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Long story short, i was involved in Non Fault Accident few weeks back and car is currently getting repaired. Got email yesterday claiming car is all fixed just needs cleaning then i can collect.
Got call today claiming that my car has a puncture on opposite side to damage and cheapest option is £58 which i will have to pay.
They have had my car since 10th November and i have spoken to them twice over phone etc and never have they mentioned a flat tyre, in fact they mentioned how great tracking/alignment was but never anything about tyre.
They claim that it is a slow puncture caused by a nail/screw.Surely this should have been noticed before ? If its a slow puncture that they have missed for 2 weeks why the sudden change just before i collect it ?
I dont want to have to pay out for a tyre unless i really have too ?
Do you think i should pay for tyre ?
My car was hit from behind and then driver side and pushed 5 metres or so sideways, How would they know that the puncture wasn't caused by this ? I will be contacting insureance company about this when i get home from work just wanted people's opinions.
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
Maybe they never noticed it before because it was never a part of the car that they were required to concentrate on because as you say the damage was elsewhere.
Perhaps they only noticed it today when they were cleaning the car for you.
What would have been the difference had they noticed it before? - it would have still needed fixing. If it was casued by a nail/screw embedded in the tyre then I think it is unlikely that it was as a result of the accident. Speak to the insurers though and see what they say (they may have already agreed the price for the repair with the garage)
You can take delivery of the car without having the puncture fixed I suppose, but quite why you would want to drive around knowing you had a slow puncture I have no idea.
Sorry maybe i wasnt clear they have admitted to driving the car around in and out of the workshop etc so surely they would have noticed if it had been flat before ?
My query is that just before i pick up the car they claim i need to pay money to have a tyre fixed that has never been mentioned before.
I feel that the flat tyre may have been caused by them so feel they should pay for the repair ?
The fact that they have rung me and asked me for payment makes me think they expect me to pay for it and it isn't included in insurance claim etc.
I think they are trying to pull a fast one and get a bit of extra money ? £58 for a tyre sound pricey to me ? and thats the cheapest !
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
Sorry maybe i wasnt clear they have admitted to driving the car around in and out of the workshop etc so surely they would have noticed if it had been flat before ?
My query is that just before i pick up the car they claim i need to pay money to have a tyre fixed that has never been mentioned before.
I feel that the flat tyre may have been caused by them so feel they should pay for the repair ?
The fact that they have rung me and asked me for payment makes me think they expect me to pay for it and it isn't included in insurance claim etc.
I think they are trying to pull a fast one and get a bit of extra money ? £58 for a tyre sound pricey to me ? and thats the cheapest !
Ah - I see.
If they've been driving it around their premises then that could be different. Where is a random discarded screw likely to be............on a workshop floor!
The repair bill depends on where the damage to the tyye is. i had a screw puncture my tyre near to the sidewall a few years ago and the whole tyre had to be replaced
I would at the very least challenge them about how the puncture may have been caused. If they refuse point blank I can't really see what you can do because proving the cause is going to be near impossible. Maybe worth a 50/50 split by both sides, in acknowledgement that neither party can prove otherwise?
Sorry maybe i wasn't clear they have admitted to driving the car around in and out of the workshop etc so surely they would have noticed if it had been flat before ?
My query is that just before i pick up the car they claim i need to pay money to have a tyre fixed that has never been mentioned before.
I feel that the flat tyre may have been caused by them so feel they should pay for the repair ?
The fact that they have rung me and asked me for payment makes me think they expect me to pay for it and it isn't included in insurance claim etc.
I think they are trying to pull a fast one and get a bit of extra money ? £58 for a tyre sound pricey to me ? and thats the cheapest !
Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear. A puncture is a puncture, it's just one of those things, you can't blame the garage and you'll probably never prove when or what caused it. I can't see the garage pulling a fast one for £58.................
I've just paid £520 for 4 Tyres, so your £58 is dead cheap! If it's £58 that means a new tyre, so the puncture will be close to or on the sidewall. Most tyre companies can't or won't try and fix it they will only sell you a new tyre.
For a cheaper, permanent & safe fix, you could try finding someone local who will do a vulcanised repair, £15-£20, so on a tyre worth £58 this might prove to be false economy, depends on the tread depth.
It's unfair to always balme the garage & probably, No way, was it caused by the accident, just bad luck.
I am not blaming the garage as of yet but they aren't helping their case to be honest. They have not informed my insurance of the puncture and there is no record of it until today !
I have asked how much the car has been used to which they have not answered, I took a photo of odometer before it went in so if there any more than say 1 mile on there then as far as im concerned they caused the puncture.
Is it possible to completely check a car and not notice a slow puncture at all until the day u finish working on it ? so a garage wouldn't notice a completely flat tyre !
How can the garage confirm both before and after repair work that there is no damage to wheel tracking/alignment or suspension on all 4 tyres when one would have needed to be flat as it was checked yesterday when they confirmed everything was fine then they turn up to work today and "notice" that i had a slow puncture and that the tyre is completly flat.
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
There is no usual requirement for the garage to inform the insurance company of a puncture, unless it forms part of the claim, not likely in your case.
Why would you take a picture of the odometer before it went in. I can say this is not an action I would expect from your usual run of the mill customer.
As i was advised by my insurance to prove miles i had done as it was a fairly new car.
I have been given a hire car and as per terms and conditions of the hire agreement, If i damage or puncture a tyre i am liable for repair, Same as if a chip/crack in windscreen occurs during the time i have the car i am liable for repairs as the car is in my possession.
