Garage Fitted Incompatible Parts & Damaged My Car
Discussion
Good Evening Folks,
I would be grateful for any assistance that you can provide.
In Jan 20 I took my Volvo XC90 to an independent garage. They diagnosed that the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing. Whilst conducting this work they also determined that the handbrake shoes needed replacing. I agreed to this work being completed.
On driving about half a mile home I noticed a jolt when turning at low speed. When I applied the handbrake (it is actually a foot brake) I noticed that the pedal had not been set correctly. It normally needs to be pressed about 2 or 3 inches and now needed to be pressed about 8 - 10 inches to engage the handbrake.
I returned the car to the garage and described the new symptoms. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared that the jolt was normal and there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the jolt remained and the handbrake pedal was still not set correctly.
I returned the car to the garage again and described the symptoms. I also took one of their mechanics for a test drive to demonstrate the jolt. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared again that there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the handbrake pedal was set correctly but the jolt remained.
Having gotten nowhere with the original garage, I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist who diagnosed that an incompatible wheel bearing had been fitted and that this was causing the slow speed jolt. They also diagnosed that incompatible handbrake shoes had been fitted, and that during this work the cable from the handbrake pedal in the driver seat to the handbrake shoes on the rear wheels had been badly damaged, highly likely by the garage that fitted the handbrake shoes.
The independent Volvo specialist replaced the incompatible wheel bearing and handbrake shoes and this has very significantly reduced the jolt (to about 10% of what it was). However, some residual jolt remains and it is the opinion of the specialist that the incompatible bearing is likely to have caused damage to the driveshaft and possibly to the differential. I have the incompatible parts that the independent specialist removed.
So, how do I get the original garage to:
- Refund what they charged me for replacing the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes?
- Pay for the independent specialist to replace the badly damaged handbrake cable (I simply don’t trust the original garage to do the job properly)?
- Pay for a replacement drive shaft to be fitted? Same lack of trust issue. The independent specialist’s opinion is that this is likely to resolve the residual jolt although they cannot rule out that the incompatible wheel bearing has damaged the differential.
- Pay for a replacement differential if a drive shaft does not fix the problem?
I would be grateful for any assistance that you can provide.
In Jan 20 I took my Volvo XC90 to an independent garage. They diagnosed that the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing. Whilst conducting this work they also determined that the handbrake shoes needed replacing. I agreed to this work being completed.
On driving about half a mile home I noticed a jolt when turning at low speed. When I applied the handbrake (it is actually a foot brake) I noticed that the pedal had not been set correctly. It normally needs to be pressed about 2 or 3 inches and now needed to be pressed about 8 - 10 inches to engage the handbrake.
I returned the car to the garage and described the new symptoms. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared that the jolt was normal and there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the jolt remained and the handbrake pedal was still not set correctly.
I returned the car to the garage again and described the symptoms. I also took one of their mechanics for a test drive to demonstrate the jolt. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared again that there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the handbrake pedal was set correctly but the jolt remained.
Having gotten nowhere with the original garage, I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist who diagnosed that an incompatible wheel bearing had been fitted and that this was causing the slow speed jolt. They also diagnosed that incompatible handbrake shoes had been fitted, and that during this work the cable from the handbrake pedal in the driver seat to the handbrake shoes on the rear wheels had been badly damaged, highly likely by the garage that fitted the handbrake shoes.
The independent Volvo specialist replaced the incompatible wheel bearing and handbrake shoes and this has very significantly reduced the jolt (to about 10% of what it was). However, some residual jolt remains and it is the opinion of the specialist that the incompatible bearing is likely to have caused damage to the driveshaft and possibly to the differential. I have the incompatible parts that the independent specialist removed.
So, how do I get the original garage to:
- Refund what they charged me for replacing the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes?
- Pay for the independent specialist to replace the badly damaged handbrake cable (I simply don’t trust the original garage to do the job properly)?
- Pay for a replacement drive shaft to be fitted? Same lack of trust issue. The independent specialist’s opinion is that this is likely to resolve the residual jolt although they cannot rule out that the incompatible wheel bearing has damaged the differential.
- Pay for a replacement differential if a drive shaft does not fix the problem?
