Car Damaged During MOT

[jaedba2604]

A general run of bad luck really.

before Christmas I hastily drove my car into a space front on and ttted the bottom of the bumper on a kerb. Got the bumper fixed and resprayed, all was good.

Scraped the bottom of it as I exited the bodyshop, but it was minor damage and touched in ok...still slightly annoyed as I hadn't travelled more than 50 yards.

2 months on, and the car hardly used I took it for an MOT at the garage round the corner from my house - won't go back to them again, but it is in the next street from my house. all done last Saturday, put it in the garage, went to it yesterday afternoon and noticed two big scratches and a dent at the bottom of the bumper, certainly not done by me.

popped round to the garage this morning, saw the owner, and explained what had happened, said I knew it wasn't me, and did he know how it had happened, usual verbal ding dong (I was polite throughout, he was curt but not rude), in the end he said it wasn't them. I asked how he knew as he hadn't spoken to the bloke who performed the MOT, he replied that it was his son, and proceeded to go and find him, and asked him in front of me "no, I don't think so...". whilst I was there I noticed they had two stops on the end of their ramp that were sheet metal and a 45 degree angle (probably similar to most ramps) they were consistent with the damage, and on asking, he said it was impossible to hit them as there was a pad to catch the wheel before you got there.

I came away realising I wasn't going to get anywhere. got home and thought i'd return, with the car, and measure the damage against the lips on the ramp - returned, he drove it on the ramp, and lo and behold, they matched up, he started bleating on about a few scrapes under the bumper, and why was only one side damaged etc etc.

clearly it was their mistake, it's a z4 so the driving position can catch you out (see second paragraph above!), however, where do I go from here? it's my word against theirs and he didn't seem to want to budge. guess a small dent and a couple of scratches will be over £100 from chipsaway or similar?

thanks...rambling post!

[andy-xr]

They come in 3's, hopefully that's the last of it.

[Tyre Smoke]

If he won't pay, then you'll have to suck it up.

Live and learn.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Which is why I never use cheap-and-cheerful MOT centres. Any "unusual" cars which I've owned I just put into the nearest BMW/Merc/Audi garage who are used to looking after decent cars and have proper lifts flush fitted into the workshop floor. MOT costs the same whoever does the work (unless you take your life/wallet in your hands and venture to the half-price boys).

[jaedba2604]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Which is why I never use cheap-and-cheerful MOT centres. Any "unusual" cars which I've owned I just put into the nearest BMW/Merc/Audi garage who are used to looking after decent cars and have proper lifts flush fitted into the workshop floor. MOT costs the same whoever does the work (unless you take your life/wallet in your hands and venture to the half-price boys).

lesson learned there i'm afraid. it is a 1 minute walk away but I've paid for my laziness...

[Deva Link]

If you've damaged it twice yourself (including one time leaving a bodyshop!) it seems a bit harsh having a go at your local garage for doing the same thing especially if you didn't warn them.

[jaedba2604]

Deva Link said:

If you've damaged it twice yourself (including one time leaving a bodyshop!) it seems a bit harsh having a go at your local garage for doing the same thing especially if you didn't warn them.

I didn't have a go, I asked.

you'd have a point if i'd asked them to pay for my damage.

[Deva Link]

OK.

[VxDuncan]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Which is why I never use cheap-and-cheerful MOT centres. Any "unusual" cars which I've owned I just put into the nearest BMW/Merc/Audi garage who are used to looking after decent cars and have proper lifts flush fitted into the workshop floor. MOT costs the same whoever does the work (unless you take your life/wallet in your hands and venture to the half-price boys).

Not always the case. I have to put up with the mechanics from a VW main dealer racing customers cars between the dealership and a local (small) garage which does their MOTs. It's about a third of a mile and they use my road as a cut through / race track between the two.

[Mastodon2]

jaedba2604 said:

I didn't have a go, I asked.

you'd have a point if i'd asked them to pay for my damage.

You make it quite clear from your opening post that you were moving towards an admission of guilt from them, and then onto making them pay for a repair.

[jaedba2604]

Mastodon2 said:

jaedba2604 said:

I didn't have a go, I asked.

you'd have a point if i'd asked them to pay for my damage.

You make it quite clear from your opening post that you were moving towards an admission of guilt from them, and then onto making them pay for a repair.

you missed my point. when I said my damage, I meant the damage I caused. I was expecting them to pay for their damage yes. why not?

[Prof Beard]

If you have a car that you really value, you should have a note of all existing marks and agree that with anyone taking responsibility for the car. That way if something new appears there can be no argument. Specialist garages commonly go around a car before taken responsibility and record all marks, scratches etc...

[jaedba2604]

believe me, i'm kicking myself.

I will pay for the repair, move on and learn from it.

it's frustrating when an unusually shaped dent / scratch appears and you can match it up with an immovable object on their premises and they stand there and deny everything.

I think my post was merely venting. it is my fault and I accept that.

[T1547]

Does the garage have an online presence / yell.com? Write them a nice little review..

[TVaRt]

was it bks! I bloody hate people like this, they have obviously damaged your car and dont want to pay. At least give them some bad reviews on google, Yell etc...

jaedba2604 said:

believe me, i'm kicking myself.

I will pay for the repair, move on and learn from it.

it's frustrating when an unusually shaped dent / scratch appears and you can match it up with an immovable object on their premises and they stand there and deny everything.

I think my post was merely venting. it is my fault and I accept that.

[anonymous-user]

Is it lowered? Seems like it's easy to damage it from the number of times you've clouted it too.

[g3org3y]

Go straight to the police tbh.

Oh wait, wrong thread!

Sorry to hear about the bad luck OP. Without them admitting they caused it (or you have solid evidence) I suspect you'll just to put it down as an expensive mistake/experience.

[wheedler]

Possibly your car is too low and this sort of thing will keep happening. To cure it you have to bring it back to a standard height or put up with damage all the time. I wouldn't even bother fixing it imo

[jaedba2604]

it is lowered, nevertheless, I asked them if they had damaged it, and despite me and the owner stood in front of my car with what, to all intents and purposes, was an imprint of the ramp stop on my bumper, he would not accept it had happened there. his son, who conducted my MOT and was therefore the one to ask, was looking sheepish over the other side of the room.

this isn't about me trying to extract money, it is about someone being honest about damage that occurred on their premises. we all have accidents, it doesn't mean we can abuse the circumstances in which they happen to extricate ourselves from responsibility.

it amazes me how liberal people are until it is their possessions that are damaged.

[danjama]

jaedba2604 said:

believe me, i'm kicking myself.

I will pay for the repair, move on and learn from it.

it's frustrating when an unusually shaped dent / scratch appears and you can match it up with an immovable object on their premises and they stand there and deny everything.

I think my post was merely venting. it is my fault and I accept that.

Just write a letter to your local mag/paper letting people know how they operate.