Garage has stolen car parts

[MB&IB]

We had our Ford Corsa taken to a garage after it just stopped one evening. Initially the garage suggested the timing chain had snapped and damaged some (6) valves. They gave us a quote of about £700 which then went up weekly with different problems and parts required added to the list until finally it was over £2000 for a replacement engine .

 

We were concerned that we were being ripped off so we asked for a second opinion from what we know is a reliable garage although many miles away.

 

They came back and said they would do the work and source an engine for under this amount (about £350 cheaper, including towing 80 miles).

 

We told garage one that we were aranging for the car to be moved. We paid a nominal sum for investigation work to this point.

 

When the tow truck turned up at garage 1 the car was in bits and not ready to be moved. Eventually they got what they thought were all the parts (that were now in boxes) and moved the car. We did have to go back and get the gearbox 3 days later though.

 

Since then we have been told that the engine had been 'ripped' out of our car and that several bits are missing. Garage 2 are writing a technical report for us, but does anyone have any advice on how to proceed with action against garage 1 as obviously the costs have risen due to all this uneccessary extra work and replacement parts.

 

Any help appreciated.

[wheelergeezer]

The first thing iw ould do is call the guiness world of records as you have the only FORD Corsa made.

 

That aside, you are never going to win with this now you have involved garage 2. They will blame garage 1 for everything, garage 1 will say they gave everything to them and so on.

 

You would have been better off putting a used engine from a scrappy in for about £500, one engine hoist hire and a weekend of fun with a mate.

[MB&IB]

Thanks for the constructive criticism! - OK Stupid mistake putting in Ford, when should have been Vauxhall.

 

Garage 1 first raised the issue of recon engine, but tried to bill in excess of £1000 for recon engine, also for clutch etc which was new 2 months previously, plus many, many other bits we knew were unecessary as the car had just been serviced and MOT'd. Garage 2 was to put in recon engine after we lost total faith with garage 1 after 5 weeks and changing diagnosis and never ending additions to the so called bill. What we don't understand is why garage 1 totally dismantled the car to begin with without instruction. Even the wheels had to be put back on for towing! Think they were stipping it down for parts before we took it as they "presumed" we were scrapping it and we did not correct their assumption as basically it was none of their business what we were doing with our car.

 

Difficult to explain every bit of this saga here but it has been going on for a couple of months now but we are in no doubt that garage 1 have deliberatley removed these parts.