Garage taking ages with my car, where do I stand?

Mr_Grinch

Whilst driving through Wales, about 6 hours away from home, my car crapped out. I had to be brought home by the AA. Whilst on the way home I needed to find a garage to take my car to, the Cylinder Head Gasket had blown on it and the usual garage I go to didn't repair this. They recommended me one that did however.

Being in Wales and low on mobile phone battery, I had to make do with this and trust that they were good, decent and reliable. It turns out, however, they are not.

I got my car to them on the 22nd May, they said it would likely be about a week. A week later I called them and they said they had the head gasket back and just needed to fit it now. They said end of the week. I called them end of the week and they said they hadn't "had chance" and it'd be start of next week.

Tried again on the Tuesday and they made some excuse about "the wrong bolts" and that it'd be end of the week. Again, called back, more excuses, definitely be Monday/Tuesday next week.

So it's been in the garage 3 weeks now, I rely on a car a lot. For a start my girlfriend is 30mins away and no buses go that way, so I barely get to see her. Secondly I live a distance from any shops, so that's difficult too. For the first week I was without a car I fortunately was able to lend my Girlfriend's Mother's car but now I'm finding myself increasingly stuck.

Phoning up and shouting does not appear to be getting through to them, is there anything I can do to get them to hurry up?

Oh and the other thing, they only take payment in cash. £770 in cash. I have yet to inform them I work for the Inland Revenue, but sadly I can't use my job to leverage things like that really.

Mr_Grinch

Further to this I've just called them and they said whoever told me it should be Monday or Tuesday should not have said that and they don't give out timetables because jobs can go "tits up" and that they've got "jobs all over the yard" so they can't give me a time at the moment.

Can anyone suggest anything I can do? The car has apparently been stripped down so I can't take it away.

::Edit:: Further information (possibly useful if you find yourself in the same situation)::

I contacted trading standards, they've basically said that 3 weeks is an
excessive amount of time given the nature of the repairs and to write
the garage a letter stating that....well...i'll just copy it in:

"To Whom it May Concern,

I submitted my car to yourselves on the 23rd of May 2007 and a quote
was given for repair. I was informed by the employee on the phone
you'd do the job as quickly as you could; "Within the week if
possible".

After several calls throughout the coming weeks I am still no further
in retrieving the car. Three weeks seems ample time for a job of this
nature.

As such I have been in contact with trading standards who recommended
I write you this letter and set a dead line of seven days from whence
you receive it. The letter has been sent Next Day recorded delivery.

If the car has not been repaired by this date I will be seeking
further civil advice from them.

Thank you for your time,

Mr_Grinch (Obviously using my real name!)"

My Dad's had experience with these garages before (he was the one who told me to try Trading Standards) and thought it'd be best to call them up and let them know this, so he gave them a ring on my behalf (he has a much more stern voice!) and let them know this and they're suddenly back tracking saying:

"Oh, the job'll be done by the time we get the letter"

So I have the letter printed out, and I'm about to send it recorded delivery at the end of work today. Hopefully this'll spur them on a bit.

Mr_Grinch

Further events on this (even though no-one has commented, if someone goes through something similar I thought it may be nice to document it!!):

The deadline passed and they said on the Wednesday they were just "trying to get it started". I didn't hear from them for the rest of the day so tried calling at about 8pm and they said there was "no compression" and they'd have to get the cylinder head gasket "re-skimmed".

So another week passes and more excuses, then another week. I've got trading standards re-involved but they're being a bit slow getting back to me. The last four days I've had no contact with them at all, each phone call is left just ringing. So today I tried to call down in person and the place was locked up, save for some dogs out the back barking.

I called at the house on the corner, which is where I was told to post my keys when I dropped my caroff and whilst I could hear someone in there, and a little kid was speaking whilst his parents (I presume) were trying to shush him, no-one answered the door.

Also, outside the garage there was a gent on his mobile. He looked to be involved with the garage so I planned to speak to him when he got off his phone. When he saw me looking at him, he did a quick wander off down a back street and vanished.

So now I'm stuck, I've contacted the police who have informed me it's a civil matter and can't help. I'm waiting on trading standards getting back to me again but short of them being able to help, I have no idea what I can do.

Presumably my car is stripped down which makes taking it away IF I can get in to the garage incredibly difficult.

Does anyone have any advice at all? It would be much appreciated.

variant

A head gasket can not "blow." Think of it as a washer connecting the cylinder to engine block. It can crack, causing the car to lose compression
and they don't need no bolts, they can re-use the old bolts, unless of course, they fucked the bolts when taking them out.

Also 770 Euros for a head gasket? What do you drive? A Ferrari? Porsche?

A head gasket should not be that expensive! They're more like 50-100 Euros for regular cars.

And the labor involved really isn't much, I helped my friend replace his car's(MR2) head gasket($80) just last month and it only took the two of us about 3 hours, and most of the time was because we to had make a couple of trips to the store to get the right sockets.

They're trying to fuck you (I think), try to get your car back.

Mr_Grinch

£770 (not euros), not quite sure what that works out at in euros. And it's only a peugeot 106! The car with the low mileage it's got is worth just under £2k and whilst I can afford the £770, I can't afford much more to get a new car.

Yeah, I want my car back now, without a doubt. THe problem is I can't get in to the garage, it's been closed for the last 4 days and no-one answers the phone and it seems they're avoiding me. The police can't do anything and trading standards are being slow.

Fats

Many cars use torque-to-yield bolts, which do need to be replaced when you pull the head off. It's good practice even if they're not TTY, though they should have ordered them at the same time as the gasket. "Blow" is just a colloquialism.

It sure sounds like they're screwing you, though. Even the most incompetent of mechanics should be able to finish a head gasket in a couple of days. Maybe they fucked something up and are stalling until they can fix it, or maybe they're just shady, but even if you get your car back I'd be concerned about the quality of work. Your letter sounds like the best course of action if the police won't help you, send that immediately. I'd keep showing up during business hours, too, though without a car that's probably hard.

Mr_Grinch

I do keep showing up at business hours. They're never open.

This worries me!

Scooter

The "taking payment only in cash" bothers me a lot. I don't know if things are different over there, but if I'd heard a garage would only take cash, for what would be over a thousand dollars here, I would've immediately found another garage because that's seriously messed up and freaking shady. Unless your car is locked inside somewhere, I'd see about getting it towed somewhere else. And if it is, next time you can contact them tell them you want it out.

Thanatos

I don't know if this will work or not (I don't even know if it would work in the U.S.), but call the cops and ask if you can report your car stolen. They've had it for long enough, been avoiding you for long enough, and they refuse to give it back. That pretty much screams "stolen" to me.

Mr_Grinch

Thanatos wrote: »

I don't know if this will work or not (I don't even know if it would work in the U.S.), but call the cops and ask if you can report your car stolen. They've had it for long enough, been avoiding you for long enough, and they refuse to give it back. That pretty much screams "stolen" to me.

I've tried the police and they've just told me it's a civil matter. I'm going to try again tomorrow to catch them in at some point and get them to open the yard and get another garage to tow it.

And yep, the cash does bother me but I didn't have a choice. I broke down in Wales and had to get a garage sorted asap, I only got one tow from the AA so once my car was at that garage I had little choice!

Oh and Thanatos, good luck in 3 days

(Nearly 2)