Paid main dealer for diagnostics and repair, not solved
Discussion
Evening all, Hopefully someone has come up against this in the past and can offer some advice.
I apologise for the long story but wanted to paint the picture.
Bought a car from a dealer (independent) Mini Countryman 1.6 petrol, 6 months ago and after looking through the service history at home , full main dealer, saw that the previous owner had spent £1,200 on a service that included quite a bit on the water pump side of things. Then on another page that I missed at the dealers, there was a very short invoice to say the car had been back in for a pressure check as the car was still losing coolant.
I did call the dealer that I purchased the car from and I took the car to their mechanic to have a look. He found nothing leaking,
I did notice a very small amount of loss, but because of covid the car wasn't getting used, so forgot about it.
Fast forward 6 months and the wife is back at work, which includes a 10 minute run on a motorway.
Noticed the coolant header tank dropped from max to min after about 30 miles of use.
Time to have a good old look. No coolant on the floor, but then I noticed coolant on top of the transmission tunnel. Now this is right where the thermostat housing is located which has 4 hoses going in to it. I tried kitchen towel around the hoses trying to get a bit of damp showing, nothing.
Tried a few times after the car was used, I could see the coolant pooling, but couldn't locate the problem. So it's down to either the thermostat housing (it's a plastic crap part that google says is prone to failure) or one of the hoses (which I couldn't determine a leak from).
So I call my main dealer and they want to charge me £130 for "diagnostics". I gamble and have the thermostat housing changed. You guessed it, it's still leaking (wife not happy with the wasted £250).
At this point, I'm sure it's a hose but which one? And what if I'm wrong again? I'm a dead man.
So reluctantly I book the car back in swallowing the diagnostic fee.
A couple of hours past and I get a phone call, sir we have found the problem and want to change 2 hoses .... I ask why 2 and am told, 1 looks "swollen" the other one old.
I give the go ahead (£400) and a few hours past and get another call from another person at the dealers. Car all ready. he then informs me that the leak is fixed. I question him as to did the mechanic actually find the leak as the previous phone call mentioned nothing of actually finding the leak. "Oh yes, the mechanic found it after a hour of diagnostics" I did ask what happens if it's not solved the problem and was given a muted answer along the lines of we won't charge you diagnostics again but when one hose is replaced it could spring another leak somewhere else (I interpret that as to cover ones bottom)..... anyway, this has cost me a fortune but at least it's fixed and the wife has her car back. And relax .... for exactly one day as I check the car after the wife returns from work .... you know what's coming next .... the b
do is still losing coolant. By this time I'm losing the will to live, I get my high powered torch and this time I've caught the problem, I can see a coolant stain, it's the cheapest smallest hose from the header tank into the thermostat housing.
So now I need your help, what's my next move? I'm not sure exactly what I can / expect do legally.
I think there is 2 problems here. I'm going to let the supplying independent dealer know the story (see if I can appeal to his better nature as the car was sold with the problem, but it's been 6 months now) and im not sure what the Mini dealer will do apart from charging me more money to fix the problem.
Any help greatly appreciated as I want to call the mini dealer tomorrow to get the car booked in for the third time! All the best, Mark
I apologise for the long story but wanted to paint the picture.
Bought a car from a dealer (independent) Mini Countryman 1.6 petrol, 6 months ago and after looking through the service history at home , full main dealer, saw that the previous owner had spent £1,200 on a service that included quite a bit on the water pump side of things. Then on another page that I missed at the dealers, there was a very short invoice to say the car had been back in for a pressure check as the car was still losing coolant.
I did call the dealer that I purchased the car from and I took the car to their mechanic to have a look. He found nothing leaking,
I did notice a very small amount of loss, but because of covid the car wasn't getting used, so forgot about it.
Fast forward 6 months and the wife is back at work, which includes a 10 minute run on a motorway.
Noticed the coolant header tank dropped from max to min after about 30 miles of use.
Time to have a good old look. No coolant on the floor, but then I noticed coolant on top of the transmission tunnel. Now this is right where the thermostat housing is located which has 4 hoses going in to it. I tried kitchen towel around the hoses trying to get a bit of damp showing, nothing.
Tried a few times after the car was used, I could see the coolant pooling, but couldn't locate the problem. So it's down to either the thermostat housing (it's a plastic crap part that google says is prone to failure) or one of the hoses (which I couldn't determine a leak from).
So I call my main dealer and they want to charge me £130 for "diagnostics". I gamble and have the thermostat housing changed. You guessed it, it's still leaking (wife not happy with the wasted £250).
