To cry with frustration because of the car repairs??!!

[NickD87]

my car failed it’s MOT last Tuesday (6th June). I took it to my usual place. They are nice, just do MOTs and it hasn’t failed there before.

They suggested I take it to the garage next door which is owned by the same person.
The repair garage called and said they’d fit it in Friday. They never got back to me - so I called Monday and they said they’d be delayed but it was ‘coming in’ Tuesday and I could pick it up after it’s retest at the end of that day….

No call by mid afternoon so I called again. They said there was a delay and they were starting on Wednesday and it’d be ready Thursday. I made it very clear I NEEDED the car at this point. I have work things I need it for and we have a wedding to drive down to on Friday. He assured me it would be sorted.

This morning, I called to check it would be ok to pick up at some point today. They haven’t even started it!!!

I told them I was really disappointed in this, that I need the car. They said they’d “do their very best”…not good enough!! It’s been sitting there for 9 days with nobody touching it.

When it first went over they gave me the quote and the original time frame and asked if I wanted them to do it. I would have gone somewhere else in a heartbeat if I’d have known they wouldn’t stick closely to that.

I don’t know what to do and literally just cried after my last call with them….

Just to add, the MOT people suggested a service to pick up on anything it might fail on beforehand….so surprised it still failed.

All in all with service, MOT and these repairs I am looking at around £900. I’m now on the very brink of it being past the free retest period of 10 days….which might have something to do with it.

Whats my next move?

My husband doesn’t drive, so I deal with all this, but he says he is going to kick off at them this afternoon. I just don’t want to get shirty with them while they have my car…

I should add - all included I’m looking at a bill of around £800 for this…which adds insult to injury.

Have they started the work? If not I would be inclined to collect the car and take it elsewhere. You're going to have to make other plans for Friday.

Ask for a courtesy car for your event

It's not a Vauxhall garage is it? I had the same years ago it's was so damn frustrating. I think you both have got to go down there and try to sort it out. There's not a lot else you can do other than try to find another garage who can fit you in.

No, it’s a small local one! I don’t think they even do courtesy cars.

If you can afford £800 on car repairs you can probably afford to hire a small car for the weekend. Problem solved.

Oh wow. There's a big difference between having to manage to spend £800 on repairs so you have a vehicle and spending money on a hire car you shouldn't even have to get

Shittest reply of the day goes to @jgjgjgjgjg

So they serviced the car before the MOT was done?

What did it fail on?

I had a clutch issue at the start of June and I've had a hire car for a week because today is the earliest I could get it repaired. I phoned about 10 garages from my usual local to kwik fit to a dealer and others. Unfortunately I wouldn't presume you can just take it elsewhere. I agree a hire car is your best option.

Perhaps she can't afford £800 on car repairs and it's being put on a credit card.

She shouldn't have to waste money hiring a car anyway.

What did it fail on? There is a shortage of parts at the minute - our car was in the garage for almost 4 months, it only needed a 5 days worth of repair but sourcing the parts was a nightmare! It was literally just sat there until the parts where delivered

It’s was sorted via insurance (accident) though so we had a courtesy car.

Hi,

what did it fail on?

if you want to PM me the certificate I can ask here at work now what it would take to fix and how much it’ll be. I work in a garage and can quote on it myself. I know it’s not much help but will give some perspective; and I can better advise on the next steps - eg if you can take it elsewhere.

I can confirm parts are an issue at the moment. I’ve been waiting months for an actuator, and unfortunately we still haven’t got a date for it. For an MOT fail though I wouldn’t have thought the parts would be that difficult to get hold of unless it’s a particularly unusual car or if you’ve requested genuine parts.

Also sorry @NickD87 you’ve got until Monday for the 10 days. It’s 10 working days x

I would be very cross and phoning them now, for an update.

This is pretty shitty.
We’ve had to plan this cost in and it’s in a separate account waiting. I don’t get paid until the end of the month and my husband who is freelance is waiting for invoices to drop….hiring a car for the weekend would cost £200 plus petrol. We’ve looked into it….it’s not a solution.

This is awful, OP. Have they given any kind of explanation for why they haven't even started?

It also makes me very grateful for my garage, who lend you a car and never mess people about.

Thank you @Anon564354 - I didn’t know that so that’s really helpful :) x

@Anon564354 - they have the parts. It’s something to do with the suspension. Apparently my car is ‘fiddly’ so it’s also 5 hours labour….
I’ll definitely be going elsewhere next time.

@Anon564354 its the rear suspension bushes that need replacing on a Mini Cooper S

It is how it is at the moment I am afraid. My car wouldn’t start yesterday and I had to get AA out, we arranged for it to go to a local garage but they will not even be able to give me an ETA until next week. I believe the AA guy when he said that waits of two or three weeks are pretty common at the moment.

Not really a solution but, to anyone struggling to afford car repairs National Tyres and Autocare do a no interest payment plan that's spread over 4 weeks with no credit check.
www.national.co.uk/information/payment-assist

I would ask about a courtesy car OP. Some of the very small local garages locally have a courtesy car to lend out. I’d also be asking if they’ll knock off the cost of train tickets and taxi fare from the bill, as they haven’t done what they said they would.

*4 months