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Thread ID: 76968	2007-02-22 09:02:00	Broken car advice: What was likely caused by me? Long story. Any Mechanics out there?	Chilling_Silence (9)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
527150	2007-02-22 09:02:00	Hi all, While I know advice here should never be taken over that of a lawyers, yadda yadda, I figured I'd ask here anyways and see what the general population of NZ thought! So, I have a V-Special Edition 1992 Mazda MX5 (Coz the V-Special Edition comes with ABS which is important to the story). Also, during this story I'll try not to name any companies, dont wanna be incriminating, its not a vent, just after some general thoughts / comments. Anyways, to cut a long story very short, I was driving one day, ABS locked up (faulty) and sent me spinning, crossing two lanes and I ended up hitting the kerb on the other side of the road. Nobody else was involved, I was fine, the car was a little worse for wear though. So we have the car towed to a mechanic (Mechanic A) of my insurance companies choice. After the initial rejection and then battling insurance for a little over 3 months (The car battery died coz the Insruance company fluffed around so long to start with, resetting all error codes in the onboard computer, so they couldnt diagnose ABS), they decide to pay out and have it fixed. They didnt fix the ABS, coz they ran a few tests and said it seemed fine. I thought this was odd that they were going to fix it seeing as the car was insured for $11k and the mechanical fixing alone was going to be worth $7k, plus panel & paintwork... We were told that price by Mehcanic A when I asked. Fixing it takes approx 3 weeks, they give it back (Gave it a warrant too which they passed with flying colors which i thought was 'convenient' and even my father who was an ex-brake hydraulic engineer of 18yrs thought so too). Sadly, it blatantly had some paint missed on the left-hand side where it hit the kerb. Not to mention that it didnt drive properly. Apparently a rear steering (Or was it trailing? Not too mechanically minded) arm was bent. Also, the car was higher than initially (Which I wasnt impressed about seeing as it had been professionally lowered etc). So the night that I get the car back I ring up the assessor and complained, leaving a VM. I did so for the next 3 days (not once driving the car after I got it home). Finally I got through and they told me they'd contact me the next day with what to do. The assessor rang me back about 3 days later and tell me that it has to go back to be repaired but that it wont be able to be done until after Christmas. I'd spoken by then with Insurance and advised them that the car "wasnt driving right and there is a problem with the left-rear wheel" which I didnt know the cause at the time. Both my insurance company and the assessor informed me that it would be fine for me to keep driving over the Christmas break and they would fix the panel / paintwork immediately after the Christmas break, but couldnt because there was too much of a rush around this time of year. I was understanding of this, but didnt wanna take the risk of driving a broken car in case it made it worse, so took it out about 5x over the next 9 weeks before they could look at the car again. Now things start getting 'juicey'... I took it back and they were reluctant to repair the left-rear trailing arm because the car had been kerbed (Yes, at one point I was doin about 15-20kmph around a roundabout and the car understeered (I swore it wasnt me at the time.. but it might have been?) and just managed to scrape it. Another time a brick from the sidewalk at my girlfriends place was loose and when I parked on the roadside (A good 20cm from the kerb) I managed to scrape the front-left rim. Of course, all are incredibly minor scuffs, but Im just stating this in the interest of fairness here. They then also told me that Id driven over a pothole or something and the left-rear rim was now bent out of shape. Only minorly, enough to still be safe, but it wasnt straight. They told me that Advanti no longer make those rims and there was only two left in the country for sale that they could find new. I declined at the time, they said it was safe, but I knew the car still didnt feel quite right. Now... I had my car on TradeMe, by now I was just wanting to put the nightmare of argueing with insurance etc behind me. I get back from the Parachute Music festival a week later and find my Head deck wasnt working.. I presumed the earth cable had simply come loose at the back because it was a little short when wiring it to the connector. I drove the car maybe twice over the 3 week period after I got it back around the 23rd of Jan just short distances to make sure the battery wasnt going to go dead (Had just installed one recently, old one died). A guy comes, sees it was listed as $7900 (Id put it on at that hoping to be talked down to $7500) and he "manages" to talk me down to $7500 due to the headdeck wiring not being perfect, the minor exhaust rattle (loose baffle), the passenger door didnt unlock with central locking (presume dead motor in it), and also the paintwork on the hard-top was fading. I was up-front about all that I knew was wrong with the car, and they were fine with it. So I get a call that night, they think the wheel bearing in the front-left is gone. The gentleman asks if I'll pay half. Figuring it wont cost much, I tell him to take it to his mechanic, ask his mechanic to quote on the repairs, and I'd see from there. I just wanted to be rid of it, so if it cost me another $50, I figured why not.... ...how wrong I was :( He gets a report from Mechanic B stating: Raise vehicle on hoist and check for noise. Noise found to be coming from LH front wheel bearing. Inspect suspension components for further damage. PLEASE NOTE: 1. Damage found on ABS stator ring and sensor 2. LH front wheel bearing is rough 3. Incorrect upper