Paying for work that doesn't solve problem
Discussion
Pegscratch said:
Garvin said:
Either one of the above methods would have identified if the alternator bearings were truly the source of the problem.
I tend to find putting things on moving parts to result in painful experiences. With something like this you might be able to rule certain things out but you'll only get close.
ChocolateFrog said:
Pegscratch said:
Garvin said:
Either one of the above methods would have identified if the alternator bearings were truly the source of the problem.
I tend to find putting things on moving parts to result in painful experiences. With something like this you might be able to rule certain things out but you'll only get close.Pegscratch said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Pegscratch said:
Garvin said:
Either one of the above methods would have identified if the alternator bearings were truly the source of the problem.
I tend to find putting things on moving parts to result in painful experiences. With something like this you might be able to rule certain things out but you'll only get close.
General Update from the VW garage..... on the R32 noise coing form the belt area .. interesting if anyone else has heard of the following problem.
It isn't any of the pully bearings that are at fault.ie. water pumps etc.. Indeed at a recent MOT in October VW confirmed that during their inspection and service the belts and associated bearings were all in perfectly good working order, so they were surprised the independentt garage recommended changing the Allternator. Anyways.. .
Quote message below from VW
"the technician confirmed this morning that the engine breather unit built into the engine top cover is not working, which is causing both the noise and the rough running/holding back. The part required means a strip down of the front bumper/headlamp panel for access, removal of the intake manifold complete and then removal of the top engine cover for replacement, which normally would come to £960 including the parts, labour and VAT. However, I would 1st recommend doing the stripdown to see if there is anything further that has caused it, rather than just jumping in to replace it straight off, the labour is the same and worst case is that the cover replacement is needed and will be the above cost.
I should be able to do a bit of tweaking and get it down to £830 including VAT all inclusive for you, if it does need the cover replacing, and I can start stripping it down today so we should know by close of play and can get the parts down from VW on order for Monday."
So there you have it.. I suggest the independent garage are very unlikley to have diagnosed that problem given even more time. According to the VW garage it is not one they have come across before on any R32's in their experience, though due to the fact it was discountinued over 10 years ago, they don't see that many nowadays in their workshops. Indeed they claim that there are now only about 3 other owners, including myself, who still take their vehicles to VW for service. At this stage they won't know exactly until the strip down takes place. AS you can see above, I am somewhat fortunate that the service manager has always been more than helpful and has offered a £130 discount...
I appreciate that to many owners of a 12 year old R32, they would baulk at paying £830, but given that over the past 12 years, other than servcing, little has gone wrong other than wipers, brakes, bulbs and 2 front springs and a replacement front wheel, failed by MOT. The cost of a standard Mk 5 R32 wheel was about £500 from VW but the service manager gave me a 50% discount....
As I may have mentioned before, I expect these things to start happening but hope fully they will be kept to a minumim. The car has been excellent value for me in real terms. I paid £23,000 as an ex VW dealer demonstrator back in 2007 when it was 3 months old with 2500 miles on the clock. The list price with all the extras was closer to £30,000 at the time. In full working order and the right buyer it would probably be worth £7,500 today with full service history, one (middle aged) owner from purchase and all the extras.., but to me it is worth a lot more. There is no vehicle out there close to the R32 that would be anything less than £35k - £45k. Golf R's are very fast, agile and slick as are the equivalent Audi's but they are just not R32's. Mine is a real heavyweight lump compared, but by God it goes when needed especially at the top end when it surges away at 100mph onwards when you drop a couple of gears on the DSG on the proverbial German autobahn (Hummm). VW lent me an R for a weekend a couple of years back when their sales were keen for me to replace the R32. Nice capable qucik car, but not me..
Hopefully by next week I will know the full story on the problem...
It isn't any of the pully bearings that are at fault.ie. water pumps etc.. Indeed at a recent MOT in October VW confirmed that during their inspection and service the belts and associated bearings were all in perfectly good working order, so they were surprised the independentt garage recommended changing the Allternator. Anyways.. .
