Car failed NCT twice despite garage repair

NCC1701

Hi,

I left my car in for a major service three weeks ago (timing belt included) which cost me €1,200 and then put it through the NCT, which it failed on two items, one of which was parking brake imbalance. I brought it back to the garage and gave them the fail report and told them that one of the handbrake cables had been replaced two years ago and this was probably the cause as the original one was probably not pulling as strong as the replaced one. However they replaced the rear discs and pads instead charging me €140 incl labour. So I put it through the NCT again and it failed worse this time on parking brake imbalance. I called the garage and told them and they had trouble remembering who I was despite only being in with them the previous day. The owner didn't seem to give a toss tbh but said he'd look at it again. So it's due back in on Friday. So my question is, should I ask that this fault be rectified at their expense as I told them it was probably a worn cable or have I no grounds for trying to avoid being charged twice for the same repair?

sumo12

Parking brake imbalance is a hard one to rectify at times. Almost no garage has a rolling road required to test handbrake imbalance. Handbrake will hold perfectly fine on the ground even with a significant imbalance.

You can replace cables and by manually testing the parking brake on the ramp it will feel fine. Then replace shoes and drums will still feel fine and may still fail. Once they are bedded in, adjust again and it will pass. I've seen it plenty over the years unfortunately.

Did you specifically ask them to replace cable to cure it? If so, then it's down to you. A garage blindly doing it is another discussion...
Can't speak for the attitude of the garage unfortunately, not remembering you etc but you're going to need to discuss with them and find some common ground.

ebbsy

I had that brake problem before as well, failed the NCT, brought it to my mechanic, he fixed it, and then it passed the NCT.

So I think this garage might be taking the piss.

NCC1701

When I left the car in for the service, I specifically asked them (but it wasn't in writing!), to check the front suspension bushings (this car has always failed on that issue) and the hand brake cable (as only one of them was replaced two years ago). They didn't as the car failed the first NCT on both these counts. When I brought it back to the garage, they fixed the suspension but replaced the rear discs and pads even though I told them that the "imbalance" was probably down to a fairly newish handbrake cable and the original one exerting different loads. But they didn't do as I asked and went with their own fix which was to replace the discs and pads and the car failed the NCT again. So I was probably right in that its down to the cables.

So, while I'll admit cars can do your nut in trying to get to the root of a problem, I did ask them, both at the first service and again following the NCT fail to check the handbrake cable but they didn't do this and went ahead and carried out works that evidently made the problem worse according to the NCT!.

sumo12

NCC1701 wrote: »

When I left the car in for the service, I specifically asked them (but it wasn't in writing!), to check the front suspension bushings (this car has always failed on that issue) and the hand brake cable (as only one of them was replaced two years ago). They didn't as the car failed the first NCT on both these counts. When I brought it back to the garage, they fixed the suspension but replaced the rear discs and pads even though I told them that the "imbalance" was probably down to a fairly newish handbrake cable and the original one exerting different loads. But they didn't do as I asked and went with their own fix which was to replace the discs and pads and the car failed the NCT again. So I was probably right in that its down to the cables.

So, while I'll admit cars can do your nut in trying to get to the root of a problem, I did ask them, both at the first service and again following the NCT fail to check the handbrake cable but they didn't do this and went ahead and carried out works that evidently made the problem worse according to the NCT!.

Ok, well looks like you're well set for a row so!

CoBo55

You may as well change the handbrake cable now and see does it restore equilibrium. What car is it? What was the footbrake reading like?

User1998

In fairness you didn’t specifically say ‘Replace the handbreak cable’. You basically gave them your NCT fail sheet and told them to fix what needed doing. They probably dismissed your opinion on it because your not a qualified mechanic (rightly or wrongly)

I recently had a mechanic adjust handbreak cables on a car. He said it was only holding on one side and it will fail the NCT, but its holding a lot better than before adjusting them

As he suggested, It failed, and another mechanic replaced the rear discs and pads it passed, no cables needed. So it seems like a tricky one to diagnose correctly.

Look on the bright side, you have new discs and pads. Its not as if he changed something stupid that would never needed replacing

NCC1701

Garage says there’s nothing wrong with the handbrake and that the discs and pads just needed to be bedded in. I did bring it to the NCT the day after he’d replaced the rear discs and pads to be honest. So he may have a point? He’s looking it over anyway but despite me being very reasonable and not pointing fingers, he was very defensive this morning and he was blaming the NCT guys. So I guess he’ll do a cursory check, say the car is fine and then I’ll bring it back to the NCT again on Friday to see if he’s right or if I’m back to square one.

CoBo55

NCC1701 wrote: »

Garage says there’s nothing wrong with the handbrake and that the discs and pads just needed to be bedded in. I did bring it to the NCT the day after he’d replaced the rear discs and pads to be honest. So he may have a point? He’s looking it over anyway but despite me being very reasonable and not pointing fingers, he was very defensive this morning and he was blaming the NCT guys. So I guess he’ll do a cursory check, say the car is fine and then I’ll bring it back to the NCT again on Friday to see if he’s right or if I’m back to square one.

How big is the imbalance? He does have a point in that the discs and pads need some bedding in, it shouldn't need too much as both the disc and pads are brand new. Did he pass any comment on the old versus new cables?

NCC1701

CoBo55 wrote: »

How big is the imbalance? He does have a point in that the discs and pads need some bedding in, it shouldn't need too much as both the disc and pads are brand new. Did he pass any comment on the old versus new cables?

The imbalance was 90%!!. Turned out I was right as when I went back to him, he had the handbrake cable that had been replaced two years ago removed and he said it had "stretched" and this created the imbalance. He replaced this cable and charged me €150 for work that should have been done in the first place when I told him I suspected it was the handbrake cable that was replaced two years ago. I was pissed at this as he'd previously charged me for replacing discs and pads on the rear that probably didn't need replacing at this stage. So to sum this guy up:
1. Paid him €1,300 for a major service incl timing belt/water pump, and discs and pads on the front prior to the NCT. I told him the front suspension always failed the NCT and I thought the handbrake was soft but he said "put it through the test anyway".

It failed the NCT on front wishbone and handbrake imbalance

2. Brought it back to him with the fail report and again said I suspected the handbrake cable which was replaced two years ago (a spurious one, not OEM). He replaced the front wishbone but put new discs and pads on the back instead of looking at the handbrake. Cost €450

Failed the NCT again on handbrake imbalance.

3. Brought it back to him again with second fail report and he was adamant it wasn't the handbrake. Left it with him for four hours only to return and for him to admit it was the cable that had been put in two years ago. Cost €150.

When I pointed out (politely) that this was work that I had brought to his attention at the first service and his failure to look at the suspension and handbrake had cost me €112 for the NCT and two retests, he said, "I don't want to see you back here again". I replied that I had paid him €1,900 for work to my car and had told him the likely (and as it turned out I was correct) problems with it, and that his attitude stank. I said I'd put it through the NCT again and if it failed, I'd see him in the small claims court. So I smiled and left him and his grumpy mechanic and went off to await my new retest.

The car passed this time with the new cable, as the imbalance was down to 13%. The "sideslip" test was at the limit of +14 though and so the tracking will have to be looked at now.