DOE scam or genuine mistake?

rubberdiddies

Was gonna post in consumer issues but thought it best in here.
Van went in for DOE this week.
Was told there was a prob with oil pipes and lots of oil leaking so needed replacing. Fine I thought if it has to be done it has to be done. Cost €300.

There was a warning light on the dash which they claimed indicated a fault with a certain part. Total cost to replace would be €250.
I decided to hold off on that and get a second opinion. Brought it to a local garage who checked the part in question, said there was no problem with it, replaced a fuse, and the indicator warning disappeared. Didn't charge me a cent.
I told him about the oil problem and he said that he would have expected to see oil leaking onto the ground if there was that problem. There was never any oil leak onto the ground.

Anyway my concern is that I was unnecessarily charged €300 though there is now no way to prove it. I was certainly almost scammed out of another €250. maybe I'm naive but I didn't think should large garages engaged in this practice. It's a very large and popular DOE centre!

dirtydiesel

If your van had an oil leak there should be oil stains on your driveway or where ever you park it at night. Just by looking under the front of van, you will know if its been leaking oil, its messy stuff and clings to everything.
Check those 2 things and post your findings here.

rubberdiddies

I can't check because I gave them the go ahead to fix it on the day. The DOE report says 'oil leak'. I then gave them permission to find out what the problem was. That report says they cleaned up a lot of oil and discovered torn pipes. I then asked them to replace the pipes (they said this was necessary to pass the DOE) which they did. So that work has been done.

When they wanted to add another €250 for repair of the part causing the dashboard warning light I decided to get a second opinion and thus saved myself €250.

EDIT: just want to add that prior to me sending it for DOE there were no oil stains on the driveway or anywhere I park it regularly

Mits

I always believed the DOE and NCT are a scam. I submitted a van twice and it past the second time even though all I done was ask a machanic to look at the problem.

Amazing how many tyre centre's are beside doe centre's

MacGyver

first fault may be a scam but the fault light may well have been a mistake. I'd imagine that when the light was lit, assuming it describes one fault rather then just an indicator like in some cars where it just says there is a fault some where, the DOE centre may have some limited experience having seen the light before and assumed the same fault. easy mistake but if they had found the fuse first would they have still charged the same amount.

Theres similar stories in the uk where the MOT is done in a centre which repairs the faults, they tend to find problems to make a few quid rather. Thankfully bad and all as the NCT is at least we dont have to get them to fix things on cars.

dharn

only go to DOE center that tests vehicles ,then you will have no doubts if something comes up that they say needs attention

L1011

...or worst case scenario, go to one that doesn't sell/maintain your type of vehicle if you can't find a test-only place, I get my van done in a bus dealers for this reason. They won't get a cent of any repairs needed.