Car in garage a week! Any advice appreciated!

lnichol86

My 04 Corsa (that I just bought Monday week ago) has now been in the garage for a week since Tuesday the 8th. The car wouldn't start (cranking but no proper ignition) so we towed it to a local garage.

First of all the garage told us they had problems getting into the cars computer so see what was wrong with it. They then mentioned the throttle 'ticking' at them so said they would need to replace something there. Quoted 120 for parts and labour.

So that work was done, car started but then after having been left sit for a few hours was back to square one. The garage then said the problem was now the throttle position sensor (bear in mind it's now Friday).

It's now Tuesday and they replaced the TPS. Again car started at first but after being left to sit it didn't.

Can anyone give me any advice here? Firstly why are they taking so long to do these jobs and secondly am I being mugged off? I know nothing about cars and just feel like anytime that I ring I am being fobbed off. It's really stressing me out, as my car is my mode of transport to work which is a distance away.

Thanks,

L.

Atlantic Dawn

So is it in the garage you bought it from or another one or did you buy it in a garage at all?

lnichol86

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

So is it in the garage you bought it from or another one or did you buy it in a garage at all?

Bought it from done deal from a person listed as a trader and the car ownership was listed as garage. We obviously rang him firstly and he was zero help. Just kept saying that the car was fine when he had it, and it had just passed the nct in early October. He offered that we bring it to him to have a look but he is in Naas and we're in Dublin and we're not paying for a tow. Have we any rights here?

It's all just a nightmare to be honest!

biko

If seller is a dealer then you have more rights than if he is a private person
A dealer have to sell a car that is fit for purpose. This is a grey area.
Generally a dealer will go the repair route before replace or refund. Afaik they are probably within their rights to ask the car to be brought to them, again a grey area.

No-one here can offer legal advice, you need to approach a solicitor for that.

martinr5232

Sounds like an rpm sensor would have been very common on that year corsa.

lnichol86

biko wrote: »

If seller is a dealer then you have more rights than if he is a private person
A dealer have to sell a car that is fit for purpose. This is a grey area.
Generally a dealer will go the repair route before replace or refund. Afaik they are probably within their rights to ask the car to be brought to them, again a grey area.

No-one here can offer legal advice, you need to approach a solicitor for that.

Thanks Biko, yeah definitely, suppose I'm more just wondering about the garage it's currently in though. Should it take this long to fix? I know garages cab get very busy, I'm just afraid that I'm being fobbed off.

lnichol86

martinr5232 wrote: »

Sounds like an rpm sensor would have been very common on that year corsa.

Thanks for the reply Martin. Is an RPM sensor expensive or does it require much work to replace? It just seems like either the garage are genuinely stumped as to what the problem is, or that they are putting off spending enough time to diagnose the problem. I mean should it have taken them this long so far? I don't like to presume, I know that garages are busy, especially at this time of the year, I'm just very frustrated that it taking so long.

_Brian

Here's a question, do people just drop cars onto the first garage they find.

Surely you would make some enquiries about the reputation of a place before dropping in a car.

I also find that using a particular garage regularly if they are good, it builds a relationship where you can get work done quicker and indeed at better prices too.

lnichol86

_Brian wrote: »

Here's a question, do people just drop cars onto the first garage they find.

Surely you would make some enquiries about the reputation of a place before dropping in a car.

I also find that using a particular garage regularly if they are good, it builds a relationship where you can get work done quicker and indeed at better prices too.

Brian I'm not sure what your tone was there but yes, I did enquire about the garage beforehand, and had nothing but good reviews, hence even further frustration.

_Brian

lnichol86 wrote: »

Brian I'm not sure what your tone was there but yes, I did enquire about the garage beforehand, and had nothing but good reviews, hence even further frustration.

Good.
Let them do their job so, remember the problems with the car aren't their fault and sometimes it takes a while to repair problems.

tipptom

_Brian wrote: »

Good.
Let them do their job so, remember the problems with the car aren't their fault and sometimes it takes a while to repair problems.

What?
Let them keep replacing and the op keep paying for labour and parts and the time until they maybe some vague time in the future and a bit of luck that they will stumble on what is really wrong with it and the op will have a complete body of new ancillary parts that wasn't actually needed.

martinr5232

lnichol86 wrote:

Thanks for the reply Martin. Is an RPM sensor expensive or does it require much work to replace? It just seems like either the garage are genuinely stumped as to what the problem is, or that they are putting off spending enough time to diagnose the problem. I mean should it have taken them this long so far? I don't like to presume, I know that garages are busy, especially at this time of the year, I'm just very frustrated that it taking so long.

Rpm sensor wouldnt be that expensive and would be fitted in a few minutes.
Im not saying that is the problem but it would be very common.

Four Phucs Ache

Did you buy it from a tyre centre in Naas ???...

There was a poster here a few days ago that just bought a 04 corsa, same engine issues you have developed soon after.Bought from a lad in Naas.

Diagnostics couldn't talk to the ECU etc