Whao, I've learnt a lot. Thank you all for your contribution, i finally picked up my car yesterday, £3000 lighter. On reflection, I honestly couldn't think how i would have prevented this mishap than to always get 2nd or 3rd opinion, which is not only time consuming more costly as everyone will charge for diagnosis. Re: Gesture of Goodwill : SEAT offered 20% which the dealer still aren't sure how they will work it out, apparently it's not simple arithmetic. So, still waiting for a refund. I guess, that's me changing cars every 3 years or going to the workshop to learn about engines. Once again, thank you.

Thanks for all the replies. Interesting reads. SEAT UK has come back with a gesture of goodwill,based on car being bought as ex demo from main dealer and serviced by SEAT , waiting for updates from the garage. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks.

Thanks for the reply. I honestly won't have the time to go through courts etc...... I have no doubts about what you are saying, just sounds ridiculous that a quote started from £70, escalated to £500+ then £1700+ for the same job. Surely a competent technician must have sensed the complexity of the job before commencing. IMHO.

My concern is the fact that there has been a sudden hike in cost. I would have preferred to have a choice and not just be landed with a quote triple the origin amount quoted. Also, having driven the car in why all of a sudden has the gearbox now being damaged? My preference would have been to get a second opinion or at least be able to shop around for the best deal not to be lumbered with the dealers options.

Seat Alhambra Ecomotive TDI 2011 : 70000 miles on the clock. Bought from SEAT dealer @ 6000 miles in 2012 as first owner post reg, been serviced by SEAT approved dealer ever since. Apologies in advance for the lengthy message : Booked the car into an approved SEAT dealership garage on the 30th of June 2016, for a diagnostic check, due to the Engine light being on. £108 charged for diagnostics. Same day got a call back, diagnosed with AdBlue system overheating, will need replacement costing in excess of £500 but cannot guarantee it’ll fix the problem, however, they cannot know for sure until this preliminary job is done. In addition to that, they found some other problems, one of which was a gear oil leak and will require a seal, circa, £70. I agreed for the job to be carried out. A week later, the garage called to say, upon careful inspection, they cannot just do the seal without removing the gearbox, but will require 8 hours labour to do, as the leak is on the inside, hence the £70 charge will now be £500+ to seal the oil leak. Yet again, a disclaimer, we cannot guarantee that the problem will be fixed. After a few phone conversations and the Customer adviser giving a 95% confidence guarantee on resolution of the leak, I agreed to the extra £500 job be carried out with a total bill of £1300. Week 2: day 1, I received a phone call, that whilst my car was in their garage, a can of Dr Pepper drink exploded causing a lot of stain in the car. The car will require valeting at a cost of £100. Am I willing for them to proceed? I thought it was a joke, but I politely told them, neither my wife nor myself drinks Dr Pepper , hence the can being in the car is mystery, also, the car being in their care, they should fully valet my car removing all stains at their expense not mine. They refused but promised to clean it as much as they could. Week 2: Day 3; another call followed by an email arrived. Email attached below *****************Start of email from Customer adviser *********************** Upon removing your vehicles gearbox, the technician has discovered a hole in the casing. The technician believes the hole in the casing has been caused by a component of the clutch coming away and creating the hole. This has subsequently drained the gearbox of the gearbox oil. This leaves two options. 1. We can rebuild your gearbox, replacing the damage casing and the bearings that are potentially damaged from the oil starvation. This would also require a replacement clutch as part of the repair. This option will extend repair time due to parts sourcing, which could take as much as a few weeks. Total Cost £1714.15 (This is in addition to the £586.19 already quoted) 2. We can replace your gearbox. This would be a complete replacement, which is shipped as one unit, and will be a straight swap of the old one; also with a replacement clutch. This part would be easier to source and should be available under normal ordering times. Total Cost £3671.85 (This is in addition to the £586.19 already quoted) Let me know how you wish to proceed. Both repairs are very extensive and will take a 2-3 days to complete successfully. ***********************End of Email *************************************** I replied telling them to put the gearbox back, as I didn’t come complaining of gearbox problem, only to be told, they cannot put it back, I will have to recover the vehicle out of their garage on a tow truck if I refuse either of the two options presented, but I will still pay £1300 charged, including the original quote of £586.19 to seal the leak. I’ve tried to reason with them, that addition £1714 is not a reasonable price as an addition, but I feel like I am being held to ransom to pay a total bill of £2900, when the original problem for a car driven to the garage had nothing to do with gearbox but engine light which may have been fixed. Please where do I stand on this, as having a dialogue with this main dealer garage has hit a brick wall. I have even contacted SEAT, as I do not expect a family car bought fairly new and serviced by their so called approved technicians should be requiring a gearbox rebuild after 5 years or 70K of use. Any advice of getting my car back in one piece and not paying £2900 will be highly appreciated. Thank you

