Battery yen

I am writing to you exasperated and at my wits end. In February my wife's 2004 Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI needed a new battery. It was a Sunday so the only places open were ATS. I took it and then they replaced the battery. 6 weeks later lots of things started to go wrong with the car: the alternator, starting, parking sensors, etc. We quickly took it in to the Ford garage and they told us that the Unipart battery was not the correct one. It should have been a silver calcium battery and not a standard calcium battery. This was due to the split charging system. Anyway the bill for fixing it came to nearly £1,500. I then went back to the ATS garage and dropped the battery off, told them it did not work anymore and gave them the bill for the repair work. I heard nothing from them and had to chase them. Eventually I got impatient of no response, contacted them again and gave them 7 days to reply (this was after 3 months of waiting). I have now taken them to the Small Claims Court thinking that they would say 'sorry' and at least offer me something. Still nothing. I had a response back from the courts yesterday to say they are defending the claim. Ford says that it is NOT the right battery, but how do I prove this?

Asked on 24 October 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Written testimony from the Ford dealer, backed up by the invoice. You have already gone down the Small Claims Track. But anyone else in this sort of situation should first consider checking if the garage is a subscriber to the Motor Service and Repair Code and if it is take the matter to www.motorcodes.co.uk for free conciliation and arbitration.
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