Garage damaged my van

Scania580

I left my van into a tyre centre to have tracking done and headlight adjusted.
When the job was done the guy said he wanted to give it a quick test drive...Not sure why???

He arrived back about 10 minutes later,with the suspension sitting on the wheels,Said he went over a speed ramp and heard a bang..
He broke the torsion bar in two halves..

Help! The garage is trying to say its not their fault:eek:

My test is booked for 11.50 tomorrow morning.
Next wed my licence expires, and its 500 to renew it
It's a wheelchair accessible caravelle.
Any advise where i go from here
Thanks in advance

Pottler

Scania580 wrote: »

I left my van into a tyre centre to have tracking done and headlight adjusted.
When the job was done the guy said he wanted to give it a quick test drive...Not sure why???

He arrived back about 10 minutes later,with the suspension sitting on the wheels,Said he went over a speed ramp and heard a bang..
He broke the torsion bar in two halves..

Help! The garage is trying to say its not their fault:eek:

My test is booked for 11.50 tomorrow morning.
Next wed my licence expires, and its 500 to renew it
It's a wheelchair accessible caravelle.
Any advise where i go from here
Thanks in advance

To a Garage for new torsion bar? You can argue over who pays the bill after you pay the bill, if you see what I mean?

OldmanMondeo

Had you had a loan car from the garage and it got damaged, who would they expect to pay to fit it? I had a garage damage my car before, rang them, they tried to say on the phone that they did not cause it, but once the seen the damage the copped it could only have happen their, car was lowered with the door open and it caught a tool box. They had it fixed.

How old is the van? Maybe the part was about to fail anyway? What van is it?

geneyuss

if the car was in their care, they are responsible for it, if the garage burnt down over night and your car was in the middle of it they could hardly say tough luck,,

Bloody mechanics :D:D

Scania580

Cheers folks! im going to see what the boss says in the morning ..After i get a quote from a vw garage to fix it.Then its to the gardai and a solictior

Syllabus

well firstly the test drive was to make sure the tracking was done correctly. you'd be on here moaning like an aul wan if he didnt test drive it and the tracking was off.

secondly, imagine if that garage gets known for fixing things that gave up the ghost while in their care, every scumbag and their mother would be bring their junkers in with known issues they could hopefully pin on the garage


get the van fixed, go back to the garage, speak to the owner and they may well pay part or all the bill. or maybe suggest that you will pay for the part if they do the labour F.O.C.



imo

chrismon

They should have it fixed, if he drove it into a lake would you pay to get it out?

Scania580

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

Had you had a loan car from the garage and it got damaged, who would they expect to pay to fit it? I had a garage damage my car before, rang them, they tried to say on the phone that they did not cause it, but once the seen the damage the copped it could only have happen their, car was lowered with the door open and it caught a tool box. They had it fixed.

How old is the van? Maybe the part was about to fail anyway? What van is it?

The van is 03.
It was tested last thursday and failed on wishbone bushes, and headlight focus only.I drove it today and it was fine!it's a vw caravelle.

Syllabus

does the torsion bar not need to be uprated for your needs?? i presume it has a lift for the wheelchairs?? 9 yrs of use would surely put strain on the torsion bar??

OldmanMondeo

Scania580 wrote: »

The van is 03.
It was tested last thursday and failed on wishbone bushes, and headlight focus only.I drove it today and it was fine!it's a vw caravelle.

Was it an NCT or DOE test? If DOE try and find from the tester if they remember checking the bar and how the think. I am sure they would have noticed if it was about to fail.

geneyuss

Syllabus wrote: »

well firstly the test drive was to make sure the tracking was done correctly. you'd be on here moaning like an aul wan if he didnt test drive it and the tracking was off.

secondly, imagine if that garage gets known for fixing things that gave up the ghost while in their care, every scumbag and their mother would be bring their junkers in with known issues they could hopefully pin on the garage


get the van fixed, go back to the garage, speak to the owner and they may well pay part or all the bill. or maybe suggest that you will pay for the part if they do the labour F.O.C.



imo

never in all my life have i seen that happen,,,if it was fractionally out, a test drive wouldn't show anything.

on your second point, i think its that kind of garage alright, but again , one is probably told tough titties and abit of extra work for the garage from people that know no different.