In the opinion of the independent Volvo specialist, the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes fitted by the original garage were the wrong size and not fit for purpose. He believes that the parts should never have been fitted.
Aside from causing the jolt at low speed, the Volvo specialist believes that the use of a wheel bearing of the wrong size resulted in excessive force being exerted on the drive shaft, and possibly on the differential. fitting of the correct wheel bearing has almost completely (button entirely) rectified the jolt. The Volvo specialist believes that there could be residual damage to the drive shaft and possibly the differential.
Aside from causing the jolt at low speed, the Volvo specialist believes that the use of a wheel bearing of the wrong size resulted in excessive force being exerted on the drive shaft, and possibly on the differential. fitting of the correct wheel bearing has almost completely (button entirely) rectified the jolt. The Volvo specialist believes that there could be residual damage to the drive shaft and possibly the differential.
MagicChimp said:
Good Evening Folks,
I would be grateful for any assistance that you can provide.
In Jan 20 I took my Volvo XC90 to an independent garage. They diagnosed that the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing. Whilst conducting this work they also determined that the handbrake shoes needed replacing. I agreed to this work being completed.
On driving about half a mile home I noticed a jolt when turning at low speed. When I applied the handbrake (it is actually a foot brake) I noticed that the pedal had not been set correctly. It normally needs to be pressed about 2 or 3 inches and now needed to be pressed about 8 - 10 inches to engage the handbrake.
I returned the car to the garage and described the new symptoms. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared that the jolt was normal and there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the jolt remained and the handbrake pedal was still not set correctly.
I returned the car to the garage again and described the symptoms. I also took one of their mechanics for a test drive to demonstrate the jolt. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared again that there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the handbrake pedal was set correctly but the jolt remained.
Having gotten nowhere with the original garage, I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist who diagnosed that an incompatible wheel bearing had been fitted and that this was causing the slow speed jolt. They also diagnosed that incompatible handbrake shoes had been fitted, and that during this work the cable from the handbrake pedal in the driver seat to the handbrake shoes on the rear wheels had been badly damaged, highly likely by the garage that fitted the handbrake shoes.
The independent Volvo specialist replaced the incompatible wheel bearing and handbrake shoes and this has very significantly reduced the jolt (to about 10% of what it was). However, some residual jolt remains and it is the opinion of the specialist that the incompatible bearing is likely to have caused damage to the driveshaft and possibly to the differential. I have the incompatible parts that the independent specialist removed.
So, how do I get the original garage to:
- Refund what they charged me for replacing the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes?
- Pay for the independent specialist to replace the badly damaged handbrake cable (I simply don’t trust the original garage to do the job properly)?
- Pay for a replacement drive shaft to be fitted? Same lack of trust issue. The independent specialist’s opinion is that this is likely to resolve the residual jolt although they cannot rule out that the incompatible wheel bearing has damaged the differential.
- Pay for a replacement differential if a drive shaft does not fix the problem?
You need to find outI would be grateful for any assistance that you can provide.
In Jan 20 I took my Volvo XC90 to an independent garage. They diagnosed that the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing. Whilst conducting this work they also determined that the handbrake shoes needed replacing. I agreed to this work being completed.
On driving about half a mile home I noticed a jolt when turning at low speed. When I applied the handbrake (it is actually a foot brake) I noticed that the pedal had not been set correctly. It normally needs to be pressed about 2 or 3 inches and now needed to be pressed about 8 - 10 inches to engage the handbrake.
I returned the car to the garage and described the new symptoms. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared that the jolt was normal and there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the jolt remained and the handbrake pedal was still not set correctly.
I returned the car to the garage again and described the symptoms. I also took one of their mechanics for a test drive to demonstrate the jolt. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared again that there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the handbrake pedal was set correctly but the jolt remained.
Having gotten nowhere with the original garage, I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist who diagnosed that an incompatible wheel bearing had been fitted and that this was causing the slow speed jolt. They also diagnosed that incompatible handbrake shoes had been fitted, and that during this work the cable from the handbrake pedal in the driver seat to the handbrake shoes on the rear wheels had been badly damaged, highly likely by the garage that fitted the handbrake shoes.
