How many chances do you give a dealer?

[Vyse]

So my car had a problem with a knocking felt through the steering wheel. My dealer acknowledged the problem and set about fixing it. They kept the car for a few days and changed the steering rack for me. Upon collecting the car I queried them on what fault they found with the rack, the guy couldn't say and said the knocking was mostly likely in the area of the rack, hence changing of it.

When driving out of the dealer and back home it felt fine. Its normally fine when driving at normal speeds but is felt during 3 point turns and slow speed turning. Upon reaching home and pulling into the drive I felt a really faint knock. I didnt make a fuss about this as compared to before I could live with it.

But know nearly 13 days on the knocking has returned. Not as bad as before the rack was changed but still very noticable. I believe its going to get worse over the next few weeks due to the rate at which the knock is felt more and more. This is not the first problem Ive been to the dealer about, it seems every time they try to fix a problem on my car I always need to return a few weeks later as the problem seems to be masked and not actually fixed.

I am a bit pissed off because I decided to use up a few days of my work holidays while the car was in for repair. In addition the journey to and from dealer isnt exactly short so its costing me money also. Another thing is that Ive been into the dealer probably 7 times in total know, I am sick of going in and they are probably sick of seeing me.

If you were in my situation would you bother returning to the dealer once again or just live with the issue? I dont know how many chances I should give the dealer as they dont fill me with much confidence.

Cheers

[DrDeAtH]

Why not get the fault diagnosed by a garage. Then armed with this information, ask the dealer to sort it. It may cost you a couple of hours labour.

[itcaptainslow]

Worth trying another dealer?

[Renovation]

Call me fussy but I don't accept Steering or Braking faults.

[Vyse]

Ive already paid a shed load in diagnostic fees, I just want the problem sorted. Anyone know if its possible to transfer cases to another local dealer instead?

itcaptainslow said:

Worth trying another dealer?

I'd rather not go down that route yet as the other dealer will try to squeeze some more money out of me by applying another diagnostic charge.

[V8forweekends]

I bet there's an online forum for the make/model you have - chances are someone else has had the same problem. If you can't face going back to the dealer get it repaired locally.

Sounds like a suspension top mount or anti-roll bar link or bush.

[Vyse]

You'd think the dealer would have checked these items before opting to change the rack as its a lot more expensive and labour intensive. I believe it might actually be the steering column rather than the rack but am not a tech so not experienced in these matters.

V8forweekends said:

I bet there's an online forum for the make/model you have - chances are someone else has had the same problem. If you can't face going back to the dealer get it repaired locally.

Sounds like a suspension top mount or anti-roll bar link or bush.