Garage advice

[jamief]

The missus' Clio has been making a grinding/humming noise for the past week or so, getting worse each day, and progressively louder with speed. It's, as far as I could tell, coming from the rear wheel, and this leads me to think its the rear wheel bearing going.

Dropped car at local garage on Tuesday morning, explained problem and that I was almost certain it was coming from the rear. Left it with them. Phonecall later in the day from mechanic saying "It was actually the front bearing, which needs replaced, but when we took the hub off we noticed the ABS sensor, cv boot were both damaged and need replacing". I reluctantly agreed to have this done too (am selling car in 4-6 weeks). Mechanic calls up later saying work is done (total £180 for new front bearing, cv boot/joint (forget which) and abs sensor), but he mentions "there is still a little noise, its 95% better though, maybe the rear bearing will need done in a few months".

Picked the car up, and it becomes apparent that on the way home the noise is EXACTLY the same, just as loud as before.

Pretty annoyed, so I took the car in this morning, explained my problem and that I wasn't very happy, and they said they would investigate and call me later.

Should I attempt to get any money back? Or expect them to fix the rear bearing for free?

EDIT: Its a small(ish) local garage, rather than a main dealer.

 

[4T5]

I'd ask for the parts they took off yesterday so i could inspect them. If they are Fubared then tough really as they needed doing & he phoned you & you authorised the work. If not then screw them big style & expect the rear done for free.
Everybody needs a friend who knows Motors to look at the motor first before taking it to an Unknown garage. Just jacking up each corner of her vehicle & spinning each wheel in turn would have indicated which wheel needed doing. Your CV boot if ripped needs doing asap as it leads to other more critical failures if left.

 

[Five_Star]

if they are reasonable get the guy to sit in the car while you drive along and tell him when you hear the noise.
Good point about asking to see the parts replaced i thought most places would at least show you where the replaced parts had been worn out etc

 

[jamief]

To be honest I wouldn't have to point out the noise - it's loud enough to drown out the radio!

Will see how they are when they phone back.

 

[dalin80]

i thought most places would at least show you where the replaced parts had been worn out etc

unless there is contention before you even start the job the vast majority of the time the old part comes off and straight into the bin.

the chances of having the parts kicking around from the previous day at the garage i work at is 0.

 

[Jonny69]

It should be law that garages put the old parts in a box in your boot unless you say otherwise.

 

[jamief]

Its not so much that I think they tried to rip me off, it's that the mechanic (who sounded like the missing link) ignored the fact that I said the noise was coming from the back, replaced the front, then took the car out (at this point he must have realised his mistake when the noise was still present), and then phoned me saying "There's still a *tiny* noise from the rear", when in fact there was still 100% of the noise. Going to pick car up in 20 mins so will see how much they try and charge me!

 

[Five_Star]

good luck, hope they got it this time.

The garage I go to usually tries to give me the replaced bits back, think it helps him out with disposing of the used bits!

 

[jamief]

Well, small update; they replaced rear wheel bearing free of charge and were very apologetic.

Also, just checked the debit card receipt, and they only charged me £80 rather than £180, hoping they don't notice!