Water pump failed on my car in Jan this year,

took the head gasket with it,

both replaced by local garage who i have used for years.

Picked car up, filled with petrol, car took 3 attempts to start and EML illuminated.

Returned to garage who so far to this date have replaced cam shaft sensor, crankshaft sensor and vtv valves and pullies.

Car was still not starting first time but once started did run but EML still showing up.

Next advice given was to replace a sensor in the gearbox, (this was done without my permission) when i last rang the garage 3 weeks ago i was told the EML had cleared but now the car wont start.

So, i need to get this situation sorted.

What are my rights, im not happy to take back or pay for a car that is now in a worse state then when i started so if the car cant be fixed i want to just be able to buy a cheap run around?

It would help immensely if OP's stated what car and mileage!! From your description it could be a lawn mower.

It would help immensely if OP's stated what car and mileage!! From your description it could be a lawn mower.

No need for that is there really, i would hardly take my lawn mower to a garage!

The car is a vauxhall astra on a 10 plate with 67k on the clock.

It would help immensely if OP's stated what car and mileage!! From your description it could be a lawn mower.

I think most people would understand that it wasn't a lawnmower. I'm not sure that there are many lawnmowers which have water pumps and engine management lights - and that's without mentioning the fact that the OP very clearly in eight different places describes it as a "car".

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So far as the car goes, I don't know what the value of the vehicle is but I suppose that you are asking what your rights might be against the garage if they have done their job properly ascertaining the fault and then repairing it without wasting your money on other haphazard attempts to replace bits and pieces.

Is this a Vauxhall garage or is it simply some local garage which handles any kind of vehicle?

I'm afraid that it is probably going to be difficult because I expect that you would need an independent assessment of the likely cause of the problem – and how reasonable it was for your local garage to do the work which they did.If you had an independent expert opinion which said that the fault was easily identifiable and any reasonable garage should have had no problem, and that the work which was carried out was a waste of time, then I think you might have problems making any kind of claim. When you are dealing with small local garages then unless they are very decent and customer-facing, and concerned about the quality of the work that they do, then you are generally left in a position where you have to start talking about court claims. Although many small garages might prefer to put their hands up and pay you out, if they were a bit feisty about it they could get you in front of the judge and the decision might be a difficult one for the judge to make.

I think we need to know how much you have spent so far – but more importantly what is really wrong with the vehicle. You might want to wait all of this up against the cost of a new vehicle. The value of your existing Vauxhall Astra?

Thank you for your intelligent response .

The car is on hpi due to bad credit (idiot ex partner) and still have 3.5 years left to pay

hence I'm quite insistent on the car being repaired.

I was happy enough to pay for the work that the local independent garage had done (ive used him for years) as the car at least started (eventually) and ran but since they have take the gearbox out the car does not start!

Around £600 in parts alone so far and that is without adding in labour costs.

the garage dont seem to have a clue what is wrong with the car and seem to be pulling at strings now.

I cant afford to me £600+ out of pocket and still no car.

So can you just clarify please what exactly is it you are after. Please can you list out in a bullet pointed form – wasted work done – sum you want to be recovered.

You say the gearbox has been taken out – but presumably it is back in now?

I suppose you understand of course that this will be the end of your relationship with the garage.

I realise the thread is a few weeks old and the OP hasn't returned to update us, but a question I had was in relation to the reasonable skill and care the garage should have been expected by any reasonable person to have shown and whether or not they did that.

With the EML light illuminated I would have thought the first stage of investigation would have been to connect the car to a diagnostic scanner to ascertain what faults were present. With that information at hand I'd have expected a mechanic with skill and experience to have a reasonably good idea of what was wrong.

The OP doesn't mention whether this was done or not, and in my view their description of work done sounds more like parts have been thrown at the car in the hope it'd fix the issue rather than a considered diagnosis.

If it can be shown that a diagnostic scan wasn't performed (maybe the garage doesn't own the equipment, I understand it can be very expensive) then does that change or bolster the OP's position that reasonable skill and care wasn't provided and by extension does that improve their chances of recovering their money?

Yes a scan was done,

as far as I'm aware,

and it highlighted issues with the crankshaft and cam shaft sensor and the variable timing valves and pullies.

These were replaced but the error with the crankshaft sensor was still present.

I have repeatedly tried to get the owner of the garage to contact me to sort out the situation

i am having no luck,

so I'm left with no option but to get the car towed back home.

find it suspicious that after the cost of parts and labour they would not want paying and the car removing.

Ive given them enough time to 'not' fix my car.

sometimes they see a job as too much trouble. That applies to customers as well.

The car is back now, feel kinda bad as the tow man went to see the garage the day before and they were working on it and he had a quick chat with them. The owner has been away for 2 weeks so my messages have not been passed on and my mail has not been seen. Hopefully he will contact me when he returns so the situation can be resolved.