Exhaust repair specialist removes my cat without asking...
Discussion
.............and disposes of it.
I'm fuming.
The Supra's exhaust had gone between the downpipe and flange, rusted through.
I took the car to this American exhaust specialist in Basildon, and explained that it needed welding back. Behind the flange was the catalyst and rest of the system which is o.k.
He stated that he would put a replacement bit of pipe in, which I said was o.k.
Collected the car, paid £60 cash in hand!!and took the car away.
When I checked afterwards I noticed my cat had gone...completely.
I called back and the guy stated that because the car was pre-1993 it probably didn't need it anyway.
I stated that as far as I was aware it was August 1992.
I checked with VOSA (who were extremely helpful) that the rules were 1992.
I called the garage back, he wasn't aware that the rules were 1992!
I told him I spoke to VOSA, and he said who was It I had spoken to, "an MOT station."
I explained to him who VOSA was.
He refused to fit a new catalyst, which was perfect when he removed it.
He has refused to pay for a new cat and also refused to refund my £60.
He said that he said what he was going to do, (he did not say he was going to remove the cat). When I picked the car up he didn't state that he had removed the cat.
Upon speaking to him he didn't even know the emission regs dates.
He said for me to put it in for an MOT as it would probably pass anyway.
It is bloody annoying that these places are allowed to operate in this way.
It has left me in a position now where I now probably need a new cat, because he removed it (and he probably got a few quid from the scrappy for it aswell).
I know of the naming and shaming policy, so I won't name, but I just wanted people to be vigilant when they are having this type of work done.
Edited for spelling
I'm fuming.
The Supra's exhaust had gone between the downpipe and flange, rusted through.
I took the car to this American exhaust specialist in Basildon, and explained that it needed welding back. Behind the flange was the catalyst and rest of the system which is o.k.
He stated that he would put a replacement bit of pipe in, which I said was o.k.
Collected the car, paid £60 cash in hand!!and took the car away.
When I checked afterwards I noticed my cat had gone...completely.
I called back and the guy stated that because the car was pre-1993 it probably didn't need it anyway.
I stated that as far as I was aware it was August 1992.
I checked with VOSA (who were extremely helpful) that the rules were 1992.
I called the garage back, he wasn't aware that the rules were 1992!
I told him I spoke to VOSA, and he said who was It I had spoken to, "an MOT station."
I explained to him who VOSA was.
He refused to fit a new catalyst, which was perfect when he removed it.
He has refused to pay for a new cat and also refused to refund my £60.
He said that he said what he was going to do, (he did not say he was going to remove the cat). When I picked the car up he didn't state that he had removed the cat.
Upon speaking to him he didn't even know the emission regs dates.
He said for me to put it in for an MOT as it would probably pass anyway.
It is bloody annoying that these places are allowed to operate in this way.
It has left me in a position now where I now probably need a new cat, because he removed it (and he probably got a few quid from the scrappy for it aswell).
I know of the naming and shaming policy, so I won't name, but I just wanted people to be vigilant when they are having this type of work done.
Edited for spelling
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 30th May 23:10
My Audi TDI has been in and out of a local independent 'specialist' who has been trying to solve a smoke problem for over a year. In the end I collected the car and took it to an Audi dealership. They hooked it up to their diagnostic gear but then phoned me, "We can't continue, the interior of the cat has been removed.."
Back to independent - "Put it back - or else"
Ended up with a new downpipe and cat as it's all one piece and at huge cost - but not to me.
Garages - I wouldn't trust any of them these days.
Back to independent - "Put it back - or else"
Ended up with a new downpipe and cat as it's all one piece and at huge cost - but not to me.
Garages - I wouldn't trust any of them these days.
This guy stated catagorically that there was no was he was paying for a new cat or was going to refund my £60.
I still don't know what is best to do as I do not want to cross this guy.
After I spoke to him, I spoke to Trading Standards, they said quote the Sale of Goods & Services 1982 act to him, but I don't think he would budge on it. He spoke with me at length and eventually said he could see he wasn't getting anywhere with me with the conversation so virtually ended the call.
Bloody annoying as he says he's been doing this for 15 years, obviously not that meticulously as he doesn't know the emission rules.
When I told him about emissions he said "well you have gone to the top people (meaning VOSA) and said I wouldn't have a problem getting it MOT'd as he had removed a load of cats."
It is going to be too much hassle courts etc to get this muppet to do any further work on my car or to pay me costs incurred. It can cause more problems in the long run.
I just wanted to warn people of some of these so called specialists. You get what you pay for I'm afraid. £60 for a person who is basically a welder who doesn't know current vehicle emission regs.
I still don't know what is best to do as I do not want to cross this guy.
After I spoke to him, I spoke to Trading Standards, they said quote the Sale of Goods & Services 1982 act to him, but I don't think he would budge on it. He spoke with me at length and eventually said he could see he wasn't getting anywhere with me with the conversation so virtually ended the call.
Bloody annoying as he says he's been doing this for 15 years, obviously not that meticulously as he doesn't know the emission rules.
When I told him about emissions he said "well you have gone to the top people (meaning VOSA) and said I wouldn't have a problem getting it MOT'd as he had removed a load of cats."
It is going to be too much hassle courts etc to get this muppet to do any further work on my car or to pay me costs incurred. It can cause more problems in the long run.
