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Car Service Problem
Hello I wonder if anyone can help me with this.
A friend of mine had a knocking sound coming from his car (BMW) and took it to the main dealership to see if they fix the fault. They told him the sound was due due to the the belt and belt tensioner being worn out and they could fix it for around £350. He told them to go ahead. When he came to pick up his car, he started it and the knocking sound was still there. The service manager advised him to take the car away as the new tensioner would probably need 'bedding in' and it would be fine in a day or so. My friend agreed to do this, but stated he would bring it back if it did not resolve itself. The sound was still there a couple of days later and he took it back to the dealership. They checked the car again and he was told that in fact the sound was down to the catalytic converter and it would cost around £1500 to fix. My friend then asked what they would do about the original incorrect repair and was told that no refund would be given for this as the belt and tensioner needed replacing and this was work that had to be carried out anyway.
This does not seem right to me. My friend authorised for the belt and tensioner to be replaced in good faith believing that it would fix the problem with the car but now is faced with another large amount of money to spend on the car as the original diagnosis was incorrect. He does not mind spending the money (if this will fix the problem) but feels that he has been mislead and is now being fobbed off regarding the amount that he has already spent.
The service manager has been really rude to him as well and has told him that they will not refund the money or take it off the cost of the later repair estimate and he can take them to court to get his money back.
Has anyone got any advice on this?
Many thanks
Sue
A friend of mine had a knocking sound coming from his car (BMW) and took it to the main dealership to see if they fix the fault. They told him the sound was due due to the the belt and belt tensioner being worn out and they could fix it for around £350. He told them to go ahead. When he came to pick up his car, he started it and the knocking sound was still there. The service manager advised him to take the car away as the new tensioner would probably need 'bedding in' and it would be fine in a day or so. My friend agreed to do this, but stated he would bring it back if it did not resolve itself. The sound was still there a couple of days later and he took it back to the dealership. They checked the car again and he was told that in fact the sound was down to the catalytic converter and it would cost around £1500 to fix. My friend then asked what they would do about the original incorrect repair and was told that no refund would be given for this as the belt and tensioner needed replacing and this was work that had to be carried out anyway.
This does not seem right to me. My friend authorised for the belt and tensioner to be replaced in good faith believing that it would fix the problem with the car but now is faced with another large amount of money to spend on the car as the original diagnosis was incorrect. He does not mind spending the money (if this will fix the problem) but feels that he has been mislead and is now being fobbed off regarding the amount that he has already spent.
The service manager has been really rude to him as well and has told him that they will not refund the money or take it off the cost of the later repair estimate and he can take them to court to get his money back.
Has anyone got any advice on this?
Many thanks
Sue
Answers
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The problem here is although there has been a misdiagnosis what they have done is very important because if the timing belt had broken the engine would have been wrecked. I don't know the price of a new BMW engine but I would think it's in the thousands. However being told the timing belt needs time to bed in is wrong, that's what the tensioner is for. All I can suggest is the friend tries to get a bit of discount for the inconvenience and misdiagnosis. Is there another BMW garage reasonably close? a second opinion might be useful.
Thank you for the further replies, there is not another main dealership close by, but there is a garage that I use myself for my own car servicing,that specialise in German makes of cars, so I think he will take it there for a second opinion.
No I am not sure if he had to sign to authorise anything or if he checked the small print! but I believe clauses in small print have to be reasonable, a business cannot just state anything in the small print of a contract and think that will cover them in the event of something going wrong.
Thank you for the further responses!
Sue
No I am not sure if he had to sign to authorise anything or if he checked the small print! but I believe clauses in small print have to be reasonable, a business cannot just state anything in the small print of a contract and think that will cover them in the event of something going wrong.
Thank you for the further responses!
Sue
Sue, ask your friend to go back to the Garage and DEMAND the used parts back ( I have done this for a friend a few years back) then Contac BMW UK, ask your friend to ask BMW to look into this case and the attitude of the Manager, the cat would not make this sound, going off this so called Knock, that could b down to several things, Shocks, Wheel nuts loose, something under the seats ( Yes I have heard that, as it happens it was a tin of peas) soething in the boot, spare wheel loose in the tray, I would advise that your friend stays well clear of this garage as they don't seem to have a clue, & that for a BMW Garage is very bad, as said, if you can not get any satisfaction call T.S.
Thank you all for your latest responses.
Yes not impressed with this dealership, it has changed name recently so may have been taken over by another company and has new management that is lacking in customer service.
I will ask my friend if he signed anything and if so to look at the contract.
But he will do his best to get a good resolution.
Thank you all for the replies.
Yes not impressed with this dealership, it has changed name recently so may have been taken over by another company and has new management that is lacking in customer service.
I will ask my friend if he signed anything and if so to look at the contract.
But he will do his best to get a good resolution.
Thank you all for the replies.
All cars with timing belts (as opposed to chains) have a time or mileage limit for replacement of the belt and tensioners. Does your friend know when they were last replaced? (He can find out the time/mileage limits from the car handbook or - if it is not there - from BMW, & the service record in the service book should show when it as last done.)
If it is obvious that the time/mileage limit was nowhere close then replacement was very likely to have been unnecessary.
He needs to look into all this to see whether he has a case against the garage.
And he should certainly get a second opinion on the cause of the knocking before agreeing anything.
If it is obvious that the time/mileage limit was nowhere close then replacement was very likely to have been unnecessary.
He needs to look into all this to see whether he has a case against the garage.
And he should certainly get a second opinion on the cause of the knocking before agreeing anything.
Thank you for your further answers. It looks like he now has a resolution to this problem. The company (BMW Ridgeway) simply ignored him, hoping he would go away. He got in touch with the main UK dealership who advised him that they would get Ridgeway to call him but the franchise continued to ignore him. He took out a small court claim a couple of weeks ago and guess what?
He has now received a phone call from Ridgeway offering to settle his bill.
I guess that this is the way that they deal with what they consider tricky customer issues, to ignore them hoping they will not take it any further and in the event of receiving a legal document, then pay up.
This is probably not unusual, but what is so bad is the fact that they completely ignored all his letters and phone calls, even if they had sent a polite response acknowledging his concern but denying liability it would have shown some sort of customer service!
Thanks for the answers and the support given.
Sue
He has now received a phone call from Ridgeway offering to settle his bill.
I guess that this is the way that they deal with what they consider tricky customer issues, to ignore them hoping they will not take it any further and in the event of receiving a legal document, then pay up.
This is probably not unusual, but what is so bad is the fact that they completely ignored all his letters and phone calls, even if they had sent a polite response acknowledging his concern but denying liability it would have shown some sort of customer service!
Thanks for the answers and the support given.
Sue
Just curious as to what sort of knocking noise a catalytic converter would make. Normally the catalytic process is quite quiet. So £1500 to replace a worn suspension bracket, most likely knocking noise from part of the exhaust system, is a trifle steep. Nice to know that the cowboys of the old west are alive and well in the UK
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