Quote message below from VW
"the technician confirmed this morning that the engine breather unit built into the engine top cover is not working, which is causing both the noise and the rough running/holding back. The part required means a strip down of the front bumper/headlamp panel for access, removal of the intake manifold complete and then removal of the top engine cover for replacement, which normally would come to £960 including the parts, labour and VAT. However, I would 1st recommend doing the stripdown to see if there is anything further that has caused it, rather than just jumping in to replace it straight off, the labour is the same and worst case is that the cover replacement is needed and will be the above cost.
I should be able to do a bit of tweaking and get it down to £830 including VAT all inclusive for you, if it does need the cover replacing, and I can start stripping it down today so we should know by close of play and can get the parts down from VW on order for Monday."
So there you have it.. I suggest the independent garage are very unlikley to have diagnosed that problem given even more time. According to the VW garage it is not one they have come across before on any R32's in their experience, though due to the fact it was discountinued over 10 years ago, they don't see that many nowadays in their workshops. Indeed they claim that there are now only about 3 other owners, including myself, who still take their vehicles to VW for service. At this stage they won't know exactly until the strip down takes place. AS you can see above, I am somewhat fortunate that the service manager has always been more than helpful and has offered a £130 discount...
I appreciate that to many owners of a 12 year old R32, they would baulk at paying £830, but given that over the past 12 years, other than servcing, little has gone wrong other than wipers, brakes, bulbs and 2 front springs and a replacement front wheel, failed by MOT. The cost of a standard Mk 5 R32 wheel was about £500 from VW but the service manager gave me a 50% discount....
As I may have mentioned before, I expect these things to start happening but hope fully they will be kept to a minumim. The car has been excellent value for me in real terms. I paid £23,000 as an ex VW dealer demonstrator back in 2007 when it was 3 months old with 2500 miles on the clock. The list price with all the extras was closer to £30,000 at the time. In full working order and the right buyer it would probably be worth £7,500 today with full service history, one (middle aged) owner from purchase and all the extras.., but to me it is worth a lot more. There is no vehicle out there close to the R32 that would be anything less than £35k - £45k. Golf R's are very fast, agile and slick as are the equivalent Audi's but they are just not R32's. Mine is a real heavyweight lump compared, but by God it goes when needed especially at the top end when it surges away at 100mph onwards when you drop a couple of gears on the DSG on the proverbial German autobahn (Hummm). VW lent me an R for a weekend a couple of years back when their sales were keen for me to replace the R32. Nice capable qucik car, but not me..
Hopefully by next week I will know the full story on the problem...
Thanks for your confidence..
Not all garages are crooked... Perhaps some of the ones you associate with are.. nothing personal.. but you can tell the sort of commentators in here. Those with a positive outlook and those with a suspicious, negative, skeptical backward looking attitude about everyone and eveything.. unless you can prove otherwise... to me thats a miserable unhappy existence to cast a grey cloud over everyone in business.
So you guys ( you know who you are) that don't trust an authorised dealer or any garage for that matter.. where do you go? Yellow pages, google, ebay, the bloke down the pub, your best mate (who happens to know every working part of every car ever made), Arthur Daley's garage or do you trust no-one and buy a Haynes manual and mess it up yourself... Not all of us are qualified mechanics and no I have not got more money than sense. So what do you do when they mess. My VW dealer has always been straight with me and given me a complete breakdown on what they will be doing or have done, and retained the parts and provided costings before they start. I use them when I need them. Conversely, I have placed business with 2 other VW dealers in the past and won't use them again. its usually down to a personnel matter. If you don't like someone ( and you usually know within 1st 15 seconds) or their attitude towards customers, however good they are or claim to be, you will never use them, Period. Interestingly my mother ( god rest her soul) used to say "Foxes smell their own holes.. It takes one to know one". In other words people that don't trust others are just as likely not to be trustworthy themselves.
