Advice about a car repair

[Sam714]

Hello
I am looking for advice about my car a Vivaro that has been with the garage since 2nd November 2021. I agreed to have my clutch replaced by them and they said it would take 3-5 days which I agreed to. I waited 4 days rung up and they advised they had not even looked at it.
They said they would get in touch as soon as it was done.
I waited a few more days passed they rung me to say there was another part it needed it would take 10-14 days to order and receive the part.
I then sourced the part myself picked it up the next day and took it to them. They said they would crack on with it and it would take a few days again.
I waited 4 days rung them they said they we’re having trouble programming the gears so they would have to take the whole front end off again and see if they could find the problem so yet again it would be a couple more days.
At this point they had already had my car a month.
This is my car I use everyday for work as I am a self employed taxi driver and by now had lost a lot of money and contracts.
They failed to fix it and could not program the clutch after fitting it.
By now it’s 19th December they have had my car 6 weeks and still couldn’t fix it. They told me that after Christmas they had arranged for their other garage in Northampton to collect the car from them and take it there as they had the correct engineer there who should be able to fix it. They collected the car on 10th January.
When I rung the Northampton branch they told me they had not yet looked at it and this was 4 days after they had taken it into their workshop.
I was then told yet again it would be looked at in a couple of days.
When I rung 2 days later I was informed that the master technician had covid and was self-isolating and as soon as he was recovered he would crack on with it.
They rung me Friday 21st January to tell me they would ring me back that afternoon with an update.
I never heard from them.
I had to ask them for a courtesy car as we had no transportation and my wife was walking all our children to school she was walking our daughter to high school then coming back and walking our others to junior school.
They gave us a Megane 5seater which is a pain because we have 6 children so we were doing 2 school drops and 2 collections. We had plans over Christmas but could not do anything as we could not as a family of 8 all get into the car which was very upsetting for all of us especially our children.
Plus I have lost 3 months work 3 months earnings and it has really effected us. I have used all my savings to live off support myself my wife and children.
I am looking for advice on if I can do anything. If I can take them to court or something as I feel so so angry.
I took my vehicle there it was running I drove the car there they drove the car into the workshop so it is actually them who have broken it.

[Sam714]

Just an update contacted the ombudsman can’t help because it is a business (taxi) don’t know what to do. Any help is much appreciate.
thank you.

[des8]

Your friend is The supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

Part ll

!3 implied term about care and skill
[F1relevant contract for the supply of a service] where the supplier is acting in the course of a business, there is an implied term that the supplier will carry out the service with reasonable care and skill.

14Implied term about time for performance.
(1)Where, under a [F53relevant contract for the supply of a service] by a supplier acting in the course of a business, the time for the service to be carried out is not fixed by the contract, left to be fixed in a manner agreed by the contract or determined by the course of dealing between the parties, there is an implied term that the supplier will carry out the service within a reasonable time.
(2)What is a reasonable time is a question of fact.

From your posts it seems they have used neither care nor skill and not completed within a reasonable time

Following those breaches you have the possibility of suing for damages, especially if they were aware it was a working taxi

If the garage is a member of member of a trade association, such as the Motor industry Ombudsman or the Retail Motor Industry Federation .you could try its own conciliation or Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service to help you negotiate a fair outcome

[Sam714]

UPDATE
Follow on from previous message end of January Northampton finally rung me and told me the ECU needed changing and asked if I would authorise the work which I did at the cost of £1,382. A week later they rung me to inform me they had changed the ECU but the car would still not program and now needs an actuator at the cost of £3,240. I have told them to not do anymore work on my vehicle and I want it returning to me after knowing when they did the clutch it was driveable only the reverse was not programming. Now after changing the ECU none of the gears will program so it’s now undriveable.

I am now in a dispute with the dealer about my car and they are now saying I have to pay £2,200 before I can have it back. When I took the car to them the car was fully functioning and they drove it into the workshop themselves. They changed the clutch they programmed all the gears but not the reverse. At that point only the reverse wasn’t working. Then they had the cheek to DRIVE MY VEHICLE from Leicester to Northampton to some how fix the reverse gear but
After the ECU was changed the vehicle is now undriveable none of the gears work it’s gone from bad to worse.

My question is am I obliged to pay for the work that didn’t repair my car but made it worse before I get it back.
I'm totally lost don’t no if I got case against this dealer .
Any help or advice is much appreciated
thank you.

[Ukmicky]

Is this a main dealer. So how much in total are they trying to charge you for all the work.

[Sam714]

Hi and thanks for your reply.

Yes it is renault leicester main dealer.
They wanted £2982 now discounted to £2250 to get my car back as it is non driveable.
Otherwise I have to pay an additional £3240 for more work to be done on it.
my original quote was £1600 for the clutch to be repaired.

[DE DOGS]

Something not right here, first question why would the ECU need changing if it was drivable ?. Clutch replacement. Check another garage and ask for a quote and price to replace, and a time to fix as you need it quick as you drive a Taxi. Do not relay any of the ongoing problems, find a garage miles away say the car has broken down miles from home so no connection, Don't quote your reg no as they may tie up details. I would notify the garage telling them you will only pay for the cost of fixing the clutch, and give them a time limit you are now prepared to wait. Value the car if no advance advise them you will sue them for the value of the car.

[MIKE770]

go to ebay check price for ECU for your car? sounds rip off again by dealers??

give an idea of dealers rip offs - needed a new electric cooling fan for a Toyota = dealer £250 + VAT, off net from Germany £108 delivered within 48hrs by DHL.

[des8]

Difficulty with all these suggestions is car is undrivable so will need lifting to another garage
Other difficulty is dealer will not release vehicle until a further £2,200 is paid.

I refer you back to post3, and using that information write first class to the dealer and tell him that as they have not complied with implied terms as per Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 you are about to initiate a court claim for
1 return of vehicle
2 reimbursement of all monies so far paid
3, damages for loss of income whilst they have failed to repair vehicle

[Sam714]

Hi again, just a quick update.
I got my undrivable car back after paying the £2200 as advised by citizens advice on Wednesday 23rd then yesterday Thursday 24th got it picked up by a recovery truck and took it to an independent garage 50 miles away .

Today Friday 25th they started to work on it took it all apart, changed the clutch that the dealer fitted then they asked me if I wanted to service the actuator unit or a new one they did advise me to go for a new as it is a taxi and will do a lot of miles i agreed because the price wasn't that bad. They then replaced the ecu that the dealer fitted with my old ecu after that they programed the clutch and that's it the car now is working perfectly lt took that garage from 9am till 3.15pm that's the time they rang me to tell me my car is ready for collection.
yet the renault dealer kept my car for 4 months without repairing it.
Oh the cost for doing the job all over again new clutch kit and a new actuator was 2000 +vat
Now I have to get my money back from the dealer.
I have been told to send them a letter recorded delivery for all the things DES8 said in the above post.
Any suggestions is much appreciated.
Thank you all.

[des8]

I refer you to post 9.

write briefly describing what has happened, itemise your costs and losses and tell them that if they don't respond within 10 working days you will initiate court action without further reference to them