Car not fixed, would you pay?

[MadHouseUpNorth]

Put the car into the garage several weeks ago. It’s an old car so agreed that if it’s going to be an expensive job they won’t do it and we’ll just scrap it. Mechanic insisted that they would be able to do it and it’s worth to do so. Took multiple attempts, there was one thing after another, someone has gone off sick, they waited for a part or someone to come and look at the electrics. Finally last week they admitted that they don’t know what is wrong with the car and won’t be able to fix it... I’m thinking that you don’t pay for a service that not only leaves you out of pocket but also without a car. What would you do?

Why did they service a car that had repairs that are that uneconomical?
Or were they just trying to diagnose the problem and see if they can fix it?

I run garage and we wouldn't carry out a service on a car in this condition, we may try and fix it but if it was clear it couldn't be fixed we wouldn't charge you. To he fair depending on the age of the car and the potential fault we may not try and recommend scrapping.

Please don't be put off some of us are decent and honest.

We’ve used the garage before and never had any issues.
I can only assume that they started work on it assuming that it can be fixed. There’s been new parts put in the car from what we’ve been told, which only adds to the headache.
I don’t mind scraping the car but certainly wouldn’t want to pay for this ‘service’ as well. But where do we stand with that?

I work in the industry. Why did you take the car in originally? Was it having an annual service or was there a problem with it?

I think you should be prepared to pay for a 'look see' kind of thing but nothing beyond that.

It’s a diesel car and the particulate filter kept clogging up. I would be happy to pay for the initial look but the fact that it’s taken them nearly 3 months to come to this conclusion is terrifying. I’m potentially facing a hefty bill and no car...

I'm surprised they kept trying this long, that said mind if we have hard jobs in our customers are also on the phone very regular so we have never done that much work on a car without constant contact with the customer to liaise with. In fact we have had customers fall of the radar for a while but in these circumstances we won't touch the car without their consent especially if it a potentially expensive job.

I think you need a calm and frank discussion with them, tell them what you told us and see what they suggested, they may surprise you and take the hit on the costs, sometimes it's worth doing this for customers. If not then you may need to agree with some degree of payment depending on exactly what was done, it may have been a reasonable attempt to repair.
Keep a cool head op, hope you get it resolved.