If the car had a puncture when they received it then fine but as there are no notes at all regarding this then i find it quite possible that the puncture has occured while the car is in their possession and that they should be liable.
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
I expect when you took delivery of the hire car you signed the hire agreement to say you would be liable for loss or damage in certain circumstances.
If, and it's a big if as lot's of garages don't make you sign the work order, you signed the work order for the insurance repair, you probably, should have anyway, signed a disclaimer to say the garage are not liable for any loss or damage caused whilst in their care, unless you could prove their negligence.
It would be nigh on impossible for you to prove negligence on the garages part for a puncture unless it was willful damage in which case, that would be criminal damage and an entirely different matter.
Why would you take a picture of the odometer before it went in. I can say this is not an action I would expect from your usual run of the mill customer.
Why not? I note mileage when ever any car goes for repair be it bodywork or engine work. IF the dreaded happens like a few people i know 1 the garage wrote the car off by hitting a brick wall the other was a car wash decided to take the car for a drive and hit a lamp post. There is also the issue of parking tickets/ speeding fines. All options for when the car isn't in my hands. The only good thing now is my latest car is fitted with a tracking system that if requested i can set the speed sensor so if the car goes over a set speed it informs me.
Back to the issue tho. If its a slow puncture get them to blow it back up and monitor it yourself. If in 2 weeks time its soft get the tyre replaced.
I expect when you took delivery of the hire car you signed the hire agreement to say you would be liable for loss or damage in certain circumstances.That i did.
If, and it's a big if as lot's of garages don't make you sign the work order, you signed the work order for the insurance repair, you probably, should have anyway, signed a disclaimer to say the garage are not liable for any loss or damage caused whilst in their care, unless you could prove their negligence.
Repair is being deault with through helphire only thing i have signed is for hire car and that i am liable for any damage during its time with me. I have not signed anything in relation to the garage.
It would be nigh on impossible for you to prove negligence on the garages part for a puncture unless it was willful damage in which case, that would be criminal damage and an entirely different matter.
Surely over the last 2.5 weeks someone would have noticed a flat tyre, it is not noted in THERE reports until yesterday, it has not been informed to my insureance company or to me despite regular contact over the 2.5 weeks. If they had mentioned at begining then fine but informing me just before collection makes me doubt the fact that it occured before they had the car.
Hammy
I have responded to your comments in blue.
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
Why not? I note mileage when ever any car goes for repair be it bodywork or engine work. IF the dreaded happens like a few people i know 1 the garage wrote the car off by hitting a brick wall the other was a car wash decided to take the car for a drive and hit a lamp post. There is also the issue of parking tickets/ speeding fines. All options for when the car isn't in my hands. The only good thing now is my latest car is fitted with a tracking system that if requested i can set the speed sensor so if the car goes over a set speed it informs me.
Back to the issue tho. If its a slow puncture get them to blow it back up and monitor it yourself. If in 2 weeks time its soft get the tyre replaced.
They claim to have blown it up on tuesday night before they left and it was flat the following morning which again makes me doubt it as the have had the car since 10th November and have had various tests carried out on it as well as changing both driver side doors and a rear wing.
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
I think, maybe, the customer base of the organisations which i am involved in are a bit more trusting of their garage friends.
Hammy
Another reason for the milage reading was i have known garages to give out cars in for cosmetic repairs out as courtesy car to other people. !
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
I don't find it unbelievable. A few years ago we dropped a Rolls Royce into a paintshop to have some repairs done, and you can imagine my reaction when I pulled into a filling station in town at about 11pm and there was the Roller with a mechanic and his girlfriend sitting in it.
I would tend to agree the problem probably occured in their care but how do you prove it! If it is just a nail or screw in the tread it can be repaired. If in the wall then not. Have you got any info. and have you found out what sort of mileage has it done while they had it. the more they have done the more likely down to them.
The bodyshop are repairing the tyre and i will collect tomoz or saturday.
In total they did 4.5 miles. which was 2 miles to another shop to have alignment and wheels checked and 2 miles back and .5 was it being driven in and out of workshop.
My gripe was that i knew the car had been driven to have wheels checked so i knew it could have occured then. Also the fact that there has been no mention of it until now made be think it happened while they had it.
Nothing in engineers report either.
As i said it has now been sorted and the wheel is being repaired so i take it that it isn't in tyre wall. Also if it could be repaired why was i originally told that it had to be a new tyre.
Anyways thanks for all the help guys and thanks to Hammy1962 for his one sided comments, its always handy getting 2 sides to every story.
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
As they drove the car when they first received it they can't claim it was there when they got it can they !
Engineers report was carried out the next day and it's not mentioned in that so as far as im concerned it was fine. They have agreed to pay for it to be fixed so it clearly didn't need a new tyre as they originally stated.
end of the day im happy to get my car back and if they had just corrected the problem which they "may" have caused then the hire car would have been back today and not tomoz so would have "saved" hire car costs
If any of my posts are helpful, please feel free to click my scales. All information is given as my opinion only, based on my own personal Experiences/Mistakes lol...
Who's liable ?
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Originally Posted by majik
Why not? I note mileage when ever any car goes for repair be it bodywork or engine work. IF the dreaded happens like a few people i know 1 the garage wrote the car off by hitting a brick wall the other was a car wash decided to take the car for a drive and hit a lamp post. There is also the issue of parking tickets/ speeding fines. All options for when the car isn't in my hands. 
The only good thing now is my latest car is fitted with a tracking system that if requested i can set the speed sensor so if the car goes over a set speed it informs me. 