I am acutely aware of scams, charletons, tricksters, fiddlers, fraudsters. as I am retired from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) . I trusted the independent garage, but they are not fraudsters or tricksters whatever else they may be. They have an established presence in the town I live and many people use them regularly. In this instance their diagnosis was incorrect. i don't for one moment think it was intentional. HOWEVER... any one promoting or advertising their skills in a professional environment has to take responsibity just as a doctor does.. Just because they are a garage mechanic, they have no lower a responsibility in their field. If that were not the case, everyone would have to sign the bottom of every page of a huge 30 page disclaimer contrcat every time they purchsed anything from a new car to a box of washing powder.
In the case of the local garage. They provided a price and a diagnosis and a resolution to the problem.. and offered to do the work. It may be a verbal contract but it still has legal meaning as they are a registered small Limited company with a listing in companies house in London promoting their business as car servicing and repairs. I agree the automatotive servicing world is full of suspicious characters offering dubious deals, but not all of them are that way. Many people seem to like the local garage.. The problem for them is that they made what they thought was a diagnosis of the problem and a resolution to it. What they did not say was, if it proves not to be the problem, we will not be responsible..
Thats a bit like a doctor dealing with abdominal pain and recommending a kidney transplant, doing the job, only to later find it wasn't the kidney at all, but a stomach ulcer... The doctor ( as a registered professional) didn't intend to decieve or mis-diagnosis, but be did all the same and he has to bear responsibility and put things right. In the same way, a bona fida, registered garage business takes on a similar responsibity providing a service in a certain business sphere. The responsibility is no less, though the outcome may not be as serious as a mis-diagnosis by a practicing doctor.
I have spoken constructively and politely to the local garage business and they have agreed to only charge me for the parts, waiving all labour costs and I have recieved a £95 refund. I am happy with that as I now have new parts which were after all 12 years old and would have needed replacing at some point. What they have done is resolve the situation and whilst I may not have need to use them again (I only did as I did not want to risk driving it 20+ miles with the noise incase of catestrophic damage to a VW dealer) I would recommnd them to others as they were not in any way hostil. They made a genune error of judgement and I give them the benenfit of the doubt. Others in this forum might not have done so.
As for the VW garage. Over the past 12 years they have saved me money rather than got me to spend it. Every time I have had a minor issue they have resolved it without any issues. Sometimes I had to pay but many times they acrried out minor adjustments at no charge...
Interesting as you can see from the text from the VW servce manager. They have come up with a diagnosis and a resolution and they have assured me of the total costs come what may. Obviously, if they find something more sinister they will inform me before doing any further work and interestingly, if they carry out a part replacment that doesn't resolve the issue, I will not be charged for the replacment. that is their guarantee and i am happy with that..
Not all garages are crooked... Perhaps some of the ones you associate with are.. nothing personal.. but you can tell the sort of commentators in here. Those with a positive outlook and those with a suspicious, negative, skeptical backward looking attitude about everyone and eveything.. unless you can prove otherwise... to me thats a miserable unhappy existence to cast a grey cloud over everyone in business.
So you guys ( you know who you are) that don't trust an authorised dealer or any garage for that matter.. where do you go? Yellow pages, google, ebay, the bloke down the pub, your best mate (who happens to know every working part of every car ever made), Arthur Daley's garage or do you trust no-one and buy a Haynes manual and mess it up yourself... Not all of us are qualified mechanics and no I have not got more money than sense. So what do you do when they mess. My VW dealer has always been straight with me and given me a complete breakdown on what they will be doing or have done, and retained the parts and provided costings before they start. I use them when I need them. Conversely, I have placed business with 2 other VW dealers in the past and won't use them again. its usually down to a personnel matter. If you don't like someone ( and you usually know within 1st 15 seconds) or their attitude towards customers, however good they are or claim to be, you will never use them, Period. Interestingly my mother ( god rest her soul) used to say "Foxes smell their own holes.. It takes one to know one". In other words people that don't trust others are just as likely not to be trustworthy themselves.
