Getting money back from a dealer
Discussion
So a rundown:
Goes to Indy for a major service for £250. Friend picks it up all good. Next day he takes it out and it stalls on the way to the shops. RAC come out and is confused, just about manages to jump start it after lots of attempts and checking around and follows the friend to the independent where it is left for a few days. They check everything and the battery and wash their hands of it.
Unfortunately at this time he needs a car for a wedding so he rents one for a week for £200. He arranges the Accord to get to an auto electrician who spends 4 hours on it and charges £150 saying it's something to do with transmission valve body and can't go further, needs to do to the dealer. Sadly this was paid by cash.
RAC then recover from auto electrician to the dealership after not being able to get it going after an hour on it. Dealer say the S4 bosch battery is inadequate and the wrong spec of CCA, they change it and it starts up fine and works. £120 done.
Next day it's dead again, dealership say bring it back. After a week they say they have checked all the grounds and spoke to Honda who say first replace the relays, if that doesn't work then it is the ECU. Relays replaced for £100, still clicking. Dealer now says ECU time for £2500.
At this point my friend wants someone else involved, I decide to step in and tell him to recover it to my place. He picks it up from Honda, pays the £100 for the relays then makes his way to my warehouse. It then dies on the way to mine. RAC spend an hour on it and then tow it to mine concluding it probably is the ECU.
So I spent some time on it as I felt bad for him, read the dealers invoices and findings.
Took the ECU out and it looked fine to me inside. Did some more rummaging in the engine bay, took the rear engine cover off and checked the coils and made sure everything was okay.
Decided to take the front one off over the injectors for the hell of it, ground wire was loose Tightened it up and car has now gone back to normal!
So 3 RAC folk, 2 dealer visits, 1 independant visit and 1 auto electrician who couldn't find a loose bolt under an engine cover that is right infront of you.
His aim is to get the money back from Honda for the battery replacement, relays and diagnostic charges. I think this is reasonable due to the faff involved.
Goes to Indy for a major service for £250. Friend picks it up all good. Next day he takes it out and it stalls on the way to the shops. RAC come out and is confused, just about manages to jump start it after lots of attempts and checking around and follows the friend to the independent where it is left for a few days. They check everything and the battery and wash their hands of it.
Unfortunately at this time he needs a car for a wedding so he rents one for a week for £200. He arranges the Accord to get to an auto electrician who spends 4 hours on it and charges £150 saying it's something to do with transmission valve body and can't go further, needs to do to the dealer. Sadly this was paid by cash.
RAC then recover from auto electrician to the dealership after not being able to get it going after an hour on it. Dealer say the S4 bosch battery is inadequate and the wrong spec of CCA, they change it and it starts up fine and works. £120 done.
Next day it's dead again, dealership say bring it back. After a week they say they have checked all the grounds and spoke to Honda who say first replace the relays, if that doesn't work then it is the ECU. Relays replaced for £100, still clicking. Dealer now says ECU time for £2500.
At this point my friend wants someone else involved, I decide to step in and tell him to recover it to my place. He picks it up from Honda, pays the £100 for the relays then makes his way to my warehouse. It then dies on the way to mine. RAC spend an hour on it and then tow it to mine concluding it probably is the ECU.
So I spent some time on it as I felt bad for him, read the dealers invoices and findings.
Took the ECU out and it looked fine to me inside. Did some more rummaging in the engine bay, took the rear engine cover off and checked the coils and made sure everything was okay.
Decided to take the front one off over the injectors for the hell of it, ground wire was loose Tightened it up and car has now gone back to normal!
So 3 RAC folk, 2 dealer visits, 1 independant visit and 1 auto electrician who couldn't find a loose bolt under an engine cover that is right infront of you.
His aim is to get the money back from Honda for the battery replacement, relays and diagnostic charges. I think this is reasonable due to the faff involved.
The timeline goes something like this:
Independant service Centre
RAC
Independant service Centre
Auto electrican
RAC
Dealer
Battery replacement
Dealer
Relay replacement/ wanting to replace ECU
RAC
My office
My problem is with the dealer visit only. The first time the S4 battery is adequate and new and it still displayed symptoms of a poor ground. They said they checked all the grounds thoroughly and decided the battery replacement was the best option. Right there is the lie or incompetance. The grounds were not checked thoroughly. Everything that has happened after that is due to their incompetence. Even the 2nd visit to them they lied again about checking the grounds.
Independant service Centre
RAC
Independant service Centre
Auto electrican
RAC
Dealer
Battery replacement
Dealer
Relay replacement/ wanting to replace ECU
RAC
My office
My problem is with the dealer visit only. The first time the S4 battery is adequate and new and it still displayed symptoms of a poor ground. They said they checked all the grounds thoroughly and decided the battery replacement was the best option. Right there is the lie or incompetance. The grounds were not checked thoroughly. Everything that has happened after that is due to their incompetence. Even the 2nd visit to them they lied again about checking the grounds.
Drove out of the dealer once.
The first visit it didn't start twice, then started the next day in the afternoon. The second time it didn't start at all until the last day ( was there for a week.)
The auto electrican it didn't start at all when it was there.
The independant it didn't start at all either.
The first visit it didn't start twice, then started the next day in the afternoon. The second time it didn't start at all until the last day ( was there for a week.)
The auto electrican it didn't start at all when it was there.
The independant it didn't start at all either.
2 of the grounds had been removed,cleaned up, covered heavily copper slip and refitted. So they were actively checking grounds, just not the one on the fuel rail.
The second time they had the vehicle the fault was permanent for the entire week. They said they checked every ground on the car and found them all to be connected fine. This is what led to the relays and then the ECU.
Them saying they checked every ground to make sure it was tight is where we have a problem.
I think it's unreasonable not to remove 2 10mm nuts on the engine cover and check that ground on there.
The second time they had the vehicle the fault was permanent for the entire week. They said they checked every ground on the car and found them all to be connected fine. This is what led to the relays and then the ECU.
Them saying they checked every ground to make sure it was tight is where we have a problem.
I think it's unreasonable not to remove 2 10mm nuts on the engine cover and check that ground on there.
Edited by Sump on Monday 30th November 23:33
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