Brake failure after major overhaul
Discussion
Hi, i am just looking for some advice/reactions in terms what to do next...
My car has recently undergone a very large overhaul at one of the reputable indy's and amongst the jobs which included engine rebuild with later model parts, suspension, gearbox etc...was the brake lines and pipes to be exchanged for brand new parts (old ones were found to have coroded pipes).
Now the idea was to take the car for a long european trip straight away but due to an extra person tagging along another car was used. Within the next two weeks of having the car back (after it was away for 6 months) i have been doing a lot of town driving and a bit of motorway driving. Last weekend i had to make the trip to Brum (involving basically a straight motorway journey) and on the way there was a loud knock around the front left and straight away a flapping sound, which i had presumed to be a puncture. I slowed down as i would normally just easing off the gas and changing down the gears. I moved over to the hard shoulder and tried to apply the brakes...there were none...so i continued through the gears and eventually came to a crawling pace so applied the handbrake which stopped the car. Obvioisly a little rattled got out and effed and blinded my way round the car to the hard shoulder...it was on a bank so i was able to lay low and get a look under the chassis. Brake fluid just dripping out all over the hard shoulder.
I also noticed that no cars were passing by, so i looked back and there had been a 3 car accident near enough the same place as when i had first heard the noise. Hopefully nothing caused by oil on the road or a lose part, i havent heard anything since. Though it did result in all the motorway services attending to something else and leaving me standing next to an electric fence.
So i have spoken to the main man at this indy and they will come and collect the car from my house (where it was towed back to) and have it back up with them to analyse and fix. Of course they have not and cannot confirm that the fault was with them though it is very likely given that the brakes were bled in front of me as i collected the car. Now i am a fairly relaxed individual and i am happy for them to just take the car back fix it and send it back, though it would have been a total of 7 months (paying insurance and parking permit) and over 5 figures out of pocket with only two weeks actual driving by me and that is the annoying part. I am just glad the the roads were fairly quiet and without a traffic jam up ahead and that this did not happen on the continent or dare i say in a busy city. People around me have said that they would have lost their rag, talk about court and/or money back etc...
So just wandering what others would do/have done in the past with regards to something like this...
Sorry for the long message, and i know this area of PH is not the most frequented but thought it be the best place for it.
Raff
My car has recently undergone a very large overhaul at one of the reputable indy's and amongst the jobs which included engine rebuild with later model parts, suspension, gearbox etc...was the brake lines and pipes to be exchanged for brand new parts (old ones were found to have coroded pipes).
Now the idea was to take the car for a long european trip straight away but due to an extra person tagging along another car was used. Within the next two weeks of having the car back (after it was away for 6 months) i have been doing a lot of town driving and a bit of motorway driving. Last weekend i had to make the trip to Brum (involving basically a straight motorway journey) and on the way there was a loud knock around the front left and straight away a flapping sound, which i had presumed to be a puncture. I slowed down as i would normally just easing off the gas and changing down the gears. I moved over to the hard shoulder and tried to apply the brakes...there were none...so i continued through the gears and eventually came to a crawling pace so applied the handbrake which stopped the car. Obvioisly a little rattled got out and effed and blinded my way round the car to the hard shoulder...it was on a bank so i was able to lay low and get a look under the chassis. Brake fluid just dripping out all over the hard shoulder.
I also noticed that no cars were passing by, so i looked back and there had been a 3 car accident near enough the same place as when i had first heard the noise. Hopefully nothing caused by oil on the road or a lose part, i havent heard anything since. Though it did result in all the motorway services attending to something else and leaving me standing next to an electric fence.
So i have spoken to the main man at this indy and they will come and collect the car from my house (where it was towed back to) and have it back up with them to analyse and fix. Of course they have not and cannot confirm that the fault was with them though it is very likely given that the brakes were bled in front of me as i collected the car. Now i am a fairly relaxed individual and i am happy for them to just take the car back fix it and send it back, though it would have been a total of 7 months (paying insurance and parking permit) and over 5 figures out of pocket with only two weeks actual driving by me and that is the annoying part. I am just glad the the roads were fairly quiet and without a traffic jam up ahead and that this did not happen on the continent or dare i say in a busy city. People around me have said that they would have lost their rag, talk about court and/or money back etc...
So just wandering what others would do/have done in the past with regards to something like this...
Sorry for the long message, and i know this area of PH is not the most frequented but thought it be the best place for it.
Raff
I would first give the "Indi" the opportunity to recover the car and find out what has happened. Accompany the car and be present at its inspection.If you know an expert on cars have him with you,better still an AA or RAC inspector (if your a member).I`m sure the chaps who did this job are very worried that this has happened and want to help you.When the cause of the failure has been identified then you can have a "discussion" on the repair and any compensation.
I did put up the same message in the general gassing section which got a few more replies, only because i thought that this area would be a little bare.
The general consensus was to not jump to any conclusions and to explain to the garage what happened. I did all that and to their credit, were very concerend and came and picked up the car (200 miles away from their garage) and went straight into solving the situation.
They came back with the possibility that something had jumped up from the motorway, and knocked the brake lines out, resulting in loss of brakes. I have not heard of this to happen before, but the chaps on the forum seemed to be mentioning this on a few occasions as did the recovery tow truck chap. So i have no reason to not beleive their story, and i do. Some of my friends are still sceptical however i amd just getting on with it.
They are delivering the car back to me today, all fixed, all checked, run in and driven. So i can look forward to a nice bank holiday with lots of fun times!
I am happy the way in which the garage did the turn around and the extra attention they gave given the situation.
The general consensus was to not jump to any conclusions and to explain to the garage what happened. I did all that and to their credit, were very concerend and came and picked up the car (200 miles away from their garage) and went straight into solving the situation.
They came back with the possibility that something had jumped up from the motorway, and knocked the brake lines out, resulting in loss of brakes. I have not heard of this to happen before, but the chaps on the forum seemed to be mentioning this on a few occasions as did the recovery tow truck chap. So i have no reason to not beleive their story, and i do. Some of my friends are still sceptical however i amd just getting on with it.
They are delivering the car back to me today, all fixed, all checked, run in and driven. So i can look forward to a nice bank holiday with lots of fun times!
I am happy the way in which the garage did the turn around and the extra attention they gave given the situation.
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