I am acutely aware of scams, charletons, tricksters, fiddlers, fraudsters. as I am retired from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) . I trusted the independent garage, but they are not fraudsters or tricksters whatever else they may be. They have an established presence in the town I live and many people use them regularly. In this instance their diagnosis was incorrect. i don't for one moment think it was intentional. HOWEVER... any one promoting or advertising their skills in a professional environment has to take responsibity just as a doctor does.. Just because they are a garage mechanic, they have no lower a responsibility in their field. If that were not the case, everyone would have to sign the bottom of every page of a huge 30 page disclaimer contrcat every time they purchsed anything from a new car to a box of washing powder.
In the case of the local garage. They provided a price and a diagnosis and a resolution to the problem.. and offered to do the work. It may be a verbal contract but it still has legal meaning as they are a registered small Limited company with a listing in companies house in London promoting their business as car servicing and repairs. I agree the automatotive servicing world is full of suspicious characters offering dubious deals, but not all of them are that way. Many people seem to like the local garage.. The problem for them is that they made what they thought was a diagnosis of the problem and a resolution to it. What they did not say was, if it proves not to be the problem, we will not be responsible..
Thats a bit like a doctor dealing with abdominal pain and recommending a kidney transplant, doing the job, only to later find it wasn't the kidney at all, but a stomach ulcer... The doctor ( as a registered professional) didn't intend to decieve or mis-diagnosis, but be did all the same and he has to bear responsibility and put things right. In the same way, a bona fida, registered garage business takes on a similar responsibity providing a service in a certain business sphere. The responsibility is no less, though the outcome may not be as serious as a mis-diagnosis by a practicing doctor.
I have spoken constructively and politely to the local garage business and they have agreed to only charge me for the parts, waiving all labour costs and I have recieved a £95 refund. I am happy with that as I now have new parts which were after all 12 years old and would have needed replacing at some point. What they have done is resolve the situation and whilst I may not have need to use them again (I only did as I did not want to risk driving it 20+ miles with the noise incase of catestrophic damage to a VW dealer) I would recommnd them to others as they were not in any way hostil. They made a genune error of judgement and I give them the benenfit of the doubt. Others in this forum might not have done so.
As for the VW garage. Over the past 12 years they have saved me money rather than got me to spend it. Every time I have had a minor issue they have resolved it without any issues. Sometimes I had to pay but many times they acrried out minor adjustments at no charge...
Interesting as you can see from the text from the VW servce manager. They have come up with a diagnosis and a resolution and they have assured me of the total costs come what may. Obviously, if they find something more sinister they will inform me before doing any further work and interestingly, if they carry out a part replacment that doesn't resolve the issue, I will not be charged for the replacment. that is their guarantee and i am happy with that..
Hugh Mungus said:
So you guys ( you know who you are) that don't trust an authorised dealer or any garage for that matter.. where do you go?
I use well regarded local indie specialists for our VW and Mercedes.The VW dealers (I've tried two) are just clueless muppets. The Merc dealer was always good, but as the car got older they gently made it increasingly clear they didn't really want it there any more.
Most dealers really only want to do servicing and brake changes as they're fantasically profitable. They can do a basic service in 20mins - I watched it on daughter's Golf. If your dealer isn't very busy - and the fact that they've looked at the car so quickly indicates they're not - then they'll be keener to take on bigger jobs.
I guess I am lucky.. As I know the VW workshop manager really well, he pulls a few strings to get in quicker and \I manage to jump the queues They are nrmally very busy. I did ask if he could get me a courtesy car but nothing available as their service dept is booked up until 16th.
Steve at VW has always been honest fto me.. he has many times told me that VW (despite what the public may imagine) makes little money on car sales as its so competitve and the cost of R@D and EU compliance and high level sof taxation in the EU costs literally billions. That is why many of the old car manufacturers no longer exists or they amalgamated or got taken over. Thats also why the US ( apart form Tesla) sells few of their vehicles in the EU as the cost of compliance and EU safety regulations is horrendous and they have plenty of customers elsewhere and I have to agree that apart form a few US vehicles, most are rubbish compared to EU vehicles. I agree about the after- service arrangements . Steve openly admits that service, spares amd repairs is where the money is made.. If your new car radio knob (say on a Golf R or any new manufacturere for that matter) falls off its almost a new radio which means a new integral dashboard mount and a bill for £800.. .. Ouch...
