Failed NCT on something I paid to have fixed

jacobwrestling

Without too many identifying details: I failed the NCT on a number of things, one of which was headlight alignment. Got all the other work done, then went to a local place to get alignment done, they had a deal going for wheels & lights so availed of that. While that was being done, I was told that an additional repair would be needed to complete the job. I agreed, and paid extra for this to be done.
Fast-forward a week and I fail the NCT entirely on this light. It's visibly not lining up when I take a proper look at the light itself (maybe I should have spotted it sooner but honestly it didn't cross my mind that my headlights would have been misaligned after an alignment?!).

So, now I have to rebook my car for an NCT, which is €28, after paying for all the work directly related to what it failed on. What exactly can I do here? Get them to pay for the NCT after fixing the work? Seek a full refund as well? Any advice much appreciated!

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Insist on the fault being rectified, you certainly don't need to pay for this again. You can ask for the retest fee, but you're at their mercy.

Sam Kade

You should have taken the car for nct first then fix the faults they find.

Guy:Incognito

Sam Kade wrote: »

You should have taken the car for nct first then fix the faults they find.

He did......

jacobwrestling wrote: »

I failed the NCT on a number of things, one of which was headlight alignment. Got all the other work done, then went to a local place to get alignment done,

Fast-forward a week and I fail the NCT entirely on this light.!

Also, theres nothing wrong with fixing things that arent NCT failures. Amazingly enough, some people even do preventative ongoing maintenance......

jacobwrestling

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Insist on the fault being rectified, you certainly don't need to pay for this again. You can ask for the retest fee, but you're at their mercy.

Okay, so I'm definitely entitled to have the issue fixed, but anything further is at their discretion? That's fair enough I suppose but I will be pushing for at least a partial refund to match the cost of the fee!

slimjimmc

Assuming the garage failed to align the lights properly (as opposed to something else happening afterward) then you are entitled to have them re-adjusted at no cost to you. You can also claim for NCT retest fee if it's a direct consequence of them not doing the job properly.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1980/act/16/section/21/enacted/en/html#sec21

(4) The measure of damages for breach of warranty is the estimated loss directly and naturally resulting, in the ordinary course of events, from the breach of warranty.

NB: "Warranty" doesn't refer to a promise to fix/replace, it refers to the garage promising that your lights will be or have been aligned properly.

I doubt most places would have much problem once they see the failure report but it's not worthwhile pursuing if they do refuse since the fee for the Small Claims Court cost €25 which you can't claim back.

stronglikebull

You may not have any come back over misaligned lights. Most garages will not guarantee your lights will stay aligned until your NCT, just that they're done when you leave the garage. Lights are something that could become misaligned due to no fault of the garage. Not sure how likely it is, or if they're disclaimer would be enforceable under consumer law, but you may find that they will not realign the lights for free. They might well do it though, so you should definitely ask.

Drive up to a wall, turn on the lights and have a look at the levels straight after getting them done if you want to check how well the garage has done it. I've often aligned my own lights this way, park beside another car with it's lights on and adjust yours to the same level. Its guesswork but I've had 100% success for free with it.

jacobwrestling

Update - I've been to the garage and while they did claim at first that there was no way something could be wrong, they had a proper look and ended up fixing the issue causing the misalignment and covering the cost of the retest. Thanks for all the advice!