Dodgy brakes - any chance of financial reimbursement?

[Wattsie]

Hi all,

My friend took his Fiesta for its MOT the other day and among the ruined suspension bushes, part of the rear brake line needed replacing - I think it was a cylinder on the rear drivers side.

Last night, he was complaining about the brakes being spongy and the brake warning light came on, so we stopped on somebodies driveway, whereupon the pedal slowly dropped to the floor. A quick look around revealed brake fluid pissing out allover the relevant wheel.

Having spent £300 in the place to get the car straight, I would expect there to be some way of seeking reimbursement with some form of consumer protection legislation which I'm uneducated on.

So my question is thus - Would he be entitled to ask for a refund/part refund on the shoddy work (the car is back in the same place getting re-repaired today) or any other way of seeking recourse for such a vital problem?

Thanks for any help

[Parrot of Doom]

Have you stopped to consider that perhaps another part of the poor-quality braking system had failed?

Repairing leaks in one area can very often produce leaks in others, as the stress on those parts is increased.

[Wattsie]

Ah, fair enough if that's the case.

[Monkeylegend]

Maybe you will get a claim for cleaning brake fluid from some poor persons driveway. Did you tell them, it can be quite corrosive.

[Wattsie]

Given that he's let us dump various crashed cars on his yard over the years and let us leave the brake fluided car there for the night until we trailered it away today, I'm sure he'll be fine with the slimey driveway, but thanks for the concern good sir

As an update, it turns out that it was the new cylinder that was faulty and they've replaced it free of charge.