Van failed DOE after service - am I entitled to having problems fixed for free???

Swift66

Had my van serviced about a month ago and specifically asked him to sort it for the DOE -

had it tested 2 days ago and it failed - worn brushes on shock absorbers on both sides and the brake light was staying on all the time.

Can i go back to garage and get them to fix these problems for free or is there gonna be some story about that having happened in the few weeks and them not being liable etc.

New to getting cars/vans fixed so not too sure what the story is, any info appreciated ,cheers

mickdw

Schoolboy error on your behalf Im afraid. Always best to run it through the test then fix problems found. The way you did it can be expensive & you can never guarantee that it will be right.

The only come back you would have is if they charged for some specific item & then it failed on that item. I dont think that is the case here.

Dannyboy1987

Nope what you should of done is send the van in and then get the list of problems fixed. I don't understand why people get there cars/vans serviced before a DOE/NCT.

On the other hand if the place you brought it to said it should pass then i'd get at them to fix most of it for free or to just pay for parts or something .

Done it before with my hence why i send my car in first to find what problems there are .

mickdw

You must also consider that there is no definite amount of wear that is certain to pass/fail so your garage has to take an educated look & make a decision on whether to replace any given part.
IF they were to do everything that was borderline, your bill would have exceeded the cost of the van probably. This is why it is always best to stick it in for the test first.
Brakelight staying on is pretty poor though after having been in for a general preparation for the test

dirtydiesel

Doubt you will get it fixed for free, its been 4 weeks or so since you had it checked over, that covers the garage, the brake lights staying on could of happened anytime in the last few weeks.

maxi R

havin prepared vans for d.o.e from workin in the trade myself, i find it's better sendin the van in first before getting work done! had trouble with test centres failin on things with nothing wrong with them {steering and suspension, no. plates, leaks} garage won't fix anything unless the replaced parts that was fitted failed

Dannyboy1987

Dannyboy1987 wrote: »

On the other hand if the place you brought it to said it should pass then i'd get at them to fix most of it for free or to just pay for parts or something .

That is very poor advice, even if they said it should pass they are not in any way liable to contribute anything towards getting it passed the test now.

OP you have no reason to have issue with the garage who serviced the van.

Nissan doctor

Assuming the problems were there when the van was in the garage, they should have spotted them and told you about them but unless you payed the garage to replace the shocks and repair the lights, then thay are not in any way liable for having to repair anything for free.

Saab Ed

There's no such thing as free

garyt43

if they were decent mechanics in the first place they would have being able to diagnose some of them issues in the first place....when your getting a service done a mechanic or decent mechanic will give the van or car a once over to check for movements in the wheel (bushels) or ball joints, check brakes etc which is standard enough.....now i get all my servicing done before the doe with no problems at all because he knows what they look for.....if u asked for a job to be done it should be done..simple as....id go else where in future but regards ur question....dont think u have much hope

rebel.ranter

A "service" is not a "catch all". At the very worst your mechanic is guilty of not letting you know that some of the items were failing, but in his defense he was probably letting it go through the DOE with the minimum of cost to you.

Mechanics always have this problem of when to highlight stuff I believe this is because people then freak out with them at the price of the "service" when the last "service" was only a quarter of the price down the road.....

A service normally only consists of an oil change with a few filters & a list of checks. The mechanic could also have been a bit lax on the inspection side of things.

kona

Unbelievable.:eek:

mickdw

kona wrote: »

Unbelievable.:eek:

???

kona

mickdw wrote: »

???

Somebody thinking they are Entitled to Free labour due to it failing a DOE a month after servicing.
How many miles would a commercial do in a month?

Unbelievable they way people think if something goes wrong they should get stuff for free WTF? If it failed straight after the service then yea but 1 month:( LOL.

Voodoomelon

People really have to ask what will be performed in a "service". I'd say over 90% of €100-€200 services done at non-dealers are simply a change of oil, air filter, fluid level top-ups and a glance at the brakes.

Very, very few mechanics would spot worn suspension components unless there are serious symptoms like noises or handling issues or unless you asked him to specifically look for them. As everyone says (unless theres an obvious major problem), sent it in for the DOE/NCT and then get any problems rectified, its the cheapest inspection you'll ever get.

mickdw

kona wrote: »

Somebody thinking they are Entitled to Free labour due to it failing a DOE a month after servicing.
How many miles would a commercial do in a month?

Unbelievable they way people think if something goes wrong they should get stuff for free WTF? If it failed straight after the service then yea but 1 month:( LOL.

Makes little difference whether it was straight after or not. A garage cannot economically guarantee that something will pass a test. To give a guarantee, everything with any amount of wear would have to be changed. The customer would then probably say they will not spend that amount on it. Chance are it may then pass & customer comes on boards saying garage wanted to rip him off for repairs that were not needed. No win for the garage.
Simple answer. Test first, then repair.

kona

mickdw wrote: »

Makes little difference whether it was straight after or not. A garage cannot economically guarantee that something will pass a test. To give a guarantee, everything with any amount of wear would have to be changed. The customer would then probably say they will not spend that amount on it. Chance are it may then pass & customer comes on boards saying garage wanted to rip him off for repairs that were not needed. No win for the garage.
Simple answer. Test first, then repair.

A even simpler answer, with Irish people, your ****ed if you do and ****ed if you dont. Alot of people in this country when it comes to paying for a service are living on a different planet.
I agree, The garage should have to him to put it through first and find out what work the had to do.