DanS

I need some advice from those in the know about the legal system! The story goes......

I took my Renault Clio to a local garage to have a front wheel bearing replaced and some new hand brake adjusters fitted to the rear. The job was finished on Monday afternoon and so I went to pick up the car. After driving the car 150 yards I noticed a massive rocking/shacking motion accompanied with a rotational rubbing sound from the front. I took the car straight back to the garage thinking they had left and wheel nut loose or something simple. Everything was checked and all seemed fine, so I drove the car home (1.5 miles). But the noise and shacking only got worse. So I rang the garage and they said its probably the drive shaft is not in correctly and brought the car back that evening and the drive shaft was taken out. When removed from the car one of the bearings on the gearbox end of the shaft was destroyed and had to be replaced as well as the gearbox oil because (I quote) “to drain the bits of bearing out”. So the drive shaft bearing and gearbox oil was sorted free of charge.

Anyway, that evening I drove the car to Luton (6 miles) and it was still making a rotational noise (rather like a steam train, getting louder the faster I went) and also I noticed a vibration through the gear stick. So the next day my dad took the car back to the garage, and they agreed to replace the drive shaft (free of charge) thinking that this had been damaged when fitting the wheel bearing. I had a call last night from the garage saying that the job was done and that the it seemed to be fixed but with a get out clause of “it’s a 13 year old car mate, there going to make noises” (WTF!?!?!)

Fair enough, if it’s fixed its fixed. So I collected the car this morning (before the garage was open) only to drive about 3 miles to discover its still got exactly the same noise and vibration through the gear stick before they replaced the drive shaft. Not only that, but its now beginning to whine when I reach certain revs. Rather than risking break down, I’ve now driven home and waiting for the garage to open...

Now, when I took the car to the garage the only noise it was making was a typical wheel bearing noise when turning left (that has now gone). The noise it now makes under acceleration was not there when I took it to the garage originally!

Now obviously my first port of call is to ring the garage and tell them that the problem has not been fixed. But what do I do if they try and wiggle out of it? Should I take it to other garages for their opinions or do I get my solicitor involved??

Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Cheers,
dan

apples24

well id give them one lasst chance then start small claims procedings, only costs 30 odd quid to file complaint and will prob get there arse in action, make sure have every detail and tel call logged, times conversations etc tetc

dont fook about or it will last ages,give em one moe chance then grab em by the short and curly's

Mark 3D

iTrader: (29)

Is the garage you are using a Renault main dealer?

If not take the car to a Renault main dealer and get them to tell you wahts wrong with it and to provide you with a written estimate, at least this way you will know what is wrong with the car and whether or not its down to the original garage.

apples24

oh yer forgot that bit, ya need the prob diagnosed elsewere too

DanS

Its a local monkey mechanic not a main dealer.
Will that cost me money? Thanks btw

apples24

WOULDNT OF THOUGHT SO M8, TRY THE MAIN DEALER, WALK IN AND EXPLAIN AND ASK EM IF THEY COULD HELP WITH A ESTIMATE AND DIAGNOSIS

DanS

lol that supposed to be a pun "walk in"?

Funny thing is, the main dealer is right next door! Not looking forward to this phone call at all.

John Laverick

You deffo need to find out what the problem actually is.....you could be giving the garage a load of shit and its not actually there fault.

DanS

I personally doubt that very much, but I’m no mechanic.

Simple fact was, nothing wrong with the transmission when i took it in. The incorrectly fitting of the drive shaft caused it to become damaged (bearing broke inside the gearbox) and despite replacement, its still making the same strange noises i told them about from when I first collected it from them.

DanS

*Update*

Had a good telephone conversation with the garage today. Well after, "look mate i dont want to have to take this further" he couldn't offer to take it apart quick enough........

f*cking garages, think they can pull the wool over anybody eyes.

BM08

so is the car ok now?

NEO™®©

a needle bearing from the driveshaft has been left in the box m8 from when it fell apart thatll be a box rebuild... had this before at our garage and obviously we got the box re built free of charge

DanS

Yeap I had thought the same. They are taking it apart for me next week, hopefully they will come to the same conclusion

TheBishMan

hope they're doing it free of charge Dan

NEO™®©

well i know its that as when the bearing falls off them little needle rollers are fu**ers and you wont get em out by draining the gear oil we even had a magnet on a stick to try n get em out but ended up having to re build box as youll never get all of the little fu**ers

DanS

He said he got them all out when draining the oil but i had already driven it 1.5 miles so the damage had already been done. Everything so far has been free of charge as they have admitted to their mistake but its only been cheap parts so far.

As if my RS wasn't giving me enough grief at the moment, now this grrrrrrr!

I'm just very thankful i have a understanding boss