Car failed MOT after supposed repair by dealer.

[jmar2971]

Basics of the story my girlfriend bought a car from a used car dealer with a '6 month warranty' in March due to her work mileage we got it serviced in May at a specialist and told that the front left had taken a back knock and the suspension hub and arm were bent. We went back to the dealer who agreed to fix it using their mechanic, the results of this fix we had to pay £120 towards as he claimed the damage was done by my girlfriend and he was being nice stumping up the majority and wanted money towards the repair due to this. Now roll on to MOT day today and it's failed on the suspension hub and needs a new hub at the lovely price of £460.

Do I have any comeback to the original dealer on this or do we just have to take the hit and move on? Really annoyed when he made us pay a contribution to a repair that was obviously a bodge!

[spikeyhead]

Eight months is too long, however if you ask the supplying dealer nicely to get his mechanic to do it at a trade price then the cost could well be a third of that you've quoted.

[jmar2971]

spikeyhead said:

Eight months is too long, however if you ask the supplying dealer nicely to get his mechanic to do it at a trade price then the cost could well be a third of that you've quoted.

I don't really want to ask them to fix a part that they said they had fixed in the first place. The hub that has failed on the MOT is the same hub they claimed to have replaced and charged us £120 for.

[sparkythecat]

Whats' the car and what exactly does the MOT failure note say?

[jmar2971]

sparkythecat said:

Whats' the car and what exactly does the MOT failure note say?

Car is a BMW F20 118D. MOT note states: 'Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush nearside front lower (2. 4. G. 2)'

The problem they described is the same as the BMW specialist did who serviced it and first notified us of the problem.

[Alucidnation]

jmar2971 said:

I don't really want to ask them to fix a part that they said they had fixed in the first place. The hub that has failed on the MOT is the same hub they claimed to have replaced and charged us £120 for.

Then surely you would go back to them with the failure sheet and show them?

[jmar2971]

Alucidnation said:

Then surely you would go back to them with the failure sheet and show them?

Yes but I was wondering the best way to tackle it as I don't want them to 'fix it' again I at least want my £120 back for a non existent repair and believe after the hassle of the first time they are just going to deny everything due to the timeline and say my girlfriend must have broken the new part as well.

[TooMany2cvs]

jmar2971 said:

Yes but I was wondering the best way to tackle it as I don't want them to 'fix it' again I at least want my £120 back for a non existent repair and believe after the hassle of the first time they are just going to deny everything due to the timeline and say my girlfriend must have broken the new part as well.

It's entirely possible that they did indeed fit a new lower arm six months ago - but that it was a cheap and nasty one, and the balljoint's gone already. Front nearside, you say? So the one most likely to be kerbed and potholed...

If the lower arm was bent then, and the balljoint is worn but unbent now, then I'm not sure how the repair was "non-existent".

The part's cheap enough.
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/suspension-arm-tra...
or just
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/ball-joint/trw-jbj...
...and fitting is unlikely to be a huge job. Probably an hour's labour, including re-tracking it. Shouldn't cost £120 all-in, let alone £460. Unless it needs a wheel and tyre on that corner, too?

[phumy]

jmar2971 said:

sparkythecat said:

Whats' the car and what exactly does the MOT failure note say?

Car is a BMW F20 118D. MOT note states: 'Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush nearside front lower (2. 4. G. 2)'

The problem they described is the same as the BMW specialist did who serviced it and first notified us of the problem.

That's not the hub, its a worn bush, that's wear and tear...

[jmar2971]

phumy said:

That's not the hub, its a worn bush, that's wear and tear...

I'm only quoting what I have been told when the BMW specialist saw it back in May he said it needed a Suspension Strutt and a Hub Carrier. The wheel had negative camber and had worn the very inside down to the chords. This was then meant to changed by the dealer the car has then failed again for excessive play around these parts.

[WinstonWolf]

jmar2971 said:

phumy said:

That's not the hub, its a worn bush, that's wear and tear...

I'm only quoting what I have been told when the BMW specialist saw it back in May he said it needed a Suspension Strutt and a Hub Carrier. The wheel had negative camber and had worn the very inside down to the chords. This was then meant to changed by the dealer the car has then failed again for excessive play around these parts.

There's lots of different arms and bushes, could well be a different one

[jmar2971]

Looking at the replies, suck it up it is then! Thanks for the help.

[paintman]

Ask the tester to point out the actual defect - unless there's yellow crayon all over it.

[JM]

Did you get a receipt for the original repair?

What does it say, is there a part number mentioned?


Some parts come with a warranty, especially if done by a franchised dealer.