At this point, I'm sure it's a hose but which one? And what if I'm wrong again? I'm a dead man.
So reluctantly I book the car back in swallowing the diagnostic fee.
A couple of hours past and I get a phone call, sir we have found the problem and want to change 2 hoses .... I ask why 2 and am told, 1 looks "swollen" the other one old.
I give the go ahead (£400) and a few hours past and get another call from another person at the dealers. Car all ready. he then informs me that the leak is fixed. I question him as to did the mechanic actually find the leak as the previous phone call mentioned nothing of actually finding the leak. "Oh yes, the mechanic found it after a hour of diagnostics" I did ask what happens if it's not solved the problem and was given a muted answer along the lines of we won't charge you diagnostics again but when one hose is replaced it could spring another leak somewhere else (I interpret that as to cover ones bottom)..... anyway, this has cost me a fortune but at least it's fixed and the wife has her car back. And relax .... for exactly one day as I check the car after the wife returns from work .... you know what's coming next .... the b
do is still losing coolant. By this time I'm losing the will to live, I get my high powered torch and this time I've caught the problem, I can see a coolant stain, it's the cheapest smallest hose from the header tank into the thermostat housing. So now I need your help, what's my next move? I'm not sure exactly what I can / expect do legally.
I think there is 2 problems here. I'm going to let the supplying independent dealer know the story (see if I can appeal to his better nature as the car was sold with the problem, but it's been 6 months now) and im not sure what the Mini dealer will do apart from charging me more money to fix the problem.
Any help greatly appreciated as I want to call the mini dealer tomorrow to get the car booked in for the third time! All the best, Mark
markbigears said:
Indy was the same price as the main dealer, that's why i went with them. I have both my minis service at the same same main dealer. Been happy with them, we all make mistakes, just not sure what to expect now when I phone them.
Don't know age of the car but rubber hoses perish, so they are fault finding to resolve a problem, that doesn't seem very specific. How do you know the problem wasn't multiple faults, you don't? As you stated it sounds like the car had existing issue the dealer is clearly not involved in, and would be interesting if you told them that.
Surely you can see that it isn't as clear cut as you are making out?
How old is the car?
I've got a 2001 E46 I've had five years, and can vouch for the fact BMW make all of their cooling components from cheese, and the run the coolant loop what feels like 20bar.
Only saving grace is, if you didn't change the thermostat housing and other hoses now I'd put a tenner on them failing within the year!
Daniel
I've got a 2001 E46 I've had five years, and can vouch for the fact BMW make all of their cooling components from cheese, and the run the coolant loop what feels like 20bar.
Only saving grace is, if you didn't change the thermostat housing and other hoses now I'd put a tenner on them failing within the year!
Daniel
They're going to say the hoses they replaced were knackered and needed replacing. So they've done what you've paid for - diagnosed issues with 2 hoses and replaced them.
We know there was probably nothing wrong with the 2 hoses they did, but it's what they'll say and I can't see you getting any joy out of them except maybe a bit of money knocked off having the actual problem fixed.
We know there was probably nothing wrong with the 2 hoses they did, but it's what they'll say and I can't see you getting any joy out of them except maybe a bit of money knocked off having the actual problem fixed.
PorkInsider said:
They're going to say the hoses they replaced were knackered and needed replacing. So they've done what you've paid for - diagnosed issues with 2 hoses and replaced them.
We know there was probably nothing wrong with the 2 hoses they did, but it's what they'll say and I can't see you getting any joy out of them except maybe a bit of money knocked off having the actual problem fixed.
This. We know there was probably nothing wrong with the 2 hoses they did, but it's what they'll say and I can't see you getting any joy out of them except maybe a bit of money knocked off having the actual problem fixed.
Pay up and get the hose replaced.
You'll just stress yourself out trying to get them to admit a mistake and fix it for free ( this isn't going to happen!)
Car is 2012. Will speak today and try and sort something out. I’m not blaming them at all, 2 garages failed to find the problem as well, it’s been really hard to find the issue. Sod’s law it was the only hose they didn’t replace!
I’m going to try and get them to fit it free of charge and pay for the part. I have 2 cars serviced with them so have a bit of leverage as well as the £400 I’ve spent on them replacing the wrong parts even if they did look worn.
I’m going to try and get them to fit it free of charge and pay for the part. I have 2 cars serviced with them so have a bit of leverage as well as the £400 I’ve spent on them replacing the wrong parts even if they did look worn.
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