[:^(] hello, here is my story of woe: i took my MK2 valver to the garage for a service today and got a fone call telling me that it had been involved in an accident... whilst the garage fella was test driving the car round the block, some stupid old woman pulled out in front of him so now its undrivable cos the front is all smashed up i'm waiting to find out from the garage whats gonna happen next, a chap is going to come and look at it a say whats going to happen repair/insurance-wise... anyone got any suggestions about stuff i should be doing? for instance: tomorrow i intended to drive 300 miles up to blackpool for my g/f, sis and nieces birthdays, the garage has given me an auto MK1 cabriolet GL and i'm not sure if its going to be up for a mega journey like that... could be wrong though - german engineering and all that! thanks in advance people! oh yeah, i'll try and get a pic for posterity [:^(] and another 'oh yeah', it was the garage fellas birthday! oooops!
never had this sort of hassle before, how am i gonna go about getting a big pay out? surely the insurance man will be making the desicions...? be nice though - G60 front arches... they're wider aren't they?
if the insurnace men decidem they'll decide to write it off if its more than scratched best tell them how sentimental it is.
i think the garage chap knows how much i like my car, hope he conveys that to the chap... things are not looking too good then are they
take them to court.. why would he be testing it when its just a service . more like he ran out of milk and used your car to go and get some more .... Edited by: gordy
did you check the mileage when you dropped it off?? you could see just how long he was 'test driving' your car for...
I would be a bit annoyed if i had work done on my car and it wasn't test driven... I'd want to know it was all safe and tested on road any there where no problems.
That's exactly right. And if you don't feel confident with your mechanic driving your car, you're going to the wrong garage.
It all boils down to whether you trust this guy or not. I used to work opposite an ATS in Aylesbury. The guys there used to thrash the knackers off their customers' cars as soon as they were out of sight. One guy managed to get a Range Rover on two wheels coming into the trading estate after a test drive!!!Another one had a customer's Sunbeam Tiger lighting up the tyres all the way down the driveway!!! These guys didn't give a toss about anyone's motor. It was all a big laugh to them. Maybe you could get in touch with the woman he hit in order to see if he was hooning around or driving sensibly. If she admits it was her fault then take the guy's word for it but still get everything you can from his insurance.
My dad always test drives a customers car after he has worked on it......... After all, how do you know that the work thats just been done is ok???
I always remove any valuables from the car before it goes in for its MOT and make a note of the mileage. Call me cynical but I have known too many people get the shaft from garages. Too many mechanics think a test drive is code for thrash the living sh*t out of that w*nkers car. Edited by: superden
If I EVER caught any tw@t thrashing my car, I'd personally separate his head from his neck and stuff it up his a$$. I don't leave mine anywhere I don't trust. I got a nail in my tyre the other day and had to get a bung put in it at Bob Jane T-mart (big Aussie wheel and tyre place), so I hung around and waited as there were all young apprentices gawking under the hood and I didn't trust them as far as I could kick them... I agree that you should get in contact with the "little old lady" and see if what your mechanic was actually doing - i guess you never know unless you trust them 110%
Had a 3 month old Audi 100 GL in Germany, got a slight dent in the side, took it to local main dealer and the Service Manager booked it with the pair of us going round the car, meticulously noting everything (he found scratches I didn't know about) and making a list of all the extras fitted etc. Went to collect it and, apart from the hi-fi separates system being expertly removed, it was filthy inside and a lot more damage had been done front and back. They had it on their new video security system - new apprentice yob overnight. No arguement - they loaned me a 200T, did a brilliant repair job and replaced the sound system with the top grade version (I wanted to keep the 200T). A couple of months later I went to them again about trading it in and ended up getting a brand new 100 GL5S with all the extras going as a straight swap (cancelled order)!!!! This has nothing to do with my remaining faithful to VW Audi ever since...... Hope you get a good result.
I was about to say the very same, glad my old man owns a garage, and that I have never had to take a car of mine to somewhere i didn't know! Alan
