To ask what the fairest thing to do in this situation?

[StarOf]

Long story short, I’m looking for options please as to what you think.

Sisters car broke down. Garage said she needs a replacement xyz (can’t remember the ins and outs so abc & xyz is used) it will £1050. Sister agrees.

They call back and says it still won’t start so now needs another part repaired abc £400. Sis asks if that’s everything and the person says yes that’s it. Sister agrees thinking that’s it and its cheaper than a new car.

Mechanic has phoned her saying that abc can’t actually be repaired. It can’t be replaced either as her car is no longer made (2009 reg with 69k miles on clock)

It’s basically a write off so she’ll need to by a new car.

Where the heck does she stand regarding this payment? They did replace and fix the first part for over a grand but the car isn’t drivable or sellable so worthless.

She’s hardly got any money - probably wouldn’t pass the finance check so not sure what she’ll do.

Surely she can’t be expected to pay over a thousand on a car that is going to be scraped…… WTH would you do?

@missmollygreen spot on. No mechanic would leave a customer £1000 in the hole with a car they are saying is useless, but we've learned now its the main dealer, so not a mechanic at all. Just a technician with no interest whatsoever in fixing a car of that age. Any decent mechanic will see to it or link you up with the right expert.
All the OP needs to do is speak to the Service Manager or Dealer Principal, complain loudly about the situation and sort it out. Hopefully they can put the car back to how it was when she drove it in and charge a diagnostic fee for their time. It's probably a rare thing to happen but dealers will have insurance for things like this so they wont end up out of pocket for any part they've fitted but need to remove.

If it's a main dealer perhaps they will only use genuine branded parts and that is why the part is obsolete. A local mechanic will be able to source generic or second hand parts. Perhaps the dealership could give full details and your sister could see if a mobile mechanic could visit and repair it so that there is no need to pay for recovery.

Umm... that's her problem.

Main dealer for an 09 car is absolutely the wrong thing to do. They're guaranteed to be more expensive and they're likely tied to OEM parts. With any secondhand car you need to find a good independent garage.

Would be interesting to hear the outcome on this one. See how the main dealer managed to sort it all out.