Car problem mis-diagnosed

I dropped my car into dealer (mercedes) with problem with steering/tracking. They diagnosed problem, ordered part, fixed it, returned car (had meanwhile gave me hire car which I was charged for). Problem still exists with steering - they still want to charge me!(?). They claim the work carried out was necessary as it was a problem (maybe not THEE problem) & payment must be made. They're willing to take the car back and keep looking for the original problem. Any advice?

Hi Sil,

If they had of spotted it and rang you first to ask and told you
"we have found a problem with your car - might not be the main problem - do you want it fixed anyway?" would you have gone ahead with it?

I found that with most mechanics I have dealt with in the past this was what they would do, and I'd typically say go ahead!

However, I am guessing that they didn't and had probably thought that this would fix the problem - meanwhile you discovered that the problem still persists and would probably have to pay for the use of another car and the work to be carried out -again!

I would like to know what they did when your car was there, and how did they mis-diagnose the issue. Perhaps you could come to some agreement with them about the use of a courtesy car rather than you having to pay for another one again as they could have found the fault the first time.

Kevin

They did not ring to say that they have recognized another problem. They presumed they had identified the offending problem, but they had not. It's a mis-diagnosis. But what's even more irritating is that a mechanic obviously didn't test drive the car before work commenced to establish problem and upon completion of work definitely no mechanic test drove it to see if the problem was fixed! I basically don't want to pay for something that I didn't ask for and that's basically no use to me.

Maybe a call to the Consumer Agency might be worth your while.