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