[Lizzie07871]

Hi,

I am looking for a bit of advice, 2 months ago my zafira started smoking and had reduced acceleration, my dad took it to a garage that he uses and explained these symptoms adding he THINKS it could be the turbo. Fast forward a few days they call my dad and said the turbo had gone and it would cost roughly £900 to replace, they were then given the go ahead to repair the car.
About a week later they say the car is ready, I go to pick it up and hand over £1009. I drove the car 3 miles home when all the symptoms reappear, I called the garage the next morning who said they were very surprised as they ran lots of cleaner through it and told me to take it for a run. I then called the AA who came and checked the car and advised he tows it back to the garage.
roughly a week later we get a call from the garage who said the engine is completely knacked, this is what was causing the turbo to fail and would need a complete replacement.
After 2 months and the garage fobbing me off saying they couldn't find and engine I paid £2400 myself and had it delivered to them.
Now they have called today to say my car is ready and the bill is £400, when asked about the £1009 i had already paid them for the turbo that they said was the issue they have said that's tough your the one who told us it needed a new turbo we only done what you asked. My question is we said we THINK it may be the turbo....should I be questioning this 🤔

[olduser]

Layers could have a field day with this one.

Have you tried trading standards?

[NMNeil]

If they had fitted a new turbo there was no need to run 'cleaner' through it.
But I agree with olduser any half decent attorney will rip them to pieces.
Keep all documents, text messages and e-mails as you will need proof if this goes to court.

[Nick]

I 100% agree with @NMNeil here - keep as much "evidence" as you can, receipts, estimates, emails etc, and try to keep a log of dates and times that things happen, conversations, bookings, work, etc. they might come in.

Did you speak with Trading Standards, or tried to get some advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau? They can give you some good guidance about the unfortunate position you find yourself in. Let us know how you get on. fingers crossed for you.

[Lizzie07871]

@Nick this is my problem i don't have any evidence as it was all verbal communication. The only thing I do have is the receipt of £1009 from the turbo. I haven't done anything yet as they still have my car which i am supposed to be picking up today. My biggest issue is their attitude I am trying to be reasonable i haven't even asked for the £1009 back it was just questioned when they said there is another bill of £400+ when I collect the car today. To which they said tough you told us it was the turbo so that's what we did, you asked us to do it so your the one who should pay. The other issue is I have had no part in this as it was my dad who took it there to begin with, even if he did say the turbo had gone (which he says he didnt) surely they have a duty of care to investigate 1st. I honestly have no clue hence why I am asking here, I really don't want to cause drama with them and I fully understand people make mistakes times are hard for everyone especially businesses but I honestly feel like they are ripping me off.

[Nick]

@Lizzie07871 - it must be very frustrating for you and it can be hard to see how to get to a resolution. I would definitely recommend speaking to your local Citizens Advice Bureau - in the meantime, this page from their website might have some useful information before collecting your car today:

[Rolebama]

Was your Dad ever employed in the motor or engineering trades in any way? I have seen garages get out of these types of claims by saying they took the word of a man who they had every reason to trust in his diagnosis.

[olduser]

The sad thing is it feels to be normal for garages in the UK, it is very unusual to see where a garage has begun at the beginning, find the problem (not a symptom) before attempting to cure it.

They appear to want to play parts darts at the customers expense, is it the same in the USA?

[Lizzie07871]

@Rolebama yes he is a retired HGV mechanic and i think they know this. But surely they have a duty of care to check first. Also I have zero idea about cars and wondering the turbo was gone but it was the engine that caused it, would they have known this if they did some investigated work 1st? If not then I fully understand no-one is at fault. But also the engine was knackered due to contaminated oil now when they changed the turbo they had to change the oil and filter would they not have seen this then?

[NMNeil]

@olduser It's worse, and we refer to it as 'loading up the parts cannon' meaning you just keep changing parts in the hope that one of the parts will fix the problem.
I worked for an auto parts store and the number of people, including garages, who would buy; say a throttle position sensor then come back the same day wanting a refund because it did'nt fix the problem and they wanted to try another part. It became such an issue that we had a big sign "All sales are final for electrical items unless they are defective then a full refund will be given"
Then when working in a garage we would get people come because their car had a check engine light on and would have say; a new oxygen sensor because the parts store scanned the car and that's what they said was wrong so they sold them a new sensor.
Fitted the sensor, cleared the codes and sure enough they would be back with the light back on and asking why we did'nt fix the problem. Of course telling them that the error codes are just to point you in the right direction and they would need to pay for a proper diagnosis did'nt go down well.
Today's cars are incredibly, and unnecessarily complicated and the old ways of diagnosis just don't work anymore and many garages will not make the investments in tools needed to keep up with technology. And it's not just the tools, instead of paper repair manuals you now have subscription based services such as Alldata, and that's not cheap.