Seat Alhambra Ecomotive TDI 2011 : 70000 miles on the clock. Bought from SEAT dealer @ 6000 miles in 2012 as first owner post reg, been serviced by SEAT approved dealer ever since. Apologies in advance for the lengthy message : Booked the car into an approved SEAT dealership garage on the 30th of June 2016, for a diagnostic check, due to the Engine light being on. £108 charged for diagnostics. Same day got a call back, diagnosed with AdBlue system overheating, will need replacement costing in excess of £500 but cannot guarantee it’ll fix the problem, however, they cannot know for sure until this preliminary job is done. In addition to that, they found some other problems, one of which was a gear oil leak and will require a seal, circa, £70. I agreed for the job to be carried out. A week later, the garage called to say, upon careful inspection, they cannot just do the seal without removing the gearbox, but will require 8 hours labour to do, as the leak is on the inside, hence the £70 charge will now be £500+ to seal the oil leak. Yet again, a disclaimer, we cannot guarantee that the problem will be fixed. After a few phone conversations and the Customer adviser giving a 95% confidence guarantee on resolution of the leak, I agreed to the extra £500 job be carried out with a total bill of £1300. Week 2: day 1, I received a phone call, that whilst my car was in their garage, a can of Dr Pepper drink exploded causing a lot of stain in the car. The car will require valeting at a cost of £100. Am I willing for them to proceed? I thought it was a joke, but I politely told them, neither my wife nor myself drinks Dr Pepper , hence the can being in the car is mystery, also, the car being in their care, they should fully valet my car removing all stains at their expense not mine. They refused but promised to clean it as much as they could. Week 2: Day 3; another call followed by an email arrived. Email attached below *****************Start of email from Customer adviser *********************** Upon removing your vehicles gearbox, the technician has discovered a hole in the casing. The technician believes the hole in the casing has been caused by a component of the clutch coming away and creating the hole. This has subsequently drained the gearbox of the gearbox oil. This leaves two options. 1. We can rebuild your gearbox, replacing the damage casing and the bearings that are potentially damaged from the oil starvation. This would also require a replacement clutch as part of the repair. This option will extend repair time due to parts sourcing, which could take as much as a few weeks. Total Cost £1714.15 (This is in addition to the £586.19 already quoted) 2. We can replace your gearbox. This would be a complete replacement, which is shipped as one unit, and will be a straight swap of the old one; also with a replacement clutch. This part would be easier to source and should be available under normal ordering times. Total Cost £3671.85 (This is in addition to the £586.19 already quoted) Let me know how you wish to proceed. Both repairs are very extensive and will take a 2-3 days to complete successfully. ***********************End of Email ************************* ************** I replied telling them to put the gearbox back, as I didn’t come complaining of gearbox problem, only to be told, they cannot put it back, I will have to recover the vehicle out of their garage on a tow truck if I refuse either of the two options presented, but I will still pay £1300 charged, including the original quote of £586.19 to seal the leak. I’ve tried to reason with them, that addition £1714 is not a reasonable price as an addition, but I feel like I am being held to ransom to pay a total bill of £2900, when the original problem for a car driven to the garage had nothing to do with gearbox but engine light which may have been fixed. Please where do I stand on this, as having a dialogue with this main dealer garage has hit a brick wall. I have even contacted SEAT, as I do not expect a family car bought fairly new and serviced by their so called approved technicians should be requiring a gearbox rebuild after 5 years or 70K of use. Any advice of getting my car back in one piece and not paying £2900 will be highly appreciated. Thank you