legal question about garage repairs..

[hwilliams]

Hi wonder if anyone can help...short version of story:
Bought a VW Golf 18 months ago from a used car dealer. Within 3 months, the gearbox broke. They fixed it with a refurbed gearbox and guaranteed it for 12 months. 15 months later, I was driving the car on the motorway when the engine quite literally fell out. I didn't know what had happened, so towed to a garage who have now repaired it, cost around £1k. The garage asked if we'd had any work done on it and I mentioned gearbox. They said that's what caused the engine to fall out, that they can tell this from the screws and bolts which they've kept, and they've written this in their report and suggested I go back to the prev garage to get them to cover expenses.

I've read elsewhere that we'd have had to offer them the chance to rectify it, but until it was fixed, I didn't realise it was their error so this wasn't possible, plus wouldn't have been practical as long way away and the car was being towed to a local garage.

So, what next, is there any way I can make a claim against the prev garage, and if so how do I go about that? Problem is, the prev garage was a bit of a cowboy-used-car type dealership, not exactly your ethical code-waving type...
Please help, I'm currently very broke!
Thanks

[Superhoop]

AFAIK, the gearbox/engine mounting bolts on a VW should be replaced after they have been removed...

Even if that's not correct (and I could be) then then they should be torqued up correctly - if they are under torqued, they will work loose over time , over tightenen them, and over a period of time, they will work loose as the threads in the aluminium mounts will have been damaged

[hwilliams]

exactly, and i think that's what they did - over torque the bolts or whatever, so that makes them negligent, but I guess I need some legal help on whether I have a case against them and how I pursue it without going broke on legal fees...

[Rollcage]

IANAL, but I would have thought you are three months too late to stand any chance of compensation at all, and even then I think you would have been doing well to get much in any case.


How much was the car when you bought it, and did they fix the gearbox for free first time round?

[BliarOut]

18 months, forget it...

[davepoth]

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 applies here. You could sue in the small claims court, and with evidence from another garage that the damage was due to poor work they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Time limit for a small claim is 6 years.

[Rollcage]

davepoth said:

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 applies here. You could sue in the small claims court, and with evidence from another garage that the damage was due to poor work they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Time limit for a small claim is 6 years.

I think it is the time limit to MAKE a claim, not for how LONG you can make a claim........

IE, the warranty is for twelve months, if it goes wrong within that twelve months you could take it to small claims at any point within the next six years.

Slightly different to a six years warranty!

Edited by Rollcage on Wednesday 30th June 23:02

[BliarOut]

Rollcage said:

davepoth said:

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 applies here. You could sue in the small claims court, and with evidence from another garage that the damage was due to poor work they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Time limit for a small claim is 6 years.

I think it is the time limit to MAKE a claim, not for how LONG you can make a claim........

"18 months, not my fault mate, someone else must have worked on it. We torqued the bolts correctly."

You're never going to get round that.