Car repair gone wrong

B

Barriedata

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Hi new to posting here but could use some advice.
Have an old car which i took to an outlet of a chain of autorepairers. All i wanted to get originally done was the cars tracking which was off. However they told me that one of the steering tie rods was too worn but would be able to replace it at a reasonable cost and then do the tracking. This was done but straight away i knew there was something wrong with the steering. I didn't contact the shop straight away but rather planned to return the following week. However the day before i took the car back the steering got really bad and the car was barely driveable. I took the car back pointing out that the problem started with the original repair. After they examined it (4+ hours) they said there was a problem with the steering rack which needed to be replaced, and kind of admitted it was their fault. I pointed out that this only happened after their work the agreed to sort this out but i had to buy and supply a new steering rack. After getting the new rack they had the car for another 3 days (guy working on it on a day off then at another outlet??) Finally they rang saying that as they were putting in the steering rack (another 4-5+ hours) that they had to replace part of the exhaust also!!!!
Sorry bout long winded explanation but my question is what should i pay for? Do i have to pay for labour to repair their original mistake and the subsequent additional repairs to get it fixed? Due to pick up car tomorrow and want to know where i stand beforehand.
 
I'm no expert on vehicle mechanicals, but I don't think that steering racks go bad in an instant like that. It also shouldn't take that length of time for an experienced mechanic to diagnose. I think you need to start a paper trail if you don't already have one: I would make sure not to leave the garage without a detailed breakdown in writing of repairs done.

I would bring a proper mechanic along (all the better if you have a friend in the trade) and get them to talk to the actual mechanic that did the work perhaps? I think you might be kind of stuck having gone back to them (not blaming you, made the same mistake several times in the past) and they can no doubt make out that they spent x amount of time doing this and that hence labour charge this and that ...

Needless to say, I wouldn't be in a hurry to go back again. If anything else goes wrong, I'd bring it to another repairer and get them to document what's not right and decide where to go from there. There's always the small claims court. It strikes me that a car would have to be very old / badly maintained / high mileage for the sort of problems raised to be an issue ... I stand to be corrected but it just doesn't sound right.
 
From experience of similar situation a few years back with a very well known chain.

Get a paper trail for everything. Record dates, prices for parts, details of what happened, jot down conversations with the company on the phone, in person and who you spoke to.

Once you have a detailed breakdown of prices and labour, speak to another independent mechanic. Explain what happened. If he/she thinks the work is unreasonable and over priced or that they are at fault, make a detailed complaint to the company.

If that does not work, you could contact either Consumer rights, the ombudsman or there is an association that officiates all car dealers (apologies but cant remember what its called)
 
rustbucket said:
If that does not work, you could contact either Consumer rights, the ombudsman or there is an association that officiates all car dealers (apologies but cant remember what its called)
Click to expand...

Would that be the Society of the Irish Motor Industry? (S.I.M.I) ... it could be an option if the garage is a member.
 
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