The independent Volvo specialist replaced the incompatible wheel bearing and handbrake shoes and this has very significantly reduced the jolt (to about 10% of what it was). However, some residual jolt remains and it is the opinion of the specialist that the incompatible bearing is likely to have caused damage to the driveshaft and possibly to the differential. I have the incompatible parts that the independent specialist removed.
So, how do I get the original garage to:
- Refund what they charged me for replacing the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes?
- Pay for the independent specialist to replace the badly damaged handbrake cable (I simply don’t trust the original garage to do the job properly)?
- Pay for a replacement drive shaft to be fitted? Same lack of trust issue. The independent specialist’s opinion is that this is likely to resolve the residual jolt although they cannot rule out that the incompatible wheel bearing has damaged the differential.
- Pay for a replacement differential if a drive shaft does not fix the problem?
Why the wheel bearing was deemed incompatible
Why the brake shoes were deemed incompatible
How could damage have been caused to the handbrake cable
How has the differential and or driveshaft been damaged by the incompatible parts being fitted.
You need to know that first so you can tell the original garage what they did wrong.
Get the facts.
The damage to teh handbrake cable is proven by witness marks aon the cable and a broken coupling. the Volvo specialist believes that this damage can only have been done whilst adjusting the cable when fittingness handbrake shoes. He said it was impossible for this type of damage to happen when operating the handbrake pedal normally.
MagicChimp said:
I've got the facts. the independent Volvo specialist said that the wheel bearing was the wrong size and that the handbrake shoes are the wrong size. Consequently, they resulted in excessive force being applied tooth drive shaft and possibly to the differential.
Will they or have they given you a written report on those things?You have kept the old bearing and hanbrake shoes taken off by the IVS havn't you.
Without these its just one garages word against another if you have the evidence then should be able to prove that the wrong parts were fitted and pursue the original garage although it may not be easy to recover the alleged consequential damage to the drive shaft and diff
Without these its just one garages word against another if you have the evidence then should be able to prove that the wrong parts were fitted and pursue the original garage although it may not be easy to recover the alleged consequential damage to the drive shaft and diff
You need to go back to the owner of the original garage with your report and faulty parts and see what he says.
If he refuses to accept responsibility then you need to go down the route of making a claim at small claims court, to do that you will probably have to get the drive shift replaced first to see if the resolves the jolt because you will want to add that onto the value of the claim and again have the damaged part to show.
If he refuses to accept responsibility then you need to go down the route of making a claim at small claims court, to do that you will probably have to get the drive shift replaced first to see if the resolves the jolt because you will want to add that onto the value of the claim and again have the damaged part to show.
MagicChimp said:
Good Evening Folks,
I would be grateful for any assistance that you can provide.
In Jan 20 I took my Volvo XC90 to an independent garage. They diagnosed that the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing. Whilst conducting this work they also determined that the handbrake shoes needed replacing. I agreed to this work being completed.
On driving about half a mile home I noticed a jolt when turning at low speed. When I applied the handbrake (it is actually a foot brake) I noticed that the pedal had not been set correctly. It normally needs to be pressed about 2 or 3 inches and now needed to be pressed about 8 - 10 inches to engage the handbrake.
I returned the car to the garage and described the new symptoms. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared that the jolt was normal and there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the jolt remained and the handbrake pedal was still not set correctly.
I returned the car to the garage again and described the symptoms. I also took one of their mechanics for a test drive to demonstrate the jolt. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared again that there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the handbrake pedal was set correctly but the jolt remained.
Having gotten nowhere with the original garage, I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist who diagnosed that an incompatible wheel bearing had been fitted and that this was causing the slow speed jolt. They also diagnosed that incompatible handbrake shoes had been fitted, and that during this work the cable from the handbrake pedal in the driver seat to the handbrake shoes on the rear wheels had been badly damaged, highly likely by the garage that fitted the handbrake shoes.
The independent Volvo specialist replaced the incompatible wheel bearing and handbrake shoes and this has very significantly reduced the jolt (to about 10% of what it was). However, some residual jolt remains and it is the opinion of the specialist that the incompatible bearing is likely to have caused damage to the driveshaft and possibly to the differential. I have the incompatible parts that the independent specialist removed.
