Car trouble after service

Hambut_Bulge · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:21

Need a quick bit of advice please. Just want to get a feel of where I stand as a consumer.

Had my car serviced and mot'd yesterday. First time using this particular garage, but they're well established in the local area. No major problems found. However this morning it took several attempts to get going. I got into work and contacted the garage. They've said bring it back tomorrow. Obviously we don't know what's wrong yet, but how much can they reasonably charge for parts/labour for this second visit?

tom_e · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:22

£0 to £999999999999999999999999999999999999999.

That's as precise as I can be with that level of information to go on.

Diddums · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:24

That question is basically "car broken. How much to fix".

Were you actually expecting a proper answer? :confused:

Hambut_Bulge · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:37

What I'm wondering, is how much of a leg do I have stand to on in arguing that I've paid to have my car serviced, its come out worse, they need this fix this at minimal cost to me?

Obviously if they've just missed something that was on its way out anyway, I'm happy to part for the part. But this is now costing extra time out of work and so on. On the other hand, if they've damaged something, how can I prove it?

Like I said I haven't used this garage before, hence my anxiety.

grudas · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:38

how long is the piece of string ?

if the car worked fine before the service then they need to sort it out for free as far as I care.

they either broke something, changed something or did something for it to go wrong straight after the service.

tom_e · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:40

grudas said:
how long is the piece of string ?

if the car worked fine before the service then they need to sort it out for free as far as I care.

they either broke something, changed something or did something for it to go wrong straight after the service.

In a perfect world maybe but there is such thing as coincidence unfortunately.

It's like when you have a look at someones PC and remove a virus or something and the next day their HHD dies, in no way what so ever connected but to the general public it was obviously something you did.

snips86x · 1 Sep 2016 at 11:40

Hambut_Bulge said:
What I'm wondering, is how much of a leg do I have stand to on in arguing that I've paid to have my car serviced, its come out worse, they need this fix this at minimal cost to me?

Obviously if they've just missed something that was on its way out anyway, I'm happy to part for the part. But this is now costing extra time out of work and so on. On the other hand, if they've damaged something, how can I prove it?

Like I said I haven't used this garage before, hence my anxiety.

In all seriousness, without knowing what exactly is wrong there's no way of knowing how much it'll cost. I would suggest taking it back to the garage and explain the issue you're having.

What is actually happening when you start it?
Is it turning over?
What work was completed when it was in the garage?

pepsilol · 1 Sep 2016 at 12:26

Fuel filter changed?

Dis86 · 1 Sep 2016 at 14:20

pepsilol said:
Fuel filter changed?

Haven't bled the system correctly?

Hambut_Bulge · 1 Sep 2016 at 14:29

Maybe posted this in the wrong forum.

As I said I'm not after a diagnosis, more where I stand, as a customer, with respect to not having the garage bill for me another day's labour when they serviced the car and give it a clean bill of health barely 24 hours ago

kaiowas · 1 Sep 2016 at 14:48

That depends entirely on what the problem is. A service is not a "clean bill of health". It is carrying out a pre-determined list of actions and checks. Your new issue could fall into any one of 3 categories:

1) A fault that has been directly caused by something they did during the service
2) A existing fault that should have been picked up during the checks completed as part of the service
3) A completely unrelated issue that happens to have struck the day after your service

If it turns out to be number 1 then you should expect them to fix it with no cost to yourself. If it's number 3 then hard luck, that how these things go. If it's number 2 (unlikely in this case) then you can be a bit disgruntled that they didn't find the fault, but the service cost wouldn't have included a fix anyway so you shouldn't expect any financial favours.

Where the fun and games come in is in proving whether it's number 1 or number 3 particularly when most people have no knowledge of, or interest in, how their car works and leave themselves in a position where they are unable to question anything the garage tells them.

Jamesyboyjim · 1 Sep 2016 at 15:06

First of all, give them a chance, they might have made a mistake during the service and will be quite happy to put it right.

I believe most parts replaced during a service will have an individual warranty so if its something they've replaced during the service that's at fault, I'd expect them again, to replace it free of charge.

Cars can be fickle things, it may have been an issue that was brewing all along but hasn't reared its ugly head until the garage had a poke and prod. One of those things we call sods law and you will always feel is related, even though it isn't.

That said, I'd still argue the car was fine until they had it so if they do claim the issue is no fault of their own, ask them to prove why not.

bledd · 1 Sep 2016 at 15:13

Could even be something like a flat battery. Caused by having the lights on when the engine was off etc during the MOT.

Describe the issue better.

Dis86 · 1 Sep 2016 at 15:33

Hambut_Bulge said:
Maybe posted this in the wrong forum. As I said I'm not after a diagnosis, more where I stand, as a customer, with respect to not having the garage bill for me another day's labour when they serviced the car and give it a clean bill of health barely 24 hours ago

And that's your problem. You're looking to apportion blame straight away.

Car problems happen, you have absolutely no proof whatsoever that the garage caused the issue.
A diagnosis could help determine what the issue is and therefore the likely cause.

Kuros · 1 Sep 2016 at 17:30

I'd expect them to take a cursory glance at it, then decide if it's something they'll look into on their back or if you're going to have to pay for diagnosis.

These things happen, I had a major break failure in my old Peugeot 106 the day after the MOT, was entirely coincidental and just sods law!

norm · 1 Sep 2016 at 21:31

What did you have done on the service?

I'm lucky my local mechanic was happy to service my car with parts I supplied, only charging for labour, even giving back the little bit of unused oil.

If I'd gone to a main dealer like I did before I'd be none the wiser what they actually did, whether they did a rushed job, what spec parts they used, and I'd be paying hell of a lot more for the privilege.