my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

[labman]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Hi MissFM, my brother is a mechanic and i could have asked him for some advice on why the warning light keeps coming on and what the problem may be, and whether the car is screwed or not, can't get an accurate answer from him without the facts.

TBH Ian, you can't get an accurate answer short of plugging it into a diagnostics machine. There's loads of things which could cause the engine management light to come on.

[IanM]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Completely agree with you, he said the same thing to me on FB!

TBH Ian, you can't get an accurate answer short of plugging it into a diagnostics machine. There's loads of things which could cause the engine management light to come on.

[CleverClogs]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Can't help. sorry - but maybe someone here could explain in easy-to-understand terms what the advantage (to the OP) would be in putting "without p. save as to c." - it's really hard to understand. To the layman (such as myself!) it just looks as if the evidence would then not be able to be produced in court until after the judgment - please correct???

Please see http://bit.ly/13u3lIj and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calderbank_v_Calderbank

Full text of Calderbank v Calderbank here ---> PDF link

[domcarlin]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Thanks again for your help all. Covering the last few posts/questions...i paid cash (not through choice...he doesn't take cards). Therefore i have nothing to follow-up on that side of things. Ian...thanks for trying to help in terms of the actual problem at hand and asking a friend, much appreciated. As stated above and as as your fiend has said, only a computer can help on this one. (it could be something silly like a loose wire for all i know...though from driving the car and noting down exactly when the light comes on i have a feeling there's more to it than that).

PlanB...it IS the same garage that i intend to take the car to...i have already had extensive conversations with the garage manager there with regard to the phantom appointment and they can 100% confirm that they have not had any appointments for, or done any work on my car...they have a computerized booking system. It has shown up a blank and the staff don't recognize any calls from my mechanic/any discussion about what was to be done/my reg number...absolutely nothing...its like he never called! (funny that).

With regard to getting an initial quote/estimate (before work) by Chrysler and then forwarding it to him...i'm thinking that could be VERY difficult. What if Chrysler carry out the initial work included on the quote and the issue isn't resolved...if they need to do more work then its more letters "getting agreement" for more work etc. The problem being...its taken my mechanic 10-15 attempts to try and fix it and he can't find the problem...Chrysler may have the same issue. A lot of the advice on other sites seems to be...take it elsewhere and try to get it fixed. If its successfully fixed pay the bill and get your money back from the original garage. In any other instance where the fault was known (broken windscreen/damaged axle/ripped seat) it would be easier to get a quote from a few garages before having work carried out...in this instance the Chrysler garage quite understandably may say we need to to this first...then that...then this...then that if that doesn't work etc...it seems its a process of elimination, and to get a quote for that would be difficult. I will of course instruct Chrysler quite clearly, to keep me constantly informed of the cost of the work already carried out so it doesn't get out of hand.

Cleverclogs...thanks for that link...very interesting indeed. I'll bear that in mind i.e keeping my mind open to sensible offers of settlement from him so as not to screw myself later down the line. Thank you.

I'm going to head the letter 'Letter before action'...simply because i don't think I've made any offers that i'm not happy with or that he could twist in any way. I agree with enquirer...I've gone beyond the stage of negotiations...i'm getting my car repaired...and he's going to pay for it...if he doesn't i'll try to get the RMI conciliation service to get him to see sense. If they can't, then i believe I've proved I've tried to be reasonable, exhausted all avenues of settlement and have no other course but to start legal proceedings.

P.S...here's hoping Chrysler replace the bulb in the dashboard and charge me (sorry...him) £4.99!!!

Lastly, to all who have helped so far...THANK YOU SO MUCH...I've made lots of phone calls to people i thought could help me...CAB (no response yet after a week!) RMI (they sent a standard letter of reply) AA (who offered generic legal advice quoted from a list by the sounds of it) TRADING STANDARDS (who insisted i speak to CAB first) but this forum has given me a thousand times more help than all of those put together...with genuine thoughtful posts. Isn't it a sad reflection on our country when a self-help forum of "enthusiasts" is needed to help consumers in situations like this, and that the organisations who are supposed to be doing that job seem to be non-responsive and/or toothless.

Right...just popping out to the post-office to send my "Letter before action"...not something you do every day.

Really lastly...I'll let you all know the content of the reply letter when/if it arrives.

[CleverClogs]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Would Chrysler be able to tell you if the engine had been replaced? After all, you only have the word of a proven and admitted liar that it was.

Whence was that lying loser supposed to get the replacement engine?

[domcarlin]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Yes they will...and its first on my list of instructions for them. I believe they can match the engine VIN number to the chassis VIN number...if they are a match he HASN'T replaced the engine...then he is absolutely shafted. If they differ he HAS replaced it.

From ehow.com------>When you look at the VIN plate or stamp on your engine, the sequence of ending numbers on the Engine VIN stamp should match the Vehicle VIN stamp. If it does not, then the engine in your car is not the original engine.

