Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair.

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Thu 6 Jan 2011 21:44
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - fyak1

Hi all,

Drove down to SW England just before NYE. 25 miles from my destination my brakes completely went while in the process of braking. thankfully I had already slowed from 60 down to 35 when they failed, which gave me enough reaction time to avoid hitting the car in front- which was also braking and nearly at a standstill- by swerving onto the central reservation and doing a bit of off-road until the car finally came to rest.

The AA came out and discovered that the brake fluid container was completely empty, suggesting a leak, and a tow truck had to be called to take it to a garage.

Two days later the garage had a look at it and discovered that a brake pad/caliper had been fitted incorrectly causing the brake fluid tube to twist and snag on the brake pad which, over time, led to a rupture causing the sudden loss of brake fluid and braking capability.

I checked my last service record, (March 2009), which shows that both the front brake pads/calipers had been replaced at that point, so this is obviously a fault of the servicing garage.

I'm keen to get advice on whether I can expect to claim the cost of this repair back from the garage that fitted the brake pads/calipers. It seems logical to me that, as it was a fitting error, they should do so.

Aside from the cost of repair there is also the fact that had my brakes failed at almost any other point on the journey there would undoubtedly have been an accident that could have been very bad indeed. I consider myself very lucky that the brakes failed when they did and no damage was caused to myself or other road users.

Any advice on what course of action is best?

Many thanks

Fred

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Fri 7 Jan 2011 12:21
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - injection doc
May be Lucy can advise best on what action you can take against the garage, but two issue's first, there should ba a warning lamp when the resovoir becomes low so did a warning lamp come on & did you chose to ignore it ?
2nd the car is fitted with split dual brakes so when one curcuit fails due to loss of fluid you should still have partiall brakes ? was this not the case ?
Most importantly , at least you managed to stop & your all ok.
I would of thought it best to contact the garage who fitted the brakes last & ask for there comment.
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Fri 7 Jan 2011 18:43
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - LucyBC

There may be a claim against the repairing garage for any loss you suffered including any repair - also for any loss of use while you are off the road. You will need an engineer's report to show that the defect resulted from incorrect fitting - unless the garage is willing to accept the AAs decision.

Can you come back to me with an estimate of the cost of repairs: asklucy@honestjohn.co.uk

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Sat 8 Jan 2011 09:15
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - fyak1

Thanks for the reply.

Regarding the warning lamp, it only came on after the brakes went. The wearing of the fluid pipe must have been happening gradually over the past nine months. At the point that the brakes went I was braking reasonably hard so assume that the brake fluid pipe was finally punctured by the brake pad/calliper at that point causing the brake fluid to drain very quickly, hence the lack of warning beforehand.

As for partial brakes, once the car had come to a stand still, and when safe to do so, I moved off very slowly and tried the brakes again. the brake pedal was 'floppy' and there was a minimal and very soft braking effect when the brake pedal was fully depressed. At 10 mph it was only strong enough to gradually bring the car to a halt after about five seconds.

As I was in Somerset and had to get back to Cambridge (where the dodgy service took place) soon after the New Year I had no option but to have the fault repaired. The garage has noted in its repair report that the brake calliper was incorrectly fitted, and that as a result the brake fluid pipe had become twisted and was fouling on it.

I also have the ruptured brake fluid pipe.

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Sat 8 Jan 2011 16:57
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - Gordon17

I just wondered what the recommended service interval is on your car, as 22 months without a service seems a long time. Would a garage really accept liablity for a repair done that long ago?

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Sat 8 Jan 2011 17:41
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - LucyBC
There may be a liability for the cost of repair if the part was fitted incorrectly.

You cannot claim for an accident that might have happened but did not.

Can you come back to us with the cost of the repair?
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Sat 8 Jan 2011 20:00
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - fyak1

Regarding the date of the last service, my mistake, I'm suffering the usual January problem of still thinking it's the previous year! The service was in March 2010.

The repair cost was £130.

I suppose even if I can't claim the money back I should at least be advising the garage that they fitted something incorrectly that resulted in a dangerous situation.

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Sun 9 Jan 2011 20:00
Audi A3 - Almost crashed due to shoddy garage repair. - injection doc

"I suppose even if I can't claim the money back I should at least be advising the garage that they fitted something incorrectly that resulted in a dangerous situation."

Any garage worth their weight would want to know a situation has arisen and they should at least offer to pay your repair.

Still concerned that your warning light did not come on if the resovouir was empty as they come on long before then & you don't loose that much fluy** in one or two brake applications even with a burst pipe ! . there should also been some brakes there to help reduce speed even thpough more effort would of been required!

When was the car MOT'd as that should also of picked up a twisted hose ! FAILURE

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