Hi

 

I need some help please! I had a service done and it has caused my car no end of problems which have cost alot of money. I have written down (see below) exactly what has happened, and would really appreciate any input or advice on where I should go/what I should do next

 

My car is a skoda fabia 1 2007

 

Prior to all of this: fault free and running well. Good fuel economy (over 50mpg)

• 31^st Dec 2012: Full service by independent garage while staying with family in Norfolk (we’ll call them “garage 1”). (Engine oil change, Inspection service, Fuel filter change, Oil filter change) Also brakes adjusted and was told I’d need the brake pads changed in 3 months (no further info given). Cost: £142.77
• 1^st Jan 2013 – drove back home (Oxfordshire). Warning light came on: control system for exhaust.
• 2^nd Jan – checked under bonnet when engine cool. Coolant level was low – topped up. Fault code returned. Fuel economy poor (less than 40mpg)
• 26^th Jan – checked oil level – looked too high to me. Took to local garage (we’ll call them “garage 2”) who removed 1.5l of excess oil and reset the fault code. Cost: £42. Fault code returned
• 2^nd Feb – Fault code still on so took back to garage 2, read fault codes again, multiple came up and they couldn’t offer me a courtesy car for weeks. Was due to visit family in 3 weeks so decided to take it back to the garage who did the service and get it sorted there
• 26^th march – Back in Norfolk visiting family, took car back to garage 1. They did a diagnositic and replaced the 02 sensor. They denied the excess filling with oil, and said that if they had done this I would have seen blue smoke from my exhaust. Cost of this visit £140.68. On my journey back to Oxfordshire the fault light returned. Fuel economy still poor.
• 15^th April – Took my car to Skoda (“garage 3”). Had another diagnostic. They found the breather pipe was loose, and that the incorrect fuel filter had been fitted by garage 1 (they had fitted a 3 bar). Cost of diagnostic and to fit the correct 4 bar filter: £115.55.
• 9^th May – Wrote to garage 1 with a summary of all the costs I had incurred as a result of their workmanship. Sent by recorded delivery including all invoices, kept receipt of postage. Got a phone call the next day from the angry mechanic who did the work at garage 1, basically denying everything. I told him that I was not willing to discuss the issue and that I wanted to hear from the manager in writing.

 

6 weeks later and I still hadn’t heard anything in writing. So I wrote them another letter saying that if I didn’t hear anything within 2 weeks I would contact trading standards.

 

I did hear from them, a letter stating that the mechanic had worked there for 2 years and never caused any problems, that the overfill of oil did not happen and they can prove it, that the sensor was changed because the diagnostic code told them to, that the 3 bar filter would not have caused a problem. The manager wants me to call into garage 1 next time I am in the area, to resolve the issue.

 

I have reported them to trading standards, as it has become obvious that they are not going to refund me any of my costs.

 

To make this story more complicated, I had another service with garage 3 just a couple of weeks back (with my usual Skoda garage; not making the mistake of going elsewhere again!), and Skoda had to change my brake pads and disks. They also discovered that my rear brakes had been adjusted wrong. I am wondering whether garage 1 caused these problems too, I certainly haven’t adjusted my own rear brakes, the only garage that has is garage 1. The cost to put my brakes right was £266.54 on 24^th July. My fuel economy has gone back to normal since having the brakes sorted. I have not informed garage 1 of this yet.

 

The total cost of all of this is £707.54. I have done in excess of 124 miles just driving back and forth to different garages from either my home, or from my family home in Norfolk.

 

I am really out of pocket, and extremely fed up. I need to get the money back. I am not sure what to do next, I am thinking of turning to citizens advice. I do not have anything further to write to garage 1 about until I know what rights I have, if any.

 

Does anyone know about fuel filters, I have tried googling it but can’t find any information on what the different bars of filters actually do, in order to know if or why having the incorrect bar fitted would cause a problem

I just don’t know what to do!

