So far so good then. I collected the car the day following my last post. It has been fine so far.

Hello all. So today I visited the garage, in person, with my dad (but not acting as a heavy or over-protective) and I spoke to the mechanic. I calmly and carefully explained my frustration at his lack of communication, at the fact he had "forgotten" about my car once, and about my need to have a working vehicle to provide for my family. I then asked why he had not answered my calls or done any work to my car since Thursday last week when I last spoke him. He admitted he had left his phone in the garage and had been moving house. I explained that that was clearly not fair, he agreed and he apologised too. I then told him that in that case I accept his apology but feel like I cannot trust or rely on him anymore and that for that reason I was now in his garage until I had seen activity and received at least a diagnosis of what was going on with my car. After a few hours of waiting around and watching he has discovered that there is still a drain on the battery. He traced the drain to a fuse on the UCB and said that to actually discover where the fault was would take hours. He offered to fit a switch that operated with the ignition key which effectively cut power to the entire UBC unit. This he states would effectively turn off all chances of any power reaching the UBC when the ignition is off. As this corresponded with ideas some of you have offered above I have agreed to let him do this. He agreed that as part of his apology this work will be carried out at no cost to me. He also said he will call me tmrw when the work is done so that I can go and collect the car. I have as much faith in this as I have in a politicians promises. But I have agreed and so once more have given him the benefit of the doubt. Whatever happens tmrw I will bring the car home and then decide to either a) test his fix or b) fit my own master kill switch at the battery or c) realise that the value I will get for this car as a vehicle for spare parts is probably approx = to the value I would get from selling this car to someone else minus the cost of actually sorting the problem. I will of course update for the good of the forum but if anyone has any last minute advice now's the time...

Thanks for that Gick. That would indeed appear to be a very sensible course of action now. In fact my dear old dad just got wind of the fact our car is still off-road and offered to drive me down to the garage and act as a witness at our first available opportunity. Unless I hear from the garage this will be wednesday so if anyone else has any ideas please post before then. I will report back after the meeting for the good of the thread/forum. On another topic: You also suggest fitting a kill switch? I had considered this as a work around but am concerned it would affect my insurance... wouldnt I have to declare it to them as a "user modification"?

Morning gentlemen. Thanks so much for those posts above. I guess you all sensed my frustration. Gick: I do still have the Under Bonnet Computer Unit but it has been left outside waiting to go to the recycling tip. Helios: I'm pretty sure the garage have followed some process of diagnosis but am now unsure if the is/is not matrix has been used. Scania: I think the car is a 2002/2003 model. All: Thanks for the info, especially that making clear how little chance I have for renumeration. The biggest problem now is the lack of communication from the second garage where I have returned the vehicle. This is the auto diagnosis garage where the car was sent approx 3 weeks ago. This garage has replaced the UBC (under bonnet computer) and all was well until a week later when one morning the battery was drained overnight again. The car has been returned to him. After a week I called him for an update and he said he had been to hospital for emergency dental treatment. He also said he would call me as soon as there is progress. A week later I couldnt help myself but call him again anyway, he admitted he had "forgotten" about my car but would get on it 1st thing in the morning and call me. So the following day I get no contact and call him in the afternoon, but am only able to leave a message on his answerphone. The following day I still get no contact and leave another message. The last mesage was left yesterday friday 16th sept. Even though I am totally frustrated and at my wits end I agree with you all that I should give them the benefit of the doubt as they are also losing time and money due to this car. In my conversations with them I am trying to make clear that I am frustrated but not with them and that I simply want to know what is going on. As Scaniaman suggests: If i could get the car back I could at least unattach the battery each evening and have the vehicle each morning to try some of the other ideas you guys have posted or until I decide what else to do. But I am getting nowhere with basic communications. Finally Scania: The symptoms of the original battery drain were that the morning after the clutch replacement the car would not unlock on its central locking, when opened by the key it beeped a warning sound I had never heard before. When the ignition key was turned there was no response. Following a jump start the car purred happily, was taken to the garage and they began diagnosis. They diagnosed battery drain from there. All: I can't be 100% positive what the mechanics have or not checked specifically but will compile a list of all your suggestions to pass on to them. Do you think this a good idea or if you put yourself in their shoes is this really what you would want to receive, i.e. a list of possible options to check compiled from an online forum?

