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Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - fatal_exception_car

I have a question regarding my recent trip to a garage and am looking for any opinions, guidance or advice on what happened.

I took the car in for an MOT and having phoned early afternoon was told it had passed but I couldn't get it yet as a service was being done. I was confused as I hadn't booked one. Long story short: they said that due to their mistake I had got a free service and wouldn't have to pay.

Anyway, two hours later the phone rings and they are now telling me the engine isn't working as the key transponder is not telling the engine to start.

They asked if I had another key so I took it to them. No luck with the engine so they said leave it for an hour and they would get back to me. The next phone call tells me they cannot do anything until an electrician arrives on Monday.

I am now without a car (that was working) and have no idea what is wrong until Monday.

So I am asking: where do I stand with this in terms of paying them for this; the electrician is going to cost upwards of £60.00 before anything is done. I got the car to them, they were able to MOT it. The key / engine then apparently just stops working, I assume during the servicing or when they were going to take it out of the garage ready for me to pickup.

I am ignorant regarding cars; could the service have done something? The service clock being reset (it is a Citroen C2 2004)?

Any advice etc would be gratefully received.

Edited by fatal_exception_car on 28/04/2018 at 10:28

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - FP

This sounds to me like a legal issue regarding responsibility for a fault which has developed while the car was in the care of the garage.

Whatever has happened and however it happened is surely the sole responsibility of the garage.

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - RobJP

This sounds to me like a legal issue regarding responsibility for a fault which has developed while the car was in the care of the garage.

Whatever has happened and however it happened is surely the sole responsibility of the garage.

I'd agree.

You dropped off a working car. They have a responsibility to return it to you in the same state

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - FP

"...where do I stand with this in terms of paying them for this; the electrician is going to cost upwards of £60.00 before anything is done."

Specifically in answer to this: you shouldn't be paying anyone anything to get the problem sorted out. If the garage is asking you for £60 for a car electrics technician to investigate the problem they have a damned cheek.

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - nellyjak

As said...it's the garage's sole responsibility..and what's more they ought have provided you with a with a courtesy vehicle.

You should pay them nothing but the cost of the MOT.

Rather sounds to me they have made a c0ck-up and don't want to admit it.

Hope you get your car back ok...and don't use them again.

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - Manatee

I'm not sure that's as clear cut as you all seem to think.

If the garage had crashed it, they would almost certainly be reponsible. But a fault developing while it happens to be in their care?

That said, the fact that they were clearly trying to fix it in the first place makes me wonder whether they know they have "done something".

What if it turns out (for example) to be water ingress to the ECU that just happened to manifest at the time it did?

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - fatal_exception_car

Thank you for all your replies.

Just to add I checked the Government MOT site and the car has been registered as having passed as the date now says due for May 2019.

So whatever happened was after the MOT. I really hope the service didn't lead to this as I didn't ask for it to be serviced in the first place.

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - FP

"What if it turns out (for example) to be water ingress to the ECU that just happened to manifest at the time it did?"

That's a "what if" - and impossible to establish it as a fact, even if the garage tries to claim that water affected the ECU before the car was in the garage. It could just as easily be the result of the garage doing something.

I think the best position for the customer to take is that everything was working when the garage took the car (and presumably for long enough for it to pass its MOT) and he knows nothing more except that something happened afterwards while the car was still with the garage. He is therefore placing the responsibility with the garage.

They may indeed have actually done something to create the problem, but we don't know that; however, I don't think it's relevant and the customer shouldn't be implying that.

It's worth adding that the service, carried out without the customer's request, sounds distinctly dodgy, though what's behind it I have no idea.

Edited by FP on 28/04/2018 at 15:19

Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - SLO76
It’s a 14yr old Citroen, a car with a rather ropey reputation for electrical gremlins even when much younger. Yes it’s possible the garage has disturbed a connection or something but it very possible that it would’ve failed with you too. It’s difficult to prove especially on an old car like this but I’d certainly push the garage to sort it since it was in their hands at the time. If they do then great but I’m not sure where you’d stand legally by trying to force them to do it. Good luck and let us know the outcome.
Citroen C2 - Garage Liability regarding key/engine transponder? - Galaxy

It's certainly a very interesting case. But you say the car has undergone and passed the MOT test so it must have been working then, it would appear that whatever has happened would be connected to the service afterwards which they were not instructed to do by yourself, OP.

However, I'm afraid things aren't always that straightforward. Many years ago a friend of mine had a Ford Granada Mark 2 with a 2.8 litre engine. One day he took it to his local Ford Main Dealer for a service and MOT. Unfortunately, when he arrived, there were no spaces left in the dealership car park to he parked it on the road outside. He then went inside and spoke to the service reception staff and, by then, there were a couple of parking spaces within the dealership so they suggested he move the car before he left.

Anyway, he went back to the car and, guess what, it wouldn't start! He returned to the service desk and informed them of this. They told him not to worry, they've bring the car in themselves and see what the problem was.

It turned out that there's a fibre gear inside that engine, I believe it drove the distributor, and it had broken! It's a well-known fault on that engine, apparently. He was informed it could have broken at any time.

Now, if that gear had broken just the next time that the car was driven you can probably begin to see what possible problems there could have been between my friend and the dealership.

I'm not saying, for one minute, that this is the case where you're involved, OP, but it does show what can happen.

Edited by Galaxy on 28/04/2018 at 15:29