I just wanted to warn people of some of these so called specialists. You get what you pay for I'm afraid. £60 for a person who is basically a welder who doesn't know current vehicle emission regs.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 30th May 23:11
Parrot of Doom said:
Offer him the chance, in writing, to rectify his mistake. Send by recorded delivery.
When he doesn't respond (give him 14 days), go elsewhere and pay for the repairs.
Then take him to court and sue him for all your costs.
When he doesn't respond (give him 14 days), go elsewhere and pay for the repairs.
Then take him to court and sue him for all your costs.
People like this go on forever if nobody ever wants to stand up to them.
becca_viola said:
Parrot of Doom said:
Offer him the chance, in writing, to rectify his mistake. Send by recorded delivery.
When he doesn't respond (give him 14 days), go elsewhere and pay for the repairs.
Then take him to court and sue him for all your costs.
When he doesn't respond (give him 14 days), go elsewhere and pay for the repairs.
Then take him to court and sue him for all your costs.
People like this go on forever if nobody ever wants to stand up to them.
paoloh said:
It sounds like a genuine mistake. Ok, he won't replace the cat but you only paid him £60 and in cash. So what proof is there that he did the work if you have no invoice? Live by the sword, die by the sword!
WTF? The cat should never have been touched in the first place - the £60 was to weld the pipe ahead of it - hardly 'living by the sword'.I never knew it was a cash in hand job when I had it done.
When I got there he just said £60 to weld it. I never asked if there were any discounts for cash. I was under the impression it was a professional outfit supported by many American car owners.
I was going to pay by card, but also had cash on me. Being a reasonably small amount I said "is cash o.k" and he said yes £60 was for cash and didn't give an invoice.
Proving he did the work may be difficult without an invoice.
I am going to see if I can get the car in for an emissions check to see how it stands with that.
When I got there he just said £60 to weld it. I never asked if there were any discounts for cash. I was under the impression it was a professional outfit supported by many American car owners.
I was going to pay by card, but also had cash on me. Being a reasonably small amount I said "is cash o.k" and he said yes £60 was for cash and didn't give an invoice.
Proving he did the work may be difficult without an invoice.
I am going to see if I can get the car in for an emissions check to see how it stands with that.
No garage I know of disposes of old bits they remove on a daily basis, the Cat must have still been there when you picked the car up - did you ask to see it?
If he still has it - ask him for it(it's yours) and see if this can be put right. If he hasn't got it ask what happened to it - "we chucked it as soon as you left" is not an answer.
If he still has it - ask him for it(it's yours) and see if this can be put right. If he hasn't got it ask what happened to it - "we chucked it as soon as you left" is not an answer.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Indeed. I think you have a very low chance of recourse without the evidence of an invoice.If you had paid by credit card you could have involved your credit card company and got them to do a chargeback (ie. reclaim your £60) at the very least, although you'd still be out of pocket by the cost of a cat.
But you'd have had an invoice and could have used that in the Small Claims Court.
However, as it stands I think you're in a fairly weak position at the moment.
Sounds like my experience with my rx7.
Exhaust manifold completely knackered.
'Please replace the exhaust manifold' to a supposed specialist.
Returned at the end of the day 'yep, weve replaced the exhaust manifold and y-pipe, oh and we didnt have a standard manifold so weve put on this other one, which meant you couldnt use the emissions gear from your car, so we removed that too. Unfortunately that means you now only have 1 belt driving the water pump so you might want to look at getting a twin-pulley and some new belts'. I have no idea why I paid them - on the way home the car developed a refusal to idle and now overheats. As well as now making large explosions in the exhaust because of the removal of the emissions gear (which acted a bit like a cat, burning off unspent fuel in a chamber in the exhaust).
Exhaust manifold completely knackered.
'Please replace the exhaust manifold' to a supposed specialist.
Returned at the end of the day 'yep, weve replaced the exhaust manifold and y-pipe, oh and we didnt have a standard manifold so weve put on this other one, which meant you couldnt use the emissions gear from your car, so we removed that too. Unfortunately that means you now only have 1 belt driving the water pump so you might want to look at getting a twin-pulley and some new belts'. I have no idea why I paid them - on the way home the car developed a refusal to idle and now overheats. As well as now making large explosions in the exhaust because of the removal of the emissions gear (which acted a bit like a cat, burning off unspent fuel in a chamber in the exhaust).
Ribol said:
No garage I know of disposes of old bits they remove on a daily basis, the Cat must have still been there when you picked the car up - did you ask to see it?
If he still has it - ask him for it(it's yours) and see if this can be put right. If he hasn't got it ask what happened to it - "we chucked it as soon as you left" is not an answer.
He probably still had it but had no intention of giving it back as he'd get £40 / £50 for it as scrap value. I put a rusted mx5 CAT on ebay and got £38 for it off a scrap dealer. Quite a profitable day for this exhaust guy 5 mins welding time £5 length of steel pipe and gets £60 cash and £40 /50's worth of scrap.If he still has it - ask him for it(it's yours) and see if this can be put right. If he hasn't got it ask what happened to it - "we chucked it as soon as you left" is not an answer.
paoloh said:
esselte said:
paoloh said:
It sounds like a genuine mistake. Ok, he won't replace the cat but you only paid him £60 and in cash.
And what happens if the OP's car fails MOT on emissions?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff