Molgrips car #4 – A New Hope

I struggle with long sentences but I did see A1 Diagnostics quoted…The garage on Sloper Road?

Dodgy as a very dodgy thing IMHO, will never go back there again

Glupton. I didn’t make an assumption, I was refuting assumptions.

Sinsir – why? This seems to be the same everywhere I go. You can never be sure.

Took car in to get A/C recharge using groupon voucher. They inevitably found something wrong which I had no way of verifying and so I had to pay up, and when I collected the car it was only running on 3 cylinders. They patched it up only for it to run like a dog again only a mile from the garage.

May be coincidence and unfair of me to criticize, but I wont be going back there again

Hm. Well They did what I asked of then this time which was ok.

Anyway, topped up the transmission fluid, it took a couple of hundred mls of fluid but it made bugger all difference.

They did what you asked of them and it made no difference?

Well, the main thing I wanted to check was the software version. He updated it, and he ruled out a few other things.

tbh Moly I do have some sympathy as I believe it is usually cheaper/better to repair something you know than to buy something new, but now and again it is better just to get rid.

At least I took my own advice today.

Looking for a new car for Mrs b r and we went and test-drove the one she fancies. While away they put her car in the workshop for a quick check to get a p/x price. When we got back the Saleman asked whether we knew of anything wrong with it. Yep, it’s making odd noises that we (and our local garage) can’t trace.

Torque-converter is on its way out…

Ah.

So a deal was done and I reckon its cost us an extra £500 over a ‘possible’ deal we could’ve got if our p/x had been trouble-free (for year). Plus the MOT (£50 plus any fixes) and tax (£450!) were due next month – so quits really.

Current car bought new and run for 7 years and 110k, so as long as she keeps this as long it’ll be fine.

Mols, I think you are at where I was about a year ago: You’ve finally fallen out of love with Passats!
I got my first Passat in ’89; what a pleasure it was to own a well engineered product, after having had Peugots; Ok, maybe they didn’t drive as well but at least the ancillaries weren’t designed by the boy that gets sent out to buy the morning croissants!
Three Passats later however and the shine has finally worn off: Yes they are solid and well engineered, but they always build in really stupid design features that ruin an otherwise good package.
In my last one (01 TDI) it was the ridiculous front suspension that needed replacing every 18 months, the injector wiring that wasn’t heat resistant despite being sat in the cylinder head, and worst of all, the issue with being unable to cope with heavy rain (the plenum chamber drainage holes were hidden under the battery and servo; you couldn’t even clear them by feel!). This resulted in a rotted through servo (water sucked into engine), engine computer underwater and almost drowned ECU in passenger footwell.
So when the new model came out (06?) and I realized that they had replaced the handbrake with an electric one (that failed in 25% of cases)that cost a bomb to fix and was the ultimate solution in search of a problem (plus, my son would be unable to learn to drive in it as you have to do your test in a car with a proper handbrake)…this was the moment when I lost my loyalty to the VW badge and went Japanese!

At least I took my own advice today.

Looking for a new car for Mrs b r and we went and test-drove the one she fancies. While away they put her car in the workshop for a quick check to get a p/x price. When we got back the Saleman asked whether we knew of anything wrong with it. Yep, it’s making odd noises that we (and our local garage) can’t trace.

Torque-converter is on its way out…

Ah.

So a deal was done and I reckon its cost us an extra £500 over a ‘possible’ deal we could’ve got if our p/x had been trouble-free (for year). Plus the MOT (£50 plus any fixes) and tax (£450!) were due next month – so quits really.

Current car bought new and run for 7 years and 110k, so as long as she keeps this as long it’ll be fine

And there’s a man who knows what makes sense in the world.

Sometimes it’s easier to just dump the lemon on a dealer (your choice as to how honest you are) and get something else.

I actually love the car, which is partly why I want it to work. I don’t really want to sell it. I am gonna phone the guy on Monday, tell him he broke my car so he is going to have to fix it.

Yes, but the love is not reciprocated; you are always going to get your feelings hurt…or your wallet anyway!

As I said, a numpty fitted wrong ecu does not a lemon make.

If you know its the wrong ECU why are you still messing about getting things done?

I’m lost now. When did you find this part out?

Weeksy, it is not known if the ecu issue is causing the gearbox issue. Had to rule out fluid level as a potential cause.

I had a golf that did this to me, endless garages, opinions and flipping fault readers. Took it to a 2nd hand car place in a different county added £500 and drove away in a different car. The weight lifting from my shoulders as I drove home was palpable.

I saw it on the road again so I presume they fixed it.

How highly do you value your mental well being? Things like this get you down, don’t give them space in your life if you can help it.

No email response from the guy, so I called him. He was apparently in the process of replying to me.. hmm..

He insists that he was told the ECU was water damaged, and that the reception girl at Permoveo has made up this story about the ECU being fine. He claims to have a recording of the conversation, I’ve given him a week to find it. It’s apparently on his Tab (I’m sure it was an iPad originally) but it has problems charging, see, so he might have a bit of trouble finding it…

My chin seems itchy this morning…

update ?

This story has got more suspense that the Humber Bridge. Molgrips, WHAT IS GOING ON??????

Texted him today, will call later. He’s definitely stalling, no question.

May go to Permoveo and ask if they have an invoice for the diagnostic fee he claims to have paid. Which, if true, would explain the difference in what he charged me and what they charged him.

explain it or not – pursue that line of offence in any court in the land you WILL lose .

Don’t worry, it’s not my line of offence. I’ll be going for either ‘reasonable competence’ or deceit depending on what I can find out. If anything.

Will any of that get your car humming along?

Put the fire out; then check who’s holding the matches.

you don’t seem to be moving things along much fella ?

1 week and you sent a text ? HAve you given up caring ?

1 week and you sent a text ? HAve you given up caring ?

You do know he’s been playing GTA V do you not?

I told him I’d give him a week, it’s been a week (ish) so I’m due a call.

If you do go down the legal route, you quite often get the other side conceding when you send the Letter before Action and it never gets to court. I got £2k back from a holiday company which stole it from me after a few letters. On the day I was to issue the writ they folded.

Was that small claims or.. big claims court?

The complication here is that it’s not clear who is actually at fault.

Was that small claims or.. big claims court?

Small claims court, the sum was £1859.

The complication here is that it’s not clear who is actually at fault.

Doesn’t actually matter what you (or STW) think. If you do get to court, it will be the Magistrate’s opinion that matters and nothing else. Given you can only lose the fixed summons fee, it’s quite a low risk option.

I don’t mean if it’s me or him that’s at fault, I mean is it the specialist or the mobile mechanic?

I don’t know the legality of it, but I only have a contract with the mobile guy. If his story is true then I can’t take him to court because he’s done nothing wrong.

I don’t know the legality of it, but I only have a contract with the mobile guy.

So he’s the only one you have a legitimate case against. Whether or not he subcontracted and got screwed it irrelevant. He can also sue his subcontractor etc….

Useful references:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_taking_action_e/consumer_legal_actions_e/consumer_going_to_court_e/before_you_take_someone_to_court/step_one_write_a_letter_before_action.htm

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/letter-before-small-claims-court-claim/

Here is an example which got me my money back eventually (took two more letters).

[/url]
Letter before court action against MotorHolme.co.uk[/url] by brf[/url], on Flickr

Most people I know prefer to buy a new car on finance for this reason.

My colleague bought a [bottom spec trim] ’09 Clio [12k] (around £8500 after finance!!)…. he still gets car-envy when he sits in our [top spec trim] ’04 TT [54k]… and we paid £5200…

I’d have spent about ooh, £9,000 on a new version of the car I have, and it’d still be basically the same now. So if I spend less than £8,000 fixing this mess I’m still ahead 🙂

I get car envy of my neighbour’s mint 535d which is the same age as mine and cost the same (cos he bought it more recently of course).

PLus the fact that his actually works ?

🙂

This is why I liked cars in the good old days.

Pretty much anyone could fix anything with a Haynes manual and a cheap set of spanners from the Kays catalogue.

So if I spend less than £8,000 fixing this mess I’m still ahead

Manmaths fail.

If you had taken your car to an expert in the first place you’d be biffing around in your car moaning how much it had cost.

Rather than limping around in a lame duck trying to go legal on their asses.

Is it still not fixed then?

So if I spend less than £8,000 fixing this mess I’m still ahead

So if you spend £6000 fixing it will it be worth the same in 2 years time as the £9000 car?

dangerousbeans – Member

This is why I liked cars in the good old days.

Pretty much anyone could fix anything with a Haynes manual and a cheap set of spanners from the Kays catalogue.

Ditto this. I used to live by my Haynes manuals. Now, they don’t make them for my T4, and I don’t have time to work on my little run-about. 🙁