Unfair trading and unnecessary repairs at Motologic Autocentre in Aylesbury

[Joanna_B]

Hi everyone

 

I'm new to this forum.

 

I joined as I've recently had a bad experience with a local garage car service provider and wanted to get some help and advice before pursuing a case against them.

 

On the 10th of May 2023 I took my car, which is a Vauxhall Corsa into a local repair garage as I had been experiencing engine issues that was causing the vehicle to misfire and stall easily as well as the amber engine light illuminating on the dashboard.

 

I was contacted by one of the mechanics who called me the morning after I took it in explaining to me that they had discovered issues with the car and told me that it would cost £640 to repair. The mechanic did tell me what the issues were, which I've listed below, but as I was woken up from only having 3 hours sleep as I had just come off a 10 hour night shift at work, I may not have taken in exactly what he said but just assumed what ever work they were going to do would rectify the issue.

 

The next morning, I called them to see if my car was ready to collect, which it was but they told me the car was still misfiring and that they would need to do further additional work on it costing me more money than what I had already been billed for.

 

These are the repairs that were carried out:

 

• Oil and filter change 
• Supply and fit new rocker gasket, coil pack and spark plug 
• Supply and fit new tyre
• Tracking wheel alignment 
• Parts included: 5W-30 Oil, Oil Filter, Sump Plug, Ignition Coil, Spark Plug, Rocket Gasket & Cover, 14 Rapid tyre

 

The bill for this work carried out came to £640.80, which I was not happy paying for as none of these repairs had anything to do to resolve the issue I had brought the car in for originally. The manager rounded the final cost to £600.00 which wasn't enough and when I drove the car home it was no better than how it was before. All of these repairs were a complete waste of time and money and the car is going to be scrapped now anyway as it is too costly to fix the engine issue.

 

Where do I stand with this and do I have a case to accuse them of unfair trading and carrying out unnecessary repairs to my car?

 

I have already reported this case to Citizens Advice and they've passed it on to Trading Standards who may or may not take up the case but if they don't, then what other options am I left with to get my money back?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks

 

Joanna

 

[BankFodder]

Is there any reason why you haven't told us the name of the garage?

It certainly seems that the list of work which were carried out have nothing to do with any engine problem.

You seem to be saying that you consented to this work being carried out because you were very sleepy and did not understand at the time exactly the significance.
I'm afraid that this is not sufficient justification for objecting to that work.

However, if you brought the car in to have a specific issue dealt with, then their failure to deal with that issue and to implement other matters could be the basis of the claim.

Have you got anything in writing about the reasons for which you originally took the car into the garage?

You say that the engine issue is too costly to fix. How do you know this? What is the engine issue and have you had any other garage look at it?

[Joanna_B]

Hi BankFodder

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Is there any reason why you haven't told us the name of the garage?

I wanted to keep the name of the garage private at first incase this comes back to them but no, I will name and shame them. It's Motologic Autocentre in Aylesbury.

MOT centre Aylesbury | Cheap Tyres Aylesbury | Car Servicing Bucks Moto Logic

WWW.MOTO-LOGIC.CO.UK

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MOT's as low as £30 - FREE retests. Tyres guaranteed best prices in Aylesbury. We pay difference plus £5 per tyre back if found cheaper in 7 days!

 

However, if you brought the car in to have a specific issue dealt with, then their failure to deal with that issue and to implement other matters could be the basis of the claim.

This is why I think I have a case, because I told them the engine was misfiring, stalling and the engine light coming on and yet they fixed the tracking, replaced a tyre and spark plugs yet not fixing what I asked them to fix.

 

Have you got anything in writing about the reasons for which you originally took the car into the garage?

No, it was all verbally discussed and agreed with over the phone. All I have as proof is the invoice.

 

You say that the engine issue is too costly to fix. How do you know this? What is the engine issue and have you had any other garage look at it?

Because the garage said, that they would need to do a cylinder pressure test which would be £500 labour plus any new parts for the engine which they said could cost over a thousand pounds when finished. I even spoke to the garage where I took it to previously, and they told me it's not worth throwing anymore money at it for a car of it's age and advised to get a new car or replace the engine. The reason, I didn't go back to the previous garage was because they are not local to me anymore and I would of had to catch a bus home when dropping the car off, so I took it to a different garage that was local to me.

[BankFodder]

You say that the only proof you have is the invoice – what does the invoice say?

I think if you are going to proceed with this then you are going to need some kind of independent diagnostic test at a different garage.

I think it would also be worth getting a quote for the work because I can't imagine that a cylinder pressure test would really cost £500.

 

What is the value of the car?

[theberengersniper]

For context, a 'cylinder pressure test', more commonly known as a 'compression test', involves removing each spark plug one by one, screwing in a pressure gauge in its place and cranking the engine over on the starter until the pressure reading stabilises. Rinse and repeat for each cylinder. 

 

The labour to do this would vary based on the number of cylinders and the ease of access to the spark plugs, but I cannot believe it would be anywhere near £500. You could complete this test on a 3 or 4 cylinder Vauxhall Corsa engine in about 20 minutes.