 

I do not feel comfortable visiting garage 1, as requested by them. I don’t want to have a conversation; I want everything to be in writing. Plus I have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to cars, so I feel they would shoot me down and talk their way out of it all.

 

If it comes to it, I may take them to the small claims court, which I believe costs around £50 to do. Obviously I only want to do this if I have a good chance of getting my money back, and that’s not going to be likely to happen if it is just garage 1’s word against mine.

 

Any input greatly appreciated, and sorry for the long post, I just felt it was necessary to get everything across

 

Thank you if you have read all of this

Information is the key here and it sounds like you have loads, offer a route to mediate perhaps share the "damages" and ask for "good will" as a gesture (they will say no)

County court then you will have it overseen by a judge, if you have written testimony or even record the discussion with the dealer principle or master tech, you should be able to claim the majority of it back, they often throw a bone to the losing party (parts or bit of labour) 

 

And its a great day out too for £80 if I remember ....oh and dont forget your 8% interest !!

thanks for the reply Binzie, what's the 8% for?

 

hopefully my information will be enough...

I listen to the local consumer show on BBC radio, and the biggest issue and advice they drum into you is you have to go back to the same company. They advise for this reason no to buy goods miles and miles from your home.

By using 3 garages, and because of the time elapsed, garage 1 can rightly claim garage 1,2,or 3 has caused any of the issues.

You may struggle as a result

As gadgetman says, don't think you have a leg to stand on by using all these garages.

If garage 1 is a "cowboy" outfit as you suggest it is they would ignore any court judgement for payment anyway.

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

I listen to the local consumer show on BBC radio, and the biggest issue and advice they drum into you is you have to go back to the same company. They advise for this reason no to buy goods miles and miles from your home.

By using 3 garages, and because of the time elapsed, garage 1 can rightly claim garage 1,2,or 3 has caused any of the issues.

You may struggle as a result

 

 

As gadgetman says, don't think you have a leg to stand on by using all these garages.

If garage 1 is a "cowboy" outfit as you suggest it is they would ignore any court judgement for payment anyway.

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

Agreed with the quoted posts re your overall legal status.

 

Unless your car's different to any post-VAG Skoda I know of, the rear brakes are self-adjusting anyway and it would be difficult to set them "too tight" because you'd need access to the pistons after putting the pads in.

Thing is, I had to use 3 garages...as I live 4 hours away from garage 1. Had to use garage 2 as it was the closest to my home and after discovering an oil overfill I couldnt wait for it to be booked into Skoda

 

That's the last time I get anything done while on holiday!

 

The brakes thing seems wierd KenONeil...as Skoda adjusted them.

 

What about the fuel filter...I have proof that garage 1 fitted the 3 bar filter when my car requires a 4 bar filter. I also have proof of the oil overfill. Surely I'll be able to claim back my costs for these?

 

This is so frustrating...I know that I have spent close to £500 as a result of garage 1 (not including the brakes, which may or may not have been their fault) and all I wanted to do in the first place was get my car serviced to keep it running well!!

The handbrake should be set after replacing rear disks.

The procedure is...

wind back and replace pads

with handbrake off, pump brake pedal several times

pull handbrake three times

release handbrake and adjust cables so the the levers lift off the stops by just over 1mm

fitting a 3 bar fllter inplace of a 4 bar will throw a system too lean fault code which could cause the garage to suspect the lambda, it is an easy mistake to make but they should have help their hands up and sorted that for you.

This car will have rear drums wont it? not disc's,i suspect the garage had over adjusted the rear brakes hence the binding & poor economy.

If the brakes were binding that much they'd have done serious damage long before their replacement 3 weeks ago. They'd have got hot enough to cause hub and bearing failures within weeks not months.

Whilst it's no consolation to you I always recommended to my customers to have service work etc done a fortnight or so before any major journeying etc. There's a lot of high tech stuff on even the most basic cars today and if something's going to go wrong it's usually after something's been messed with.