Scania580

chrismon wrote: »

They should have it fixed, if he drove it into a lake would you pay to get it out?

Garages have insurance to cover this kind of event, thats why a lot of them are charging top dollar even in a recession.
If it happened 2km up the road after the tracking was done i would take it on the chin.
Because it was not related to their work.
Yer man whacked it off a ramp, and broke the torsion bar in two halves.
if it was about to go it would have been picked up in the suspension test last thursday.

I feel sorry for the polish mechanic, he is a nice guy..But like everyone else i'm broke and i didn't break the bar!

Scania580

Syllabus wrote: »

does the torsion bar not need to be uprated for your needs?? i presume it has a lift for the wheelchairs?? 9 yrs of use would surely put strain on the torsion bar??

No I have ramps not a lift

Syllabus

geneyuss wrote: »

never in all my life have i seen that happen,,,if it was fractionally out, a test drive wouldn't show anything.........

the van got tracked after getting wishbones that were flagged by a doe tester. there may have been other issues causing the tracking to be off that were not spotted by the tester. it is good practice to test drive a car after being tracked, if for nothing else just to make sure the gauges are reading right and dont need to be calibrated. better for the mech to test drive and find a problem then the owner drive away and have to come back.



imo

Crackle

Scania580 wrote: »

Cheers folks! im going to see what the boss says in the morning ..After i get a quote from a vw garage to fix it.Then its to the gardai and a solictior

Why?

dmc17

Scania580 wrote: »

Cheers folks! im going to see what the boss says in the morning ..After i get a quote from a vw garage to fix it.Then its to the gardai and a solictior

Crackle wrote: »

Why?

He has to sign on weekly

Scania580

Crackle wrote: »

Why?

Well the boss has had my number since 4pm and made no contact with me.
His mechanics rounded on me and more or less washed their hands of it ...and its my livelyhood we are dealing with here.

Im off the road now with a full bank holiday booking list of jobs all of which i will now probably loose because of this.

Im just trying too make sure i dot all the i's and cross all theT's.
It could very well end up in court so thats why i will report the matter, although civil to the gardai, if the boss tells me to F..off in the morning.

Mech1

All cars should be test driven, preferably before and after tracking. You have to check for pulling to one side, steering wheel alignment, steering recentering after a turn and general feel, vibrations, noises, tightness, tyre squeal where it shouldnt be squealing, etc.

Any "reasonable" drive would not break a torsion bar that is serviceable, if you are blaming it on the mechanic he must have driven the vehicle at high speed over a humpback bridge or the like. Even then that same failure would have occured next time you hit a big pothole on the road so better it happened when it did.

I recon its a "coincidence" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence

Maybe they will help with the labor charge as a goodwill thing.

geneyuss

Syllabus wrote: »

the van got tracked after getting wishbones that were flagged by a doe tester. there may have been other issues causing the tracking to be off that were not spotted by the tester. it is good practice to test drive a car after being tracked, if for nothing else just to make sure the gauges are reading right and dont need to be calibrated. better for the mech to test drive and find a problem then the owner drive away and have to come back.



imo

oh well he done that :P did he find a problem or cause one,,,,ah them lead footed Polish

I dont want to mention any garage names here, but some very popular quick fit tyre/exhaust type places NEVER test drive cars.Not after tracking it and re-focusing a head light,,, as is the op situation. (yes i see what i done there)

never once after ive got new tyres and tracking done has a mechanic ever "gone for a spin"

Syllabus

geneyuss wrote: »

oh well he done that :P

I dont want to mention any garage names here, but some very popular quick fit tyre/exhaust type places NEVER test drive cars.Not after tracking it and re-focusing a head light,,, as is the op situation. (yes i see what i done there)

never once after ive got new tyres and tracking done has a mechanic ever "gone for a spin"

well that is your exp.

