Car repair advice

[studio150]

It also happened to me, a young kid hit my car when it was parked, fair play he came and knocked my door and told me, the repair works were quoted at £400 (this was 20 years ago) I thanked him for being honest at the same time said he told me he had no insurance, i told him he was silly driving without insurance, anyway I told him that as long as he went and got insurance, for his sake and everyone else's, I would pay for the repairs and he could pay me back on a weekly basis, which he did, everyone ended up happy!

No worries about posting, its hardly football related

So you were happy to assist a criminal not sure that many would be as generous. How did you ensure he had insurance continually after this incident or where yoy again very trusting

 

[AmexRuislip]

Good evening Sages of NSC,

Some advice would be appreciated.

A couple of weeks ago, my car skidded on the ice at my work car park and damaged the door of the car in the next door space. Being a good citizen, I left my details on the windscreen etc. Once the owner of the car had been in contact, obviously I told them that I would pay to make things right. I arranged for a company to come out to the site and provide a quote for the repair work. Once the quote was received, I discussed with the owner of the other car and booked the appointment, which was for Saturday just gone.

To cut a long story short, the company made a total hash of the repair - not completing the work specified on the written quote, causing some additional damage which wasn't there previously and leaving the interior covered in dust and other debris. I've been in touch with the company and quite rightly they've offered to take the car back and put everything right. However, the owner of the car is not prepared for the same company to work on his car again, given what has happened, and would prefer to find another body shop to do the work.

I was always under the impression that in a situation like this that you needed to make a complaint and then give the company a chance to rectify their mistakes. What I do not want to be left with is a bill for the original company and then a further cost for someone else to do the original work properly, plus fix the additItional damage done.

Best way to proceed?

Cheers,

BF

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...vice-from-a-car-repairs-garage-what-can-i-do-

 

[hitony]

So you were happy to assist a criminal not sure that many would be as generous. How did you ensure he had insurance continually after this incident or where yoy again very trusting

Sometimes, one good turn (he had the decency to knock my door and admit to hitting my car) deserves another (I gave the kid (he was nearly 18) a second chance in life, even the courts do that from what I understand) I have not got a clue what you mean, regarding being generous, in my post above I did not, for the sake of being laborious, give every minor detail regarding the situation, I outlined it, he actually became quite a good friend to me my wife and my 3 kids (two of which were only a couple / few years younger than he was at the time) he came around our house every Friday after he had finished work and been paid, and gave me £10 (yes it took 40 weeks to pay me back and I didn't charge him any interest!)

I saw his insurance document, he showed me it, I have not seen the kid (who would now be about 38) for some 15 years, as we moved away, further west in Wales, but I have kept in touch via facebook with a couple of old friends from the same town (Cwmbran near Newport) and one girl (she is now 51) knows him, and has told me he is happily married with 2 kids of his own, he is still with the same company and has worked his way up to a manager status of some sort.

I would love to think that my small act of kindness and few words of wisdom, helped him on his way in life, lets hope so anyway, but rest assured I am confident this potential criminal will not be robbing your house or driving into your car with no insurance.

As a matter of interest, what age bracket are you in (i'm 61 by the way) and have you NEVER done anything illegal? however big or small it may be.............as I know, as sure as Pigs cant fly........I bloody well have!!!

 

[Triggaaar]

Looking at it from the point of view of the owner of the damaged car I can't say I'd be keen to have the same firm have another go at my car - they sound like a right bunch of cowboys.

Indeed.

I can understand why you don't want to end up paying twice for a repair but if the other driver simply passes it to their insurance company I don't know what you can do - after all you have admitted liability.

Although he has admitted liability, the owner has agreed to a course of remedy. They don't necessarily have the right to just pass it to their insurance company to deal with.

The Garage has every right to put right what they did wrong, it seems they are prepared to do this, so the car owner should let them, i understand his frustrations, but they have every right to correct any issues they are responsible for.

From a legal point of view, I don't believe they have that right. They agreed to do something and failed to do it properly. The owner has lost trust in them and it is understandable if he doesn't want them to have another go. I've had a similar experience.

What Brian should really have done is agreed to pay the amount the cost of the work would be, and that would be that, he would not be involved in the repair. Now the solution is not so easy - what it the he persuades the owner to use the company again, and they mess it up again?

I would get as much as possible in writing from the company that messed up the original job. If they're normally a decent company (check reviews) I'd try and persuade the owner to let the company have another go. If they're not, I'd consider getting another quote and then claiming against the company that bodged it (after I had their mistakes and apology in writing).

 

[surlyseagull]

He should have told his insurance of any accidents that occur regardless of fault ,so I would think he would be very reluctant to tell them now .
The balls are clearly in your court now old chap .

 

[Springal]

It's a tricky one, but I'd stay strong and suggest letting the repair firm rectify the mistakes. I'd also be going mental at the repair firm and looking to get some costs taken off it.

He can't really go to insurance now, and neither can you so ball is in your court. However could potentially get a bit nasty but he does not have much choice the way I see it

 

[Swillis]

It's a tricky one, but I'd stay strong and suggest letting the repair firm rectify the mistakes. I'd also be going mental at the repair firm and looking to get some costs taken off it.

He can't really go to insurance now, and neither can you so ball is in your court. However could potentially get a bit nasty but he does not have much choice the way I see it

The owner of the car has all the choice. He does not have to let the garage rectify their mistake, he is not the consumer, the OP is. If his insurance company will no longer get involved then what I would do is pay to have the repair done myself and bill the OP, small claims if need be.
The OP wanted it not to go through insurance and engaged a garage whom screwed up the repair. The car owner has no obligation to let it go back there.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Update: I have now had a chance to inspect the work that has been done on the car. The original damage that I caused has actually been rectified - neither myself nor an independent person could see any evidence that the car either been damanged or repaired.

The only bit of visible damage is that the plastic runner at the bottom of the car door is peeling off ever-so-slightly in the corner, so just needs to be stuck back on properly with some adhesive I'd guess. Either way, I have taken a number of photos to compare with the original one I took when the damage was first done.

I've just raised this all with the owner of the car, and the response was that there was still a scrape and a dent in the door of the car. But neither myself nor the independent person I took outside with me to inspect the car could see it.

 

[L'hampton Eagle]

Why was his insurance invalid due to no vehicle tax?

Was years ago and his tax was out of date by several months so he shouldn't have been on the road, or at least that's what plod in Scotland said at the time.