Car Trouble
Pross
Posts: 35,388
I know there's a few mechanically minded people on here so I thought I'd ask:
We needed to get the cat replaced on my wife's car as it failed the MOT on emissions (original cat was broken). It should have been relatively inexpensive but the garage are having issues with the studs connecting to the manifold being seized. They've tried drilling them out without success and have bought a new set to replace them but it sounds like they are still struggling. Two things - is there anything else that can be done if the bolts won't come out and if they fail to get them out does anyone know my consumer rights with respect to the cost of labour if they fail to fix the issue? It's one of those annoying situations where the original cost would have been £200-£300 but if the labour keeps mounting up at £60 + VAT per hour the cost is going to get out of control but at the same time calling it a day is just going to leave abortive costs and no working car. I don't know how much time would be reasonable to resolve the situation (they originally said an hour if the bolts were OK but 1.5 to 2 if they had problems but it seems like the problems are mounting up).
I've used the garage a lot and they have always been fair and reasonable but I'm worried that the bill is going to be extortionate with a risk that the problem won't have been resolved.
We needed to get the cat replaced on my wife's car as it failed the MOT on emissions (original cat was broken). It should have been relatively inexpensive but the garage are having issues with the studs connecting to the manifold being seized. They've tried drilling them out without success and have bought a new set to replace them but it sounds like they are still struggling. Two things - is there anything else that can be done if the bolts won't come out and if they fail to get them out does anyone know my consumer rights with respect to the cost of labour if they fail to fix the issue? It's one of those annoying situations where the original cost would have been £200-£300 but if the labour keeps mounting up at £60 + VAT per hour the cost is going to get out of control but at the same time calling it a day is just going to leave abortive costs and no working car. I don't know how much time would be reasonable to resolve the situation (they originally said an hour if the bolts were OK but 1.5 to 2 if they had problems but it seems like the problems are mounting up).
I've used the garage a lot and they have always been fair and reasonable but I'm worried that the bill is going to be extortionate with a risk that the problem won't have been resolved.
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the only other option I see would be to replace the section the other side of the cat as well OR cut the next session and weld on a new flange
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
Mind you, that was on a very old car. Plenty of room around the engine to be waving a welding torch and good access to the fixings
Set fire to it with fire and do ll it into next door's garden then buy a Mk1 Capri or Escort Mexico. The little lady (or "sweet pea" as she will now be called) can catch the bus everywhere as punishment.
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour
If it was not on the job card and not parted of the quoted cost inc labour you don't pay it. If they made you , put in complaint.
Btw was this a dealer or a indie back street garage?
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
Chuck some paint pots through their window. That'll learn the robbing bastards.
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour
It does sound as though your garage made hard work of this and Keef66 should have taken it to s Wales for you.However the problem here is communication.
Often the reception /customer contact person has no flexibility with the bill he gives you . If Charlie ( the ex fast fit mechanic) took 8 hours on the job, your bill had to be 8 x hourly labour rate. Even if Charlie was rubbish and had a hangover. In this case you have to seek higher management.
You have to ask them what your goodwill is worth. A discount off this bill and they will keep your custom. If they lose your custom they could lose your mates / relations who will also be their customers. This gives you a bit of bargaining power.
What a ridiculous post. Mexico my ar$e; get an RS2 and be done with it.
Saw a lovely Mex at the Festival Of The Unexceptional the other week at Stowe. Was tempted to part with cash tbh.
Unfortunately I was travelling yesterday so paid over the phone so my wife could pick the car up and didn't have a chance to query it at the time.
He's now driving my ex company car, which has been cosseted from new and serviced punctually by the main dealer...
Remember these are steel bolts into an alloy cylinder head and it gets hot. They will corrode in time and thats it means an expensive job can be the result. sometimes heating them till they are really hot works but that is heating one bolt at a time and removing it takes time.
It is a communication problem. It is hard to say how long the job should have taken as we were not the ones doing it. unless you talk to them as ask how it got so high you wont know.
How on earth have they damaged a ball-joint trying to separate the cat from the exhaust manifold I wonder?
(must resist the temptation to waste another hour looking for youtube videos of Russians doing it with nothing more than a hairdryer and two litres of vodka...)
We can argue on here if the garage is being reasonable or not but if the bolts are seized and they had to drill out you were facing a decent bill anyway in conjunction with a new cat. you better talk to the garage not us.
This is why I buy pre 1990 cars although they are getting thin on the ground now. Things were simpler back then.
I think you'll find I've acknowledged that several times. I was also happy that they were able to get an after market cat rather than a VW genuine part that would have cost as much as the whole bill (although if that hadn't been the case I would have cut my losses at that point).
My main gripe is that having originally been told it might take 2 hours rather than 1 that I didn't hear anything different on the several occasions I checked on progress to say it was significantly more than that. The first I heard about the ball joint being replaced was when my wife called to run through the bill and again, I don't think they should charge to replace something they damaged or they should have at least warned me there was a risk of it being damaged and checked I was OK with that risk. I don't think it's unreasonable for regular updates if costs are escalating.
The original reason for posting on here was more to get an idea if there was a risk they wouldn't be able to finish the job and if that happened whether anyone had experience / knowledge of where I would stand on having to pay for the work.
As always, good customer service is about how well you resolve issues as anyone can get something wrong and I don't think anyone could ask for a better or faster resolution than that. I'm very happy with the outcome.
Thanks for all the input, it came in useful to reassure me that I wasn't being unreasonable.
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris