Dodgy garage or just bad luck?

Danniboo

Hey,

Not a serious issue just want some advice on what others would do before I get myself more frustrated.

Mods, not sure if this is the right place for this please move its better suited elsewhere.

Long story short, got the car serviced, when I got it back off the garage didn't do that much driving for that week and was very busy so didn't have time to notice anything much being up with it. Thursday evening I noticed steam coming from the bonnet and temp gage going up a bit. It was then parked up all last weekend as I was away so had someone look at it on Sunday, coolant was completely empty.I topped it up and thought would be fine maybe the garage didn't put any in. Turns out there's now a really bad leak in my radiator, and this became apparent over the following couple of days. My car had to be taken to the nearest garage Wednesday night I had put Radweld in that day hoping to just get home on it but no such luck, ended up parked at the side of the motor way for about 2 hours.

I can't help but think that the garage that originally serviced the car are responsible for causing this problem, so what do I do? Am I wasting my time ringing them? Do I have any comeback?

Gophur

You will not be able to prove who did the damage.

Get it fixed and move on.

€300 should get you a new rad, installed, with new coolant.

My wife's car started leaking from the rad one day. No apparent cause of the damage, nobody to blame.

Danniboo

Gophur wrote: »

You will not be able to prove who did the damage.

Get it fixed and move on.

€300 should get you a new rad, installed, with new coolant.

My wife's car started leaking from the rad one day. No apparent cause of the damage, nobody to blame.

Yeap but my car was perfect before I gave it to them and was in bits afterwards if it just started leaking would be a different story, I look after my car so would be aware if there was a problem.

Costing me less than €300

Plazaman

I wouldn't think you'd have much luck with the garage unless you spotted something wrong on the way home from the service. The fact a couple of days had passed before you noticed anything they could say "it was fine when we sent it out, what did you do to it?".

Could be just bad luck.

Gophur

Danniboo wrote: »

Yeap but my car was perfect before I gave it to them and was in bits afterwards if it just started leaking would be a different story, I look after my car so would be aware if there was a problem.

.....................

That may well be the case, but try and prove it.

Danniboo

Gophur wrote: »

That may well be the case, but try and prove it.

Thats why I posted here, to see if anyone knows what you can do in these circumstances

bijapos

Where is the rad leaking and why? Is there a hole in the front from a stone chip? Is it a loose hose clip or a split hose? There must be a reason.

What did the garage do? Did they have anything at all to do with the coolant such as a rad flush? Was there any part of the service such as a belt change that meant they had to get the rad off or loosen/remove some hoses? Do you have an itemised account of what they did to the car?

You say :

Yeap but my car was perfect before I gave it to them and was in bits afterwards

What else is wrong with it? Is it just the rad/cooling or are there other problems.

It could be anything and everything, have a good look around and get back to us here.

Danniboo

Rad seems to leaking from the top and possibly the bottom. Have a list of "what they did" at home, gonna root it out and have someone check the work was done as it looks like the oil filter might not have been changed either.

Plug

Why do you think the oil filter has not been replaced? I'd say your after getting a does of paranoia.

Danniboo

Plug wrote: »

Why do you think the oil filter has not been replaced? I'd say your after getting a does of paranoia.

Em because someone looked at it for me and said it doesn't look like it was replaced:rolleyes:

Nissan doctor

What car is it and what it actually wrong with the rad?

If 'someone' looked at it it should be obvious to any mechanic if the leak has been caused by an external impact or if its just a failed rad.

Danniboo

Just spoke to the mechanic the heater fan came off and burst the radiator, that now needs to be replaced also ....... apparentely

kildarelad

If its a 206 it wouldnt be uncommon for that to happen

Gophur

Danniboo wrote: »

Plug wrote: »

Why do you think the oil filter has not been replaced? I'd say your after getting a does of paranoia.

Em because someone looked at it for me and said it doesn't look like it was replaced:rolleyes:

Is the oil filter not a replaceable cartridge?

If it is, a cursory glance will not tell anyone if the filter has been changed.