Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

[19phil67]

Back in December I took my car to an independent garage who specialize in servicing BMW's.

I asked for them to fix leaking oil from my car. it took 2 days and they returned the car to me and charged £450 in parts and labor. And informed me that the car is no longer leaking.

A week later I noticed that the car was still dripping oil so returned to the garage, the car was left with for 3 days as I had said keep it until you are sure to have fixed it. On collection they charged me another £130 as said they found more leaks and showed a broken gasket. I reluctantly paid but was happy to have my car back supposedly leak free.


Guess what!!! Car still leaking so went back again and left with them for the day to look at. They then said that they found a leak from the sump which they didn't see before and another gasket. The sump had a crack in it and they tried to tighten the sump nut. This in turn made the leak worse as now it had been overtightened.
I took the car away and they have quoted me it will cost an additional £500 to fix as the sump needs replacing.

I have not returned as yet as wanted to know where I stand. Am I covered under the Goods and Services act of 1982 or covered through my credit card company.

The garage are now saying that this is common that it is difficult to find the source of the leaks and they are doing their best to fix. But they are trying to charge me each time i return the car for additional work.

Surely they should be fixing this with no further costs to me as when I picked up the car from the so called fix they said they had fixed the leak.

[Tools]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

As a mechanic I can agree that leaks are sometimes difficult to trace, however, with the cost of each repair being so much they should have been 100% where the leak was coming from before starting repairs.

Can you tell me what was repaired/replaced on the engine on the first two occasions?

Also how did you pay for the repairs, cash, credit/debit card?

[Fred]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

I am a little disturbed by this in that it suggests no initial fix & they broke or made worse through their own actions the problem you took it to them for in the first place................a BMW aluminium sump they are prone to porosity or over tightening, point being with what you have paid this should have been spotted & should now as a matter of good will be fixed free of charge.

They really need to give you a problem definition/s & how they went about fixing it & their subsequent liabilities.

[19phil67]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

As a mechanic I can agree that leaks are sometimes difficult to trace, however, with the cost of each repair being so much they should have been 100% where the leak was coming from before starting repairs.

Can you tell me what was repaired/replaced on the engine on the first two occasions?

Also how did you pay for the repairs, cash, credit/debit card?

Thanks for your reply,
My car is a v8 4.4 litre BMW which is 9years old.
On the first occasion they replaced both rocker cover gaskets, which they I was charged approx £150 for the pair + vat plus labour.

When it went back for the 2nd time they charged me for one of the 2 timing chain cover gaskets which was £8 + vat plus labour.

Labour is charged at £45 per hour + vat.

I paid on both occasions using my credit card.

[Tools]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

In the breakdown of costs does it mention if they changed the oil/filters at any point or does it list a quantity of oil?

[19phil67]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

I am a little disturbed by this in that it suggests no initial fix & they broke or made worse through their own actions the problem you took it to them for in the first place................a BMW aluminium sump they are prone to porosity or over tightening, point being with what you have paid this should have been spotted & should now as a matter of good will be fixed free of charge.

They really need to give you a problem definition/s & how they went about fixing it & their subsequent liabilities.

Thank you for your response,
I will be contacting the garage again on Monday and can ask them to provide this to me. I do feel they should be fixing the problem free of charge as they admitted to me that the leak worsened when they tried to tighten the leaking around the sump plug.
If it had been leaking from here surely rhey would have noticed that on the last 2 occasions. I have just checked the quote they gave me for this piece of work and it has price for, new sump cover, oil, sump gasket and to replace the other timing chain gasket.

[19phil67]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

In the breakdown of costs does it mention if they changed the oil/filters at any point or does it list a quantity of oil?

On the past 2 invoices, no oil, filters was mentioned and I know that that didn't change the oil as it is still dark in colour. Just before I picked up the car the 2nd time I asked the mechanic to check my oil level.
On the quote for the further work they mention oil and filter at 8 x £4.5 for oil and £12.61 for filter +vat

[Tools]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

I was trying to establish if they had disturbed the sump and cause the damage, but it seems they haven't

[19phil67]

Re: Car leaking oil - Paid for garage services to fix and still leaking.

I was trying to establish if they had disturbed the sump and cause the damage, but it seems they haven't

I had taken the car back for the 3rd time to look for the leak and they gave it back to me at the end of the day with a quote to replace the sump, sump gasket and other timing chain gasket. A couple of days later I phoned them back and complained that the car was leaking heavier than before it went in for this 3rd investigation. That was when they said it would be due to them tightening the sump nut and making the crack around the sump plug worse.