So, how do I get the original garage to:
- Refund what they charged me for replacing the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes?
- Pay for the independent specialist to replace the badly damaged handbrake cable (I simply don’t trust the original garage to do the job properly)?
- Pay for a replacement drive shaft to be fitted? Same lack of trust issue. The independent specialist’s opinion is that this is likely to resolve the residual jolt although they cannot rule out that the incompatible wheel bearing has damaged the differential.
- Pay for a replacement differential if a drive shaft does not fix the problem?
I would be grateful for any assistance that you can provide.
In Jan 20 I took my Volvo XC90 to an independent garage. They diagnosed that the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing. Whilst conducting this work they also determined that the handbrake shoes needed replacing. I agreed to this work being completed.
On driving about half a mile home I noticed a jolt when turning at low speed. When I applied the handbrake (it is actually a foot brake) I noticed that the pedal had not been set correctly. It normally needs to be pressed about 2 or 3 inches and now needed to be pressed about 8 - 10 inches to engage the handbrake.
I returned the car to the garage and described the new symptoms. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared that the jolt was normal and there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the jolt remained and the handbrake pedal was still not set correctly.
I returned the car to the garage again and described the symptoms. I also took one of their mechanics for a test drive to demonstrate the jolt. They adjusted the pedal brake but declared again that there was nothing else wrong with the car. Upon returning home, the handbrake pedal was set correctly but the jolt remained.
Having gotten nowhere with the original garage, I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist who diagnosed that an incompatible wheel bearing had been fitted and that this was causing the slow speed jolt. They also diagnosed that incompatible handbrake shoes had been fitted, and that during this work the cable from the handbrake pedal in the driver seat to the handbrake shoes on the rear wheels had been badly damaged, highly likely by the garage that fitted the handbrake shoes.
The independent Volvo specialist replaced the incompatible wheel bearing and handbrake shoes and this has very significantly reduced the jolt (to about 10% of what it was). However, some residual jolt remains and it is the opinion of the specialist that the incompatible bearing is likely to have caused damage to the driveshaft and possibly to the differential. I have the incompatible parts that the independent specialist removed.
So, how do I get the original garage to:
- Refund what they charged me for replacing the wheel bearing and handbrake shoes?
- Pay for the independent specialist to replace the badly damaged handbrake cable (I simply don’t trust the original garage to do the job properly)?
- Pay for a replacement drive shaft to be fitted? Same lack of trust issue. The independent specialist’s opinion is that this is likely to resolve the residual jolt although they cannot rule out that the incompatible wheel bearing has damaged the differential.
- Pay for a replacement differential if a drive shaft does not fix the problem?
If it were me, the first step I would take is to contact the original garage, in writing, with this information, including your understanding of the sequence of events, especially how they were given ample opportunity to rectify things. Then lay out what you would like.
IANAL. but your rights are for them to carry out the work agreed, to an appropriate standard and exercising care. If they fail to do that, you are entitled to be put in the position you would have been, if they had fulfilled the contract. Which sounds like what you are asking, but they could make a deduction for any betterment.
Edited by Graveworm on Sunday 31st May 10:22
twokcc said:
You have kept the old bearing and hanbrake shoes taken off by the IVS havn't you.
Without these its just one garages word against another if you have the evidence then should be able to prove that the wrong parts were fitted and pursue the original garage although it may not be easy to recover the alleged consequential damage to the drive shaft and diff
Quite - If you have the old parts then this is a good thing.Without these its just one garages word against another if you have the evidence then should be able to prove that the wrong parts were fitted and pursue the original garage although it may not be easy to recover the alleged consequential damage to the drive shaft and diff
I wouldn't go all legal and shouty, but if you can go down there with the old "new" part (the incorrect one) and explain the situation and just ask for a refund on your bill.
Folks, thanks for the replies. My plan is to write this down in a letter that concludes with the remedies I am seeking and then go and discuss the matter with the original garage. I agree that the starting point is a measured discussion. Legal action, or the threat of it it, is a last resort. What I really need to know however, is what rights do I actually have and which bits of legislation give me this rights?
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