But as I said before I have no complaints about what I have been charged by VW. Indeed I once went to a recommended independent VW agent in Ilmimster 6 miles from me that is run by VW, SEAT and Audi enthusiasts for an MOT and minor service and they did a good job but charged me £18 more for the DSG oil change than VW had on their reommended prices. so you learn all the time. As I live quite a distance from any other independent VW garages I prefer the 3 month guarantee that VW offer on any parts and replacment work done.
I think its horses for courses. I may just be ucky as we all learn by experince. I did speak to a chap a couple of years back at a VW convention in Wells Somerset, who had a terrible experience with a specialist VW garage. Apparently his mechatronics unit linked to the DSG box failed and kept disengaging whilst driving along. VW quoted a horrendous £2,500 for a replacement as VW garages can't service them, but do a swap with VW factory replacement. The local VW specialist recommended they (or he) could remove it and send it to be electronically serviced and recalibrated for £750 with a company in the Midlands who did that sort of work. He paid up and a week later got the unit back and they refitted it all for a tad over £1,000+. It worked well for about a week, before failing again with the same fault... It was removed again and returned to the refurb comany by courier (cost £40 courier) the refurb company replied by saying it was having problems with it and declined to re-calibrate again for fear of another failure. they didn't charge him again (how could they) but the local garage couldn't do the same and he was out of pocket but still with a defective mechatronics unit. The local VW specialist then recommended his best bet was a VW service exchange repair where he had to pay the full £2,500 for a service exchange.. The specialsit VW still left him wth a bill for £350 for the strip down, removal and refit (twice) as they said it was not their fault that the recalibrators couldn't fix it... Ouch...
Steve at VW has always been honest fto me.. he has many times told me that VW (despite what the public may imagine) makes little money on car sales as its so competitve and the cost of R@D and EU compliance and high level sof taxation in the EU costs literally billions. That is why many of the old car manufacturers no longer exists or they amalgamated or got taken over. Thats also why the US ( apart form Tesla) sells few of their vehicles in the EU as the cost of compliance and EU safety regulations is horrendous and they have plenty of customers elsewhere and I have to agree that apart form a few US vehicles, most are rubbish compared to EU vehicles. I agree about the after- service arrangements . Steve openly admits that service, spares amd repairs is where the money is made.. If your new car radio knob (say on a Golf R or any new manufacturere for that matter) falls off its almost a new radio which means a new integral dashboard mount and a bill for £800.. .. Ouch...
But as I said before I have no complaints about what I have been charged by VW. Indeed I once went to a recommended independent VW agent in Ilmimster 6 miles from me that is run by VW, SEAT and Audi enthusiasts for an MOT and minor service and they did a good job but charged me £18 more for the DSG oil change than VW had on their reommended prices. so you learn all the time. As I live quite a distance from any other independent VW garages I prefer the 3 month guarantee that VW offer on any parts and replacment work done.
I think its horses for courses. I may just be ucky as we all learn by experince. I did speak to a chap a couple of years back at a VW convention in Wells Somerset, who had a terrible experience with a specialist VW garage. Apparently his mechatronics unit linked to the DSG box failed and kept disengaging whilst driving along. VW quoted a horrendous £2,500 for a replacement as VW garages can't service them, but do a swap with VW factory replacement. The local VW specialist recommended they (or he) could remove it and send it to be electronically serviced and recalibrated for £750 with a company in the Midlands who did that sort of work. He paid up and a week later got the unit back and they refitted it all for a tad over £1,000+. It worked well for about a week, before failing again with the same fault... It was removed again and returned to the refurb comany by courier (cost £40 courier) the refurb company replied by saying it was having problems with it and declined to re-calibrate again for fear of another failure. they didn't charge him again (how could they) but the local garage couldn't do the same and he was out of pocket but still with a defective mechatronics unit. The local VW specialist then recommended his best bet was a VW service exchange repair where he had to pay the full £2,500 for a service exchange.. The specialsit VW still left him wth a bill for £350 for the strip down, removal and refit (twice) as they said it was not their fault that the recalibrators couldn't fix it... Ouch...
xjay1337 said:
Very long post with not much outcome 
Basically, he is right everyone else is wrong.I've used main dealers and you pay a lot for not a lot. Considering turnover as well, older cars would be better serviced by Indies specific for the brand. The op is happy that's what counts.
markyb_lcy said:
I think you’re being mighty unfair here, there’s a good chance they did the work in good faith expecting that it would fix your problem. It didn’t and they reduced your bill by a third.
