Thread: Towed to garage by RAC which has carried out botched work, car now fails MOT, RAC denies knowledge...

Hi Guys,

I'm posting on behalf of my cousin who over the last 3 months has been without his car, his family (wife & 2 children) have had to travel in his work van and when car returned it is in a worse state than before and has failed MOT. The car is a Renault Scenic RX4 diesel which is 4-5 years old, low miles, excellent condition.

Timeline;
June - Renault Scenic RX4 diesel breaks down, RAC called, either RAC don't have diagnostic equipment for this vehicle or they can't fix problem at roadside - will recover to suitable garage near home address.
- car left at a garage in Ealing.
- computer diagnostics done and garage quote max £300 to replace some fuel system part. Garage told ok to proceed.
- garage state they have replaced the part but car still not working and suggest something more serious wrong with engine and will need to dismantle to investigate.
July - garage states will investigate further. Then state major engine components need replacing and quote £1500.
- told cousin this is not good enough as original £300 quote was supposed to restore car to full working order. Suggest to cousin demand vehicle back and refund of initial £300 (even if they remove the part fitted) and go to Renault garage.
- garage sweet talk cousin they will reduce quote from £1500 to £700.
- cousin caves in and tells garage to do it.
- car collected from garage not sounding right. Driven off premises and engine cuts out 500 metres down the road and will not restart. Car returned to garage.
September - garage state they will look into it again at cousins cost.
NOT SURE OF NEXT EVENTS
October - work completed but total cost is £1200. However car now sounds worse than ever, with engine knocking and cousin 'afraid' to drive it. Also garage failed MOT on it but provided quote for £600 to repair the areas it failed on.

October - local trading standards contacted who suggested owner contacts their vehicle insurer as this situation may be covered.
Insurer contacted who states they will require; 1. proof the RAC recovered the vehicle to this garage. 2. A full vehicle condition report.
RAC contacted - they state no record of Breakdown call out or what was done or garage if vehicle was recovered to one.

To summarise;
The car worked fine, only previously suffering a broken fan belt which the RAC were called out to but couldn't fix at the roadside due to no parts.

Seems like the garage has taken his wallet for a ride and done sub-standard work which has made the vehicle a total loss and an MOT failure - or they are trying to extort more money from him.

The insurer is saying they can't do anything without confirmation that the RAC recovered the vehicle to that garage and it wasn't that the owner/driver of the vehicle drove it there himself. Which is reasonable.

The RAC are saying there are no records of this breakdown callout.

Cousin can show mobile bills listing call to RAC but has nothing further, no documents from the RAC breakdown person. I'm sure he didn't imagine a big RAC lorry and didn't push the car himself to that garage.


Can anyone advise where he goes from here?

Thanks,

Mark.

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Your cousin must have been given a copy of the rescue/Breakdown report to sign; they always do that and the end when they drop cars off? also you have to sign a condition report that records any body defects in case you claim for damage during transit?
Was it RAC themselves or a loacl sub-contractor rescue firm? they sometimes pass it on if very busy