I did see the car without my engine in it during the initial repair work...so he did take it out...what i don't know yet, is what he put back in.

He obtained the engine from a private seller...and i did speak to the guy on the phone. Still...that doesn't tell me much, in that he may have bought the engine, taken a few parts for my car, and kept the rest. To be fair i do think he has done the replacement and i would be shocked if he hasn't. But...i AM getting it confirmed just in case.

[domcarlin]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Hi again all

Been a while since i posted on this issue but its been a slow process getting the car seen to by Chrysler due to logisitics.

Firstly though, I got a letter of reply from the garage in response to my 'Letter before Action'....it said...

Dear Sir

We fitted a relay in the fuse box and a relay controlling the secondary air pump to your car as informed.

I will meet your costs as presented to us. Your letter is fair and I can only apologise once again for our conduct.

Yours faithfully

RESULT!!! (or maybe not...read on)

After 4 visits to the Chrysler garage (two of those being simply to retest the car from a cold start) it appears they may have solved the problem. The last visit resulted in a temporary repair (as i needed to take the car back for work) to the inlet gaskets which were clogged with silicone...there shouldn't be any silicone near these apparently and not to get too technical it appears they have been reattached to the engine incorrectly (it seems corners were cut). Anyway, Chrysler have temporarily repaired these and I am waiting to take the car back to them for hopefully the final repair.

In the meantime though, the bill from Chrysler has reached over £700...which i have paid already. Due to the rising costs I sent the first two invoices to the original mechanic seeking payment. I outlined exactly what had been done and included copies of the bills for him...including an £80 discount that I asked for from Chrysler. As is reasonable I gave him 10 working days to pay either by bank transfer or by cheque. I sent the letter recorded delivery and it was received and signed for by him. He received the letter on 08/03/2013 at 9.50am

That was 16 days ago or 11 working days. I have had no reply and no payment.

Does anyone wish to say what they would do next? This guy is really starting to get on my +$"%!s and now I really want to shaft him...I've been far too reasonable up to now...keeping the cost of the repairs down...getting a discount on the Chrysler bill...walking the 4 miles back from the Chrysler garage instead of getting a taxi (on 4 occasions)...and all for a guy who apparently could not give a flying duck.

Any response will be appreciated

[enquirer]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

The mechanic probably did not expect the final bill to be so high.

It is clear that you are going to have to sue him. Given that you should be able to get a full technical report from Chrysler, you case should be sound. Make sure that you do it fairly soon, as he may start to make assets disappear.

[domcarlin]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Yeah...sadly I agree...seems he wants to do it the hard way. Or maybe that's what he wants so he can make an insurance claim? Who knows...but he has TOTALLY gone back on his word which I have in the form of a written letter. It seems complete madness on his part and i'm trying to figure out why on earth he would do this. Maybe there is a minimum he has to "owe" before he can make an insurance claim worthwhile??? Only guessing.

I was thinking if no letter arrived today to send one last letter along the lines of..."pay by the weekend or i'll be forced to instruct my solicitor" type thing. I don't want to give him any excuses for non-payment. TWO signed for letters should cover that.

[CleverClogs]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Yeah...sadly I agree...seems he wants to do it the hard way. Or maybe that's what he wants so he can make an insurance claim? Who knows...but he has TOTALLY gone back on his word which I have in the form of a written letter. It seems complete madness on his part and i'm trying to figure out why on earth he would do this. Maybe there is a minimum he has to "owe" before he can make an insurance claim worthwhile??? Only guessing.

I was not aware one could obtain insurance against being stupid and/or utterly inept.

Silicone sealant on the inlet manifold... really!

[domcarlin]

Re: my mechanic admitted lying to me...to my face

Yep...

I did ask if these gaskets had to be removed/detached to put a new engine in and he said they did. So...the original mechanic will have been the last person to remove/re-attach this item and yes...it seems he has used silicone. I'm not very "in the know" when it comes to cars but I assume the silicone has clogged this inlet manifold and prevented air getting to the air pump...hence the warning light always showing up "secondary air pump" as the fault.

I will be asking for a full report of the work carried out when I take the car back (for hopefully the final time) including the mechanics conclusion as to what was causing the fault, so that I have more ammo for court.

I've spoken to Citizens Advice again today who have advised against seeking a solicitors advice due to the sum involved. Apparently the judge would not be pleased about me getting a solicitor involved when the sum is going to be roughly £1000 when finished. They did appear helpful today so I take back my earlier post about them not being of great help...the lady said she can walk me through the whole process, right up to the day of the hearing. Strangely, it is something I would quite like to do on my own anyway. Its always good to learn new things and i'm sure with the help of the CAB it shouldn't be that difficult. It would also be very satisfying to feel that I was fully involved in getting this liar to come face to face with a little bit of good old fashioned justice. She also reassured me that Trading Standards are being fully involved in all correspondence between me and the CAB which is good to know.