0
On the other hand there are clearly specialists (not just in the car industry) that will take advantage of customers lack of knowledge to create billable work for themselves.
I personally would need some pretty stark evidence they were “ripping me off” before expecting money back or taking them to a claims court. Complex devices often require a “let’s try this and see” approach to fixing a problem. If you can get a trusted 2nd opinion, take it from there, but otherwise, take the hit in good faith.
This0
On the other hand there are clearly specialists (not just in the car industry) that will take advantage of customers lack of knowledge to create billable work for themselves.
I personally would need some pretty stark evidence they were “ripping me off” before expecting money back or taking them to a claims court. Complex devices often require a “let’s try this and see” approach to fixing a problem. If you can get a trusted 2nd opinion, take it from there, but otherwise, take the hit in good faith.
I could be one of many pulleys in the area of the alternator.
Sometimes it's virtually impossible to say for definite where a squeak or whine is coming from. Even if the serpentine belt is removed and pulleys spun it's still difficult to determine the problem one as most will only show up under load of the belt..
I also have a trusted mechanic who has on occasion come to tow me home. Some of us are just fortunate to have, over the years, made the necessary connections to have found someone we can rely on to do the work that is needed. In the case of the OP I guess that happens to be his VW main dealer, which I will admit flies in the face of every experience I or my friends and colleagues have had with VW dealers but there's always the exception that proves the rule.
Sheepshanks said:
Most dealers really only want to do servicing and brake changes as they're fantasically profitable. They can do a basic service in 20mins - I watched it on daughter's Golf. If your dealer isn't very busy - and the fact that they've looked at the car so quickly indicates they're not - then they'll be keener to take on bigger jobs.
15 years ago I had the engine on a Subaru Impreza go bang. It was under warranty and was recovered to the nearest dealer. The reason they gave for it taking weeks to fix was that they only had one mechanic, all the other service staff were fitters, and the mechanic had to do engine rebuilds and other complicated jobs, and they had several cars in front of mine to deal with.Needless to say I complained and the matter was resolved to my satisfaction, but it does seem likely that dealers dont need all their staff to me mechanics because a lot of the work is pre-planned servicing down to a plan.
Sheepshanks said:
razorzz said:
Whoops.. that should have been 2007 not 1997... To be fair I have had the R32 since new and serviced throughout by the same VW dealer and I have never had a problem. Its been one of the most reliable cars I have ever had. They have kept it going for 145,000miles with no issues and relative low cost. Perhap it helps that I know the workshop manager very well.
Only once had a problem with another independent garage a few years back who fitted the wrong spark plugs for the car and they lost the locking wheel nut when they changed a front spring. They had no option but to fit the correct spark plugs and they paid for a new set of locking nuts too.. In this instance I didn't want to risk driving the car across 20 miles with the risk of catastrophic damage if it was something more sinister. As it now happens I have driven the vehicle 300yards past the garage and parked it up. LV breakdown relay pick it up and take it across to the VW dealer for no charge as the vehicle is more than 3 miles away from home. I told LV breakdown there is a closer garage ( the one I used but they don't know that) and I would prefer them to take it to a VW main dealer and they are ok with that.. so I will find out the real problem tomorrow and I will be passing some of the bill back to the independent dealer.
