It's not quite as simple as just ringing up and telling tales - they will look into it much more thoroughly. But Vosa most likely won't interfere imo. This seems slightly out of their jurisdiction. The test was performed correctly. But consequentially, a fault has occurred. It's purely a civilian matter afaic. I'd start with T/S. But I'm failing to piece this together. There's little need for the tester to even go near the areas you've photographed.
i'd say you have about the same luck, you do drive a VW can you prove that they actually did anything wrong? can you prove the sandpaper or wires etc weren't there before? if not, i'd stop p*ssing into the wind and give it up tbh! id agree with what seraph has said above a tester has no need to go near any of those places... plus you've tinkered with it yourself since, so i doubt VOSA, the Police, Trading Standards or anyone else is going to give a flying f*ck it is proper sh*t, but honestly, i wouldnt waste your time. as for the gearbox mount earth strap, mines earthed on the actual bolt that goes into the mount, use that or just drill/pick a new hole and put a nut and bolt in it...
My sentiments really tbh. Incidentally, I very much doubt you'd get a lawyer interested in defending you for such a small claim. Surprised your g/f hasn't suggested small claims if you think you've enough evidence.
exactly, what he was doing placing wires about the place i have no idea. ive got a 100 pictures of when i built the engine etc and the wires clearly arn't there etc. but 'proving' it is a different matter... probabaly am ****ing in the wind, but a letter will be written to trading standards and VOSA. and i will never take a car there again and slander the place if at all possible to everone i know.
im with seraph, sorry dude, you're fighting a lost cause... old cars break, it just so happened to break when it was at a garage, unlucky, just deal with it! i just dont believe for a second a mechanic has taken the time to plant mystery wires about your engine bay... it broke, they patched up an earth so it went, now it has broken again... you'd be wasting everyones time (including your own!) by writing to authorities
All you can do is write the garage an official solicitors' letter, which will be easy for you since your GF works at a solicitors, asking them to either repair the car to it's previous drivable state, or refund the cost of the parts you have to replace. Give them a deadline- say 14 working days, to get back to you with a decision or you will report them to trading standards and VOSA, and then take legal action to recover your costs. In the meantime make a list of all your costs and if you can, take it to another garage to find out specifically what the problem is, so you can be specific about what you are accusing them of in your letter. Basically, call their bluff. You're not going to take them to court over a 20 ECU (if thats all it is) as a court order costs 30 anyway. But i wouldn't allow them to just shirk responsibilty- you say you have no proof that they did anything wrong- but the proof is you took the car to them in a workable, drivable state, and as soon as you recieved it back from the garage it was not drivable. You also have photographical evidence that they have tampered with wires on the car that are not part of the MOT test list. How do you know they didn't just push it out of the MOT station before you got there, or they tampered with it after the test? are you supposed to just take their word for it? Too many businesses these days believe that just because they say they refuse to accept liabilty, it means they are legally not liable for anything they do. Thats crap. They can't make their own law. If they damage your car, they have a responsibilty to repair it. To just leave you to deal with the problem as well is despicable- a reputable garage would at least want to try and repair the problem, even if they think they are not responsible, purely because it would look bad for their business if they didn't, and you are a customer, and they want to keep ther customers happy. However in your case it is simply not worth recovering your costs, but I would definitely have a go at calling their bluff.
to me it sounds like the garage accidentally snapped an earth wire, fixed said wire then it was driven away fine anything thats gone wrong since, as far as the garage is concerned (and i agree) is your fault... if you werent happy with it you should have argued it there and then, now you've tinkered with it yourself you dont have a leg to stand on...
You realise every action by any solicitor is highly regulated. Yeah, anyone can actually draft the letter, but'll need apporving by higher authority. You can't just sign 'on behalf of Gilberts and White' willy nilly. Even if the letter is approved, I'll bet it won't wash. Behind every garage is a reasonably shrewd business person. They'll see the bluff a mile off, knowing full well nothing much will follow.
i believe the car never got into the garage. i think they moved it across the road because it was blocking another car in when i dropped it off. i think they hardwired a 12v inspection lamp to it, to look at a V5 VW that was parked next to it. why they didnt use croc clips is anyone's guess. then when the car didnt work. they gave it a pass to please me. i left the car with them all day, and a 1pm when i 'checked' on it, it was already across the road. they rang me at 4pm and said it had passed, and it was still in the same spot as at 1pm!. strange or what. if they did have it in the workshop, i would guess they pushed it out. they is no damn way, i blew the ecu and tchi switch when i turned the key as i was about to leave the m.o.t station. and i didnt drive it away, i towed it. for the people who are not on my side in this, i hope your car snaps a timing belt next time you are at an m.o.t on the other side, drained the oil out and picked up another ecu an hour ago, 25 + petrol. will have a go tomorrow.....
I think everyones generally on your side, whatever exactly that is. The important bit is giving you the most usable advice, preventing you from incurring money, time and grief. It's not really that unusual for the car to have been move outside immediately after a test and then be contacted later in the day. Most smallish garage have small staff numbers, so the last thing they want is a constant stream of customers turning up throughout the day. There's no denying that if the business damaged your car, they have a duty of reparation. The trick is proving they were the cause of the damage. I wouldn't go getting another garage to do the repairs until you've got something concrete - unless you can afford it of course. At day's end you want this as amicable as is possible, and IF they admit liability they will most likely want to arrange the reparation themselves.
We choose to run these old cars, consequently we are relying on modern garages to look after 20 year old technology. Look at the mechanic, at best he is thirty, therefore, when the car was born he was ten. He will have trained on cars made in the late nineties. The world of fault codes........ I will trust knowone with my MK2, as I regularily ask mechanics about a problem on a MK2 and they do not know. I know one man and he is a wizard.....but he is the age of a wizard too. Write it off, and in future check the car before you pay. More importantly, check that the garage has experience of these cars. Simple but nasty lesson....you'll know next time.
the car is alive again, just whacked the new ecu in, took spark plugs out, no fuel there but smelt like it! new filter and oil and away she went. 15 seconds sounding rough then fine as far as i can tell. going out for a drive now to check it. ended up drilling a new hole in gearbox arm for earth and used 8awg wire to the -ve terminal. got loads of earths on there now. and it appers the mfa may be working fully, which it never has before. fingers croosed its fine im driving 150 miles in the next day so we'll see.
just read all of this mate, what a crap situation. Glad you have your car fixed, guess you hate taking your car to a garage as much as me ! hope its stays well mate
The only thing an MOT garage is good for is the certificate. I would never let them do any work on my cars. I only go to one place for MOT's now as there are way too many cow boys about. Best thing to do is just sort it yourself, let by gones be by gones. It happens to everyone, don't sweat it mate.
No, but if his girlfriend works at a solicitors he will be able to get some cheap (free?) legal advice from one of her bosses, who may also recommend him to send a letter through that company. I didn't mean for him to get his girlfriend to steal some headed paper and write and sign it herself! I think, TBH though, just taking it away from the garage was a mistake. If it didn't work when you went to pick it up, I would have left it with them til they fixed it. At the end of the day, it was working fine when you took it to them, and unless they can prove they haven't messed around with it, and that it blew the ECU for no fault of theirs when you turned the key, the you've got a good enough reason to argue the case, and then try and get the solicitors involved. Hasn't your car already blown an ECU recently before this? are you sure there isn't some earthing /other problem somewhere thats making them go pop?