Hello all, Helios: I believe this "is/is not" logical process is the one being followed by the mechanics. All: I thought this was a consumer rights forum? My OP is not asking for things to try to get my car going, my car is already under scrutiny by the motor trade. I am looking for information regarding my rights to reclaim any costs due to false diagnosis, I am also wondering if I have any consumer rights regarding the amount of time this saga has taken and the lack of communication in general between the mechanic and me at the moment. Thanks then for derailing my thread with bickering and Off Topic discussion. It's not much fun reading all your posts just in case there is anything pertinent buried within On other forums if someone starts going off topic most users just ignore them and leave them lonely, instead you lot have posted paragraphs on a topic of what appears to be "i know more about cars/motor trade than you!" Does anyone on here have any information that will actually be useful to me?

Hi Guys, Thanks for your input so far... in response to all your queries: the battery was checked first and seemed ok. I chose to change it anyway as an extra precaution at the end of week 3 of the saga. This was after the car had been returned with a new alternator and was still draining... due to the fact the previous battery had been drained 3 times in the week I thought it prudent to replace the battery at that point anyway. Unfortunately the new battery was entirely drained that evening. the garage who replaced the clutch did make sure I knew they HAD NOT removed the battery under the passenger seat. They disconnected the battery at the points available under the bonnet. Whether they had to remove the starter motor or not I do not know but they state they double checked their work and all is well so I assume they checked the earth. since approx week 3 after the alternator and battery replacement they had been working on the premise that a short had occurred damaging a relay. This is why they recommended me to the other auto diagnostic garage who agreed the problem was with the under bonnet computer. This has now been replaced but unfortunately the draining problem still occurs. I have been on the citroen owners club but unfortunatley none of their solved problems are the same as this one. There are very similar ones but each case on there comes down to an individual relay, the autodiagnostic chap said this is why he replaced the UBC (due to a faulty internal relay). I have been thinking myself that it is time to pay mega bucks to go to a main dealer for diagnosis... the only problem is I really cant afford it. I am self-employed so apart from spending approx £800 this summer on this car I have also lost income, reputation and future work due to it's unreliability. I want to trust the guys who are working on it but it has now been the whole summer and a week and half since the man who replaced the computer has had it back after that fault re-occurred, and he hasnt even called me to let me know what progress is being made or what he is thinking. I guess any mechanical or workable solution will help but really I am wondering if I have any rights to claim back money I have spent on false diagnosis/unneccessary work during this saga? As mentioned I have already paid for a new alternator, battery, and under bonnet computer, none of which have solved the problem. If i pay a main dealer and they solve the problem and prove none of the other work was necessary can I and how would i go about recouping my costs? I am also wondering how I get the bloke that has my car at the moment to report back to me? thanks again for any info guys, all input welcome

Having priced up the competition I took my Citroen Xsara Picasso 2.0HDI (125,000 miles on clock) to a local (but never before used) garage for a clutch replacement. It needed the Clutch doing. It was done quickly and succesfully and I was able to collect my car the next day. Unfortunately the following day my car had drained it's own battery overnight. So much so that not even the key fob button would unlock the central locking. I called the garage who agreed to check it over so I jump started my Picasso and took it down to them. The garage stated that the battery drain must be a coincidence and that it could not have been a fault of theirs while doing the Clutch. They do however agree to check things over. In the first week an auto electrician (friend of theirs) diagnosed the alternator as at fault so I paid for the auto electricians diagnosis and the new alternator. As a sign of good faith the garage fitted it free. The car was returned but unfortunatley overnight it drained the battery again. SO I returned it to the garage again. After 4 weeks the garage were still scratching their heads but recommended I take it to a contact of theirs who specialises in automobile computers. I did so, he diagnoses the entire under bonnet computer as faulty and agrees to source a second hand unit and fit it. Then he returned the car. A week later the battery is drained again. So i have returned it to him again. I called him on monday to discover why he had had my car for three more days and he says he had been in hospital for emergency dental treatment. I said ok, I will wait for him to tell me what is going on. There have been several other twists and turns along this saga but the short and tall of it is as follows: my car went in for a needed clutch replacement on july 22nd 2011. From that moment on my car has had a undiagnosable fault which results in it draining it's battery overnight, everynight. It is now Sept 13th 2011 and my car is still not back in my drive. I have paid for the clutch but I have also paid for a new alternator, an under bonnet computer and several hours of diagnosis. I like to think that this saga is a coincidence and that none of the mechanics here are messing me around. I feel they are losing out due to this issue as well as me. But they are in the trade and so I am trusting in them to source the fault or explain what is going on. Can anyone please tell me if there is anything else I can do or any action I can take as I am getting frustrated sitting and waiting without a reliable car and without updates which let me know progress is being made. I am self-employed and rely on my car but guess that isn't relevant to my rights, just more reason to be personally frustrated. thanks in advance, had a good browse of this forum and looks like you lot know what you are talking about