The sale of Goods Act ( what was) still applies. They are a registered garage and as such they are expected to take it upon themselves to carry out effective diagnosis or repair to customers vehicles to resolve a problem successfully once their professional recommndation has been given. If they decline to take on the work, that is there right and there is no charge. But if in their infinite wisdom they fail to diagnose the problem correctly and offer to carry out the work or make a miss diagnosis which creates additional unecessary work and additional cost, the customer has a right to redress. Garages are not exempt. It may well be a small claims issue.. What thay have a right to do of course, at their own expense, is to refit the old parts into the same working order it was prior to attempting a repair and seeking a refund form their parts suppier. But that is their problem... Watch this space.. i love a good spat in the SCC. I have won 4 cases over the years against Comet, Currys, a wheel refurbisher in Exeter and a local council parking attendent who put a fraudulent time on a parking ticket claiming I was seen at a particular time, when I proved I couldn't possibly be there at that time as I had official documentation (time stamped) that proved I was elsewhere 10 miles away 3 minutes before the time on the ticket. And no my old R32 may be capable of 155mph but it would need to be closer to 210 mph non stop to get there in time. It a beautiful feeling when you win your case. You should try it. Comet, and Dixons legal team didn't even turn up and as far as I know the Council parking guy was instantly dismissed for fraud.
It becomes obvious why you don't post much...Only once had a problem with another independent garage a few years back who fitted the wrong spark plugs for the car and they lost the locking wheel nut when they changed a front spring. They had no option but to fit the correct spark plugs and they paid for a new set of locking nuts too.. In this instance I didn't want to risk driving the car across 20 miles with the risk of catastrophic damage if it was something more sinister. As it now happens I have driven the vehicle 300yards past the garage and parked it up. LV breakdown relay pick it up and take it across to the VW dealer for no charge as the vehicle is more than 3 miles away from home. I told LV breakdown there is a closer garage ( the one I used but they don't know that) and I would prefer them to take it to a VW main dealer and they are ok with that.. so I will find out the real problem tomorrow and I will be passing some of the bill back to the independent dealer.
The sale of Goods Act ( what was) still applies. They are a registered garage and as such they are expected to take it upon themselves to carry out effective diagnosis or repair to customers vehicles to resolve a problem successfully once their professional recommndation has been given. If they decline to take on the work, that is there right and there is no charge. But if in their infinite wisdom they fail to diagnose the problem correctly and offer to carry out the work or make a miss diagnosis which creates additional unecessary work and additional cost, the customer has a right to redress. Garages are not exempt. It may well be a small claims issue.. What thay have a right to do of course, at their own expense, is to refit the old parts into the same working order it was prior to attempting a repair and seeking a refund form their parts suppier. But that is their problem... Watch this space.. i love a good spat in the SCC. I have won 4 cases over the years against Comet, Currys, a wheel refurbisher in Exeter and a local council parking attendent who put a fraudulent time on a parking ticket claiming I was seen at a particular time, when I proved I couldn't possibly be there at that time as I had official documentation (time stamped) that proved I was elsewhere 10 miles away 3 minutes before the time on the ticket. And no my old R32 may be capable of 155mph but it would need to be closer to 210 mph non stop to get there in time. It a beautiful feeling when you win your case. You should try it. Comet, and Dixons legal team didn't even turn up and as far as I know the Council parking guy was instantly dismissed for fraud.
I got this. Too funny.
ive an R32 too and use an indie. travel 100 round trip for servcing as i trust the kid who runs it.
as for Vw the fact they say only 3 people take their R32's to them for repairs etc they cant have much experience with them.
a bulb went on my R32 and i rang Vw for a price to replace it as i read it could be a oain and having big hands didnt fancy the hassle of trying to get the bulb in and out a compacted engine bay.
how much do they think they wanted???............£480!!!
£75 each bulb and then remove the bumper and headlights to fix!
got a manual and did it myself. took all day and ended up with a clip left over. standard!
as for Vw the fact they say only 3 people take their R32's to them for repairs etc they cant have much experience with them.
a bulb went on my R32 and i rang Vw for a price to replace it as i read it could be a oain and having big hands didnt fancy the hassle of trying to get the bulb in and out a compacted engine bay.
how much do they think they wanted???............£480!!!
£75 each bulb and then remove the bumper and headlights to fix!
got a manual and did it myself. took all day and ended up with a clip left over. standard!
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