Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 12:19
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - 3puddings

I am unhappy with the work carried out by an RAC approved garage after my Focus brokedown.

They replaced the EGR and carried out a forced regen of the dpf, they handed the car back to me and it was smoking excessively. I was told that the excessive smoke was down to excess DPF fluid in the fuel and that it would calm down. I drove the car for no more than 5 miles in total before I decided that enough was enough. I checked the oil and there was about 2mm of oil left in the car.

I know that they carried out a road test before returning the car and must have been aware of the extent of the problem, they claim that the oil loss could have happened after I left the garage, I dispute this.

When I called the RAC out to look at the car their patrolman diagnosed a turbo failure from my description of the problem, which indeed it was. Now the turbo could have been on the way out, that is not the issue here.

I feel that the garage in question was negligent in not checking for the cause of the problem properly and returning the car to me in an unfit condition. Can I withhold payments for labour which I feel has been negligent?

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 13:02
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - FP

"Can I withhold payments for labour which I feel has been negligent?"

I'm not a lawyer, but my feeling is that the answer is probably "legally, no". The hours have presumably been done (it would be difficult to prove otherwise) and you authorised the garage to work on the car. It's the outcome you're unhappy about - which is a separate issue.

I assume you feel (a) the garage should have diagnosed the failed turbo, as indeed the RAC did and (b) the garage should have returned the car to you having checked and topped up the oil. (We don't know, of course, how much oil was there when you took the car to the garage. Do you?)

Do you claim that there has been any damage caused by the low oil level? Or is heavy oil use just part of the turbo failure?

It seems to me you'll need expert witnesses to be able to make a case stick and if it was me I'd leave it and move on. I would, however, approach the garage with a view to getting the turbo fixed at a discount, as they failed to sort it the first time.

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 14:17
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - Armitage Shanks {p}

These people may help, if your garage is a member - tinyurl.com/pz8r9yg

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 15:23
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - 3puddings

My feeling is that the damage was done during the regen, but that the turbo was probabilly on the way out and they did check the oil levels before starting, that is not the issue.

My complaint is that they were negligent in not diagnosing the fault after the regen which was spotted immediately by an RAC patrolman after less than 5 miles of driving. They did not check the oil after the regen and returned the car to me in a non-roadworthy state, even though they stated otherwise, this is a failure of their duty of care.

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 15:33
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - FP

"My feeling is that the damage was done during the regen..." What damage, exactly? To the turbo?

"... the turbo was probabilly on the way out..." Well, that kind of negates the previous point, doesn't it?

Phrases like "they were negligent" and "a failure of their duty of care" sound over the top to me and sound more relevant to a hospital scenario than the one we're dealing with. A garage has to show competence and that they do what they are contracted to do when given a car to work on.

Maybe this lot are incompetent, but if what you're saying is that they failed to diagnose a turbo that hadn't actually failed, but was on the way out, I would say it makes it hard to get anything against them to stick.

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 15:57
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - skidpan

Having watched a forced regen take place on one car ( a colleagues one lunchtime) I cannot see how it could possibly damage any component. The car was connected to the computer and started. The computer took control and varied the speed between idle and about 2000 rpm for about 15 or 20 minutes. Once complete engine was switched off and computer disconnected.

No revving the nuts off, no load.

3 years later he is still running the same car with no issues.

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Wed 2 Oct 2013 10:19
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - 3puddings

It depends on how it is monitored there is the possiblity for the engine to run away with itself. In this case the Turbo started sucking oil from the sump and the engine was unning on oil, this is what goosed the turbo as it needs that oil to lubricate.

This will not result in a fault code but a good mechanic would be able to spot this by monitoring the engine read out. The exhaust gas temps can reach up to 800 deg C during a regen which is how it burns off the soot in the particulate filter.

This is not my issue with the garage however it is that they incorrectly diagnosed the reason for excessive white smoke after the regen when they road tested the car, and there was virtually no oil left in the sump, when they returned the car to me after the work.

When I give a garage a car with oil in it and it comes back with no oil something is wrong, and if a mechanic sees excessive engine smoke i would assume that the 1st thing he checks is the oil (its the first thing I checked after driving the car 2 miles home). The effect of this could have been a serious incident on the road if the engine had seized up, as their customers we put an incredible amount of trust in garages and it the work is not up to standard and they fail to spot a potentially disasterious fault in a car before returning it then they should be held to account.

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Wed 2 Oct 2013 10:23
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - 3puddings

The turbo failed during the regen which is possible. The issue is that after a road test where excessive white smoke was coming from the exhaust they failed to check the oil levels and returned a car to me with no oil in the sump, that is the issue that is negligence. The reason for preforming a road test to to diagnose any other issues after all.

This could well have resulted in a hospital scenario as the advice given to me on leaving the garage was to "take it out and give it a good run arround and that will clear the smoke"

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Fri 18 Oct 2013 16:37
Ford Focus - Unhappy with work Carried out by Garage - Skezza

It's a tough one this is. If your oil was low, does that mean it was low when it went in? I can't see why the garage would have drained your oil and in my opinion, it's your responsibility to check your oil every so often, especially on a diesel, seeing as they usually munch a bit. If I took my car into a garage for some work, I wouldn't expect them to top my oil up for me if it was low.

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