed their hands of it. Any further repairs, coding, reflashing of the ecu, are on me to put right at my expense and I'm left with no car. It is going to cost me hundreds having spoke to a number of garages today.

hb1

Mildly_Miffed said:

daveyjp said:

AA are a bit too quick to do jobs, I'm sure they are on commission.

They have one job - get you moving again.

They may do something that is a temporary fix, not a permanent one... The Ts & Cs of every breakdown cover are very clear about that.

Not quite. They used to be a breakdown service. They also offer repairs now. This one cost £420. 

hb1

daveyjp said:

AA are a bit too quick to do jobs, I'm sure they are on commission.

Did the AA check the "faulty" injector by swapping it with another to ensure it actually was the injector and not something else in the system affecting injection to that cylinder?

In a similar vein a friend's car overheated, AA turn out and diagnosed a faulty pressure cap on the coolant system.  They fit a new one, but make no further checks of other components.

A week or so later same issue, coolant topped up.   The issue was actually a failing water pump, but too late as cylinder head damage had occured, water in oil, oil and water in turbo, lack of lubrication, engine failure,  car was written off.

All as I can tell you is that their diagnostic machine said injector 3 had failed initially. When I called them back out, once again the diagnostic machine said the new one had failed. They're now saying the car isn't accepting the coding for the new injector and it's causing all the further problems.  They don't think the second injector has failed as such - more that the problem is now with the ECU and the car isn't accepting the code for the injectors so it's got to be updated and reflashed. A garage that my husband contacted Ted today said they're more concerned that something the AA have done has caused the ECU to fail. The garage said the AAs version of events is 'bull'

Incidentally, I checked my Ring door bell to see if there was any evidence on there that might help me - it just so happens it recorded some unhealthy sounds coming from my car right before the AA man hands the keys back and says my car is running fine!