i am a mech that does tracking and then drives the car and i currently work in one of those quick fit tyre/exhaust type places. that is my exp.

for you to state that quick fit tyre/exhaust type places NEVER test drive cars i can only assume you spend an awful lot of time in one of them quick fit tyre/exhaust type places



imo

Scania580

geneyuss wrote: »

never once after ive got new tyres and tracking done has a mechanic ever "gone for a spin"

This is a real bone here...
His own work mates said there was no test drive required for these two small jobs.
if the machine said the lights and tracking was right...that was the end of it.

Im not a mechanic so i'm at a loss here in lots of ways.
Thank's again folks!:(

geneyuss

Syllabus wrote: »

well that is your exp.

i am a mech that does tracking and then drives the car and i currently work in one of those quick fit tyre/exhaust type places. that is my exp.

for you to state that quick fit tyre/exhaust type places NEVER test drive cars i can only assume you spend an awful lot of time in one of them quick fit tyre/exhaust type places



imo

i do go to them, just not with my own car, and not in about ten years of dealing with them have they ever test drove any car i brought in, maybe its just practice in my neck of the woods

Scania580 wrote: »

This is a real bone here...
His own work mates said there was no test drive required for these two small jobs.
if the machine said the lights and tracking was right...that was the end of it.

Im not a mechanic so i'm at a loss here in lots of ways.
Thank's again folks!:(

exactly

Nissan doctor

Any competent garage/mechanic will always test drive a vehicle after doing alignment. If there is an issue with it its best to notice it yourself then have the customer coming back which then obviously looks bad.

If the torsion bar broke, even if he went over ramps at high speed, then it was obviously damaged or had stress cracks/metal fatigue before hand. The problem for any garage is that no matter how far fetched it is to assume that the garage damaged it, all the customer knows is that the problem wasn't there before and will always want to blame the garage.

Now, I'm well aware that there are plenty of cowboys out there who do damage people vehicles and will try anything to deny things but in this case, unless the mechanic actually had the wheels off the ground over a ramp or humpback bridge or something then, with understanding of the function and design of a torsion bar, I don't believe it could have been broken by driving over a speed ramp without any pre-existing issue and if he has hit something else then there would evidence of that.

Scania580

Thank's for your input!

just a question though, would this not have shown up on the test last week.
Me thinks the garage has to cough up and fix it, if your correct in what you say as i cant contradict...as im not qualified.

Then its they that have to take it on the chin as part of life...
i didn't sign a disclaimer, like one has too before they do the emissions test.

geneyuss

Scania580 wrote: »

Thank's for your input!

just a question though, would this not have shown up on the test last week.
Me thinks the garage has to cough up and fix it, if your correct in what you say as i cant contradict...as im not qualified.

Then its they that have to take it on the chin as part of life...
i didn't sign a disclaimer, like one has too before they do the emissions test.

Don't do that just because someguy online who claims to be a mechanic says that the garage maybe fully within its rights, this is the internet,, i could be batman, go see your solicitor and see what they say, before several of them start posting here :rolleyes:

Scania580

geneyuss wrote: »

, i could be batman, go see your solicitor and see what they say, before several of them start posting here :rolleyes:

Thanks i will;)

Stoolbend

Scania580 wrote: »

Thank's for your input!

just a question though, would this not have shown up on the test last week.
Me thinks the garage has to cough up and fix it, if your correct in what you say as i cant contradict...as im not qualified.

Then its they that have to take it on the chin as part of life...
i didn't sign a disclaimer, like one has too before they do the emissions test.

A torsion bar wouldn't show any signs of wear before failing.

geneyuss

Stoolbend wrote: »

A torsion bar wouldn't show any signs of wear before failing.

really ??

