My car has been in a garage for repair for 3 weeks, I feel I am being ripped off, what are my rights?

Took my Tigra in for head gasket repair, was told it would cost £380, after a week was told it was £480 as engine is 16 valve, then I was told it needed new timing belt kit and water pump increasing total to £560. After 2 long weeks, he said it was ready, took on test drive and car was running at 100 degrees and oil warning lamp came on. He said he would have to have another look at it. A few days later he called me to say my engine was beyond repair! and it needed another engine fitted, at an additional cost of £349+ vat. Naturally I kicked off as he had already removed the engine and other parts from under my bonnet without my go-ahead. He then said he would replace engine at his cost. After 3 weeks in total he called to say it was ready. Took on road test and engine management light came on, he said he would have a look and then advised me oxygene sensor was faulty, which would cost another £42+ vat - I left saying I was going to solicitor.can anyone advise me as I am at wits end.

Answers:
Hi i work for what was the training arm of the RMIF as mentioned earlier. When you take your vehicle to a garage you aks them for a quote of the work required that is the equivalent of a contract between you and the garage, the more reputible ones will give you this in writing. Before any additional work is carried out the garage should inform you of this and give you a revised quote. Changing the price because it is a 16v engine suggests to me he doesnt know what he is doing as he should have known this from the begining. As for the high temo and oil warning light this smacks of negligance as they should have been checked when the repair was completed in th first place. It sounds like you are dealing with one of the people that unfortunatley gives the auto repair industry a bad name. In future there is a scheme coming out where all garages will have to emply registered technicican similar to the corgi scheme for gas fitters, after all your life is at risk in your car a lot more than with a cooker ! i would advise you definatley to see a solicitor, from what i can see you have a breach of contract, failure to recify the problem (taking money under false pretences) and at the least incompetance from this garage, sorry i can help anymore
sounds like he didnt change the oil a very important part of a head gasket replacement and it knocked the bearings out of it --start looking for a lawyer
trading standards asap, phone them x don't despair, you had no written agreement with mechanic and he has taken the pee completely. my brother went thru the same with his BMW in the end he reported it stolen and a very sympathetic police officer arrested mechanic and told him he was in big poo if he didn't put car right that day at original cost, he did an my brother learnt a huge lesson on dodgy mechanics xx
he's ripping u off big time.first of all if he did something without ur premission tell him to give ur money back and put all the parts
back. and go somewhere where they can be trusted. cuz it sounds like this guy is gonna keep on telling u that something somewhere needs to be fixed or repaired. u didnt ask him to take ur car apart and do anything he wants with it. just tell him to do what u asked him to and if he cant just leave cuz by the time u'r done with repairing the car with him it's gonna cost u twice as much as u bought in new. so best advice take ur money and leave. or if he says u cant do that then let him finish what he started but if he says he needs to fix something else and u have to pay more tell him no and that u'll do it urself.
I think they are being ok. Some faults dont appear until you start stripping an engine and then you get to the point where a good mechanic will say this needs a new engine but you only reach that point after you try the cheaper options first, running cars can be bad news but I think that the garage is being fair, you have just been unlucky
Hi, I am a garage owner. I would contact Trading standards firstly, and ask your rights. Did the garage give you a proper estimate? it sounds like the mechanic didn't inspect the head properly or send it to an engineer for pressure testing and a skim when he originally did the head-gasket repair. This is very important and is the correct way of repairing. Also, The misdiagnosis by him is his fault, not yours and I think you need to make it clear that he has been negligent in the service and maintenance of the vehicle and you want to seek reimbursement. Also Try calling the RMIF - Retail Motor Industry Federation.
You have a right to report him and his company to the Better Business Bureau. Send a letter explaining your situation to a local news station, then they'll broadcast it on television. You can also look up on the Internet "pre-pay legal," which is a lawyer agency that only charges you a very small affordable monthly fee to represent you and take on your case. They are very good attorneys, and may be able to get you some compensation for your problems such as scams, rip-offs, inconvenience, and fraud. If there was a contract involved between you and your car dealer, you may still be able to prove the above, because, the car dealer or his mechanic continued to scam you for additional money when they new that you would be bringing the car back for more repairs, even after he supposedly fixed your car problems. Now you can sew him on the grounds of scam, fraud, and inconvenience claims such as being late or absent from work, inability to handle your domestic emergencies due to a lack of transportation, and your car dealer's false advertisement. Another option is to exercise your right of the first amendment, "the freedom of speech," which is to get a small group of people with you to go out on the corners with typed or printed papers to pass out to the public, with the intent to boycott that car dealer for his false advertisement or business fraud.
yes i do think you should see a solicitor

but i also want to respond to songwriter do you not see this is a UK question (a clue is the money is in £ ) we do not have a better business bureau we don't have pre pay legal so your answer might be good wherever you live its totally crap here

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