Garage woes... any advice?

milod

Folks, here's the situation:

My car went into a garage to have the fuel pump sorted and an alarm fitted. This was 5 weeks ago. Since then, they've found a cylinder head that needed skimming - water in the cylinders apparently, though I never saw any sign of steam in the exhaust before hand.

So between 'waiting for parts' and 'waiting for the head to come back from the shop' it's been 5 weeks. I'm at the end of my tether here and when I ring them, they make it feel like I'm the one causing them annoyance...

They promised to have the car sorted yesterday, and was told 'ready in half an hour' six times until about 8pm when they said "eh, tomorrow lunchtime"

What do I do?

Anan1

Who are they?

Dades

milod wrote: »

What do I do?

tbh, you've waited this long...

It sounds like you should have it soon. Maybe call them this morning and tell them you'll be arriving at 1pm for the car. Put some fire under them.

Nightmare, though.

mustang68

I had a mechanic like that kept finding things wrong with my car, and he convinced me that he was doing me a favour. Similar story to yours, found lots of things, waiting for difficult to get parts, problems I hadn't noticed before etc.

You brought it in for a fuel pump and hes taken the head off the engine to do a job you didn't think needed doing and wouldn't be able to see if he did? i'd tell him to have the car running by X time as you'll be collecting it.

MercMad

Who decided it was a fuel pump problem ?

More likely there was a head gasket problem and he couldn't get it running properly having replaced the pump. What kind of car is it anyway ?

Also you have hit the exact reason why most garages wont touch older cars. It cvan tend to be one thing after the other, seemingly unrelated !

Fact is they are working on it and it will be ready when it runs properly !

Good luck !

milod

it's a 1974 BMW 2002tii with a Kugelfischer fuel pump - believe me it was the original problem...

I'm not entirely sure about the cylinder head - will have to take it on trust.

Have tried the usual boot in the ass approach, including a few pointed emails and deadlines.

It was supposed to be ready for lunchtime - still waiting for the call...

Sids Not

One of the reasons i do all my own work.....Theres a need to find a garage that wont laugh when they see you pulling in....;)

mountain

this story demonstrates the importance of having a garage/mechanic that you can trust. They may be doing their best, but some times they dont have the time for "difficult jobs" and want to get the easier ones in and out.
There was a time when the country was full of guys working down back streets who could get you going/fix you up.

With cars getting more complex, garages getting bigger these garages have dwindled away. there was one in bandon, cork that I used, great place-fix anything, know what they where doing.

Now however its gone, replaced by a brand new saab, seat dealer.

Luckily i found a place in bandon that is specialising in classic and vintages,
and he has looked after me and my volvo 1800 very well.

MercMad

The Kugelfischer pump is an expensive and complicated piece of kit. Even with a perfect pump it is easy to set it up wrong and end up with a car that runs terribly.

I wouldn't give that job to anyone unless I knew they had experience with the model, in detail. Obviously its hard to find someone like that over here !

A head gasket is a head gasket, if its gone they should be able to show you the old one, or a bill from the machine shop that skimmed the head.

What is the history of this car, what problem did you ahve with it ?