Tigger

not without an x-ray

Voodoomelon

Please tell me this was in Dundalk. Bastards drove my car at twice the limit "testing" the alignment whilst watching tv on the way back.

geneyuss

Tigger wrote: »

not without an x-ray

so wear and tear,, metal fatigue , stress fractures etc would not be visible to a competent mechanic , ( i understand these are pretty obvious faults before all the experts round up on me )

Mech1

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Please tell me this was in Dundalk. Bastards drove my car at twice the limit "testing" the alignment whilst watching tv on the way back.

And I assume you would have brought evidence of this to at least the area manager and had a acceptable outcome?

Nissan doctor

Scania580 wrote: »

Thank's for your input!

just a question though, would this not have shown up on the test last week.
Me thinks the garage has to cough up and fix it, if your correct in what you say as i cant contradict...as im not qualified.

Then its they that have to take it on the chin as part of life...
i didn't sign a disclaimer, like one has too before they do the emissions test.

Generally, torsion bars fail to due perlonged stress or damage. You may be able to see issues if the bar was removed and visually inspected closely for stress cracks etc but not in place on a vehicle with x years of road grime on it.

Garages do have insurance though and with some pushing, will most likely pay in this instance as they will have to go to court to prove they weren't at fault which in this case, would be hard to prove due to no witness to how the van was driven on the test drive.

Scania580

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Please tell me this was in Dundalk. Bastards drove my car at twice the limit "testing" the alignment whilst watching tv on the way back.

No alas it wasn't
But , like the bull mccabe's donkey

my van stepped in, but it didn't step out:)

Mech1

geneyuss wrote: »

so wear and tear,, metal fatigue , stress fractures etc would not be visible to a competent mechanic , ( i understand these are pretty obvious faults before all the experts round up on me )

Sh/t happens
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170526/M4-closed-Fears-Olympic-road-chaos-motorway-Heathrow-London-closed.html

geneyuss

Mech1 wrote: »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170526/M4-closed-Fears-Olympic-road-chaos-motorway-Heathrow-London-closed.html

Civil engineers :rolleyes:

goz83

I would say a shared bill would be fair. It's highly unlikely the garage is at fault, but the vehicle was in their care. If you were taking care of your brothers house and the gas boiler exploded when you turned it on, you could hardly be blamed for it unless you tried turning it on with a pick axe. As already suggested....maybe you pay for the part and they help with labor costs.

Scania580

Scania580 wrote: »

Well the boss has had my number since 4pm and made no contact with me.
His mechanics rounded on me and more or less washed their hands of it ...and its my livelyhood we are dealing with here.

Im off the road now with a full bank holiday booking list of jobs all of which i will now probably loose because of this.

Im just trying too make sure i dot all the i's and cross all theT's.
It could very well end up in court so thats why i will report the matter, although civil to the gardai, if the boss tells me to F..off in the morning.

Sorry OP, let's get this right. You have a 9 year old car that you depend on your livelyhood, probably one with massive miles compared to an average 9 y.o., and then you have a cheek on saying that the garage is responsible for a failure of a wearable part.

sidepipes

if the vehicle was damaged while been test driven by the garage
and they have already admitted it happened when going over a speed ramp.......They are 100% responsible regardless of age or milage

corktina

you can forget the Gardrai OP, purely a Civil matter.

colm_mcm

sidepipes wrote: »

if the vehicle was damaged while been test driven by the garage
and they have already admitted it happened when going over a speed ramp.......They are 100% responsible regardless of age or milage

How does that work?

sidepipes

sidepipes wrote: »

if the vehicle was damaged while been test driven by the garage
and they have already admitted it happened when going over a speed ramp.......They are 100% responsible regardless of age or milage

If a part of the vehicle suspension that was not worked on recently gets damaged driving over a speed bump at any speed the owner of the vehicle is responsible IMO. Especially if the failing component is a high mile one.

As a matter of fact I think the mechanic did a favour to the future passengers, the bar would have failed within a short time anyway. It could have happened for example fully laden when there were people onboard running late for a flight or something (guessing the van is used as a taxi).

Alanstrainor

OP closed their account. Thread closed.