Fan belt broke on way home from service

duffysfarm

I got my car serviced yesterday and there were a few things to do on top of the standard service. On the way home the battery light came on (15 minute journey home from garage). I read up the drivers manual when i got home and then called the mechanic that serviced it. Straight away he said check and see if the fan belt was broken and i looked and it was. I now have to bring it back into him. I am just wondering, what are the chances of the fan belt breaking after a service or did he mistakenly break/damage it in some way? I am not looking to blame him and wont fall out with him, i have been going to him for 20 years now and i am happy with him - i would imagine it wont cost much to fix and its just for my own piece of mind if i could know if possible.

listermint

It can break itself. Small fix

yamaha4life

It wouldn't be usually replaced unless its notably frayed or damaged, a lot of garages wont just replace things unless it could be dangerous for the car owner as a lot of people will argue oh my car didnt need this or be argumentative about the extra cost. It is a bit of a coincidence sure.

I used work in a garage and i once replaced a set of front brake pads for a customer, the handbrake cable snapped a week later! Nothing to do with me but customer came back and basically attacked me. I had to get my boss to come out and explain that A i didnt go near the handbrake and that B there was no way of knowing it would break as its not something you can visibly inspect as 90% of it is coverd by a plastic sheath.

duffysfarm

ok thanks for the replies. as i said i am not going to fall out with him, i wont even say anything about it to him as i have always found him fair to deal with.

sumo12

If the fan belt failure was that imminent, the belt was badly worn / cracked therefore I would have expected the mechanic to notice it and at the very least mention it to you.

colm_mcm

Hopefully some other component hasn’t caused the belt to break.

Isambard

if a red light comes on like that, it's usually best to stop and call help rather than just drive on.