and lower suspension arms have be fitted to LH front, (non ABS) 4. LH front shock absorber is leaking 5. Damage found to LH floor channel 6. LH front and all rear ABS sensor wires are incorrectly mounted 7. Damage found to LH outer sill needs re-inspecting 8. Building screw found to have been fitted in exhaust system (I knew about this, I did this as a temporary measure to see if it was the baffle loose inside the muffler) 9. RH rear chassis has been modified to accommodate exhaust muffler 10. Incorrect rear sub frame has been fitted (non ABS) 11. Major wheel bearing noise coming from rear drive train. Owner advised. No further work carried out WOW was I shocked! This gentleman who bought it had taken it STRAIGHT to his mechanics so I believed there wasnt anything extra damaged by him. Rang the assessor & insurance co who advised it would have to go back to Mechanic A to let them fix and try and "right their wrong" but that anything that had been damaged by me would NOT be covered. The assessor tried to imply that a lot of the damage had been done by kerbing of the rims. I told him in no uncertain terms that I strongly felt I could not have caused any of the damage with minor scuffs on the rims at most! I s'pose what Im getting at is: Im taking the car back to Mechanic A tomorrow AM. How much of that damage could have been caused by me kerbing the left rims? I can put up pix so you can all see how MINOR the scuffs really are. Things like the major wheel bearing noise that wasnt there before the accident, should that have been covered when it was _first_ repaired? If the cars been driven maybe 6-7 honest times since the repairs, at for no more than 3 hours total, is this enough to make the left front shock absorber leak? Or the impact of the FL rim being kerbed? Is it something that was likely missed when it was first repaired, or a 2nd-hand part used by Mechanic A while doing repairs? How worried should I be about all the ABS stuff not being re-setup correctly after they ran their tests / repairs on the car? Or the fact the report from Mechanic B states "Damage found to LH floor channel" or "Incorrect rear sub frame has been fitted"? Fully take responsibility for the screw thats in the exhaust, I know about that, know it needs to be professionally fixed / replaced and that'll be at a cost to me (or hopefully a new owner in-future if the car sells after all this mess). If you were in my shoes, what would you do from here? The car has been re-insured with another New / Different insurance company and its costing me $1600P.A. Previously with my old insurance company it had cost me $1850P.A (Must be paid in full up-front), and they wanted me to pay another $2250 for a new years insurance (it was about to expire) due to an 'upgraded' cover / service offered by them. Its been 6 months and Ive driven it for about 3 hours (maybe after tomorrow it'll be close to 4 hours by the time I get it to Mechanic A), so Im seriosuly un-impressed by that, seeing as its THEIR mechanic that I _had_ to take it to who fluffed around so long, and them taking 3 months to approve the repairs too... Open to comments / suggestions / flaming / advice. Cheers all Chill.	Chilling_Silence (9)
527151	2007-02-22 09:02:00	I think I win the award for longest post ever on PF1 :D	Chilling_Silence (9)
527152	2007-02-22 09:55:00	Scraping your rims at worst could damage the rim or tyre beyond repair, also could knock your alignment and balance out. Scraping your rims would not do: 3. Incorrect upper and lower suspension arms have be fitted to LH front, (non ABS) Check your last warrant sheet before all this happened, did they mention any leaks in the shocks? wheel bearing? I think you are being shafted, guessing its only fair to allow mechanic A to fix his wrongs, but don't accept the car back unless it has had a full inspection by a independent mechanic of your choice.	Rob99 (151)
527153	2007-02-22 09:59:00	I think I win the award for longest post ever on PF1 :D I think so, or close to it :D */starts reading it...... :D	stu161204 (123)
527154	2007-02-22 10:07:00	Best of luck with it Chill :)	stu161204 (123)
527155	2007-02-22 10:13:00	Hi all, While I know advice here should never be taken over that of a lawyers, yadda yadda, I figured I'd ask here anyways and see what the general population of NZ thought! Personally I wouldn't have driven it at all until they had fixed all the problems, and this has been verified by an independent inspection. It is your word against theirs on whether you have caused extra damage(which you probably didn't), and in these situations they will always close ranks and play hardball. I have a friend who is also having trouble with their mechanic and the supplier, after a part in the engine was replaced after a crash, and the new part then failed which caused more damge to the engine. Neither the mechanic or the manufacturer of the part are taking responsibility as each are blaming one another for the failure. These type of problems gives mechanics a really bad name.	rogerp (6864)
527156	2007-02-22 10:17:00	"Also, the car was higher than initially (Which I wasnt impressed about seeing as it had been professionally lowered etc)." So had you mentioned this to the insurance company? What effect may this have had on ABS if any? I am not a mechanic but this sets off alarm signals in my excuse for a brain. I could do a longer post than yours by simply posting a Sisoft Sandra or Hijack this report on my computer.	Sweep (90)
527157	2007-02-22 10:30:00	I also forgot to mention that Ive reversed the sale and the car is back now in my name... Would the incorrect lower / upper suspension arms affect: 4. LH Front shock absorber is leaking in any way? There was no mention of ANYTHING being wrong with the vehicle in the WoF Checksheet. Then again, Mechanic A gave the car back to me the first time without even noticing the panel / paintwork that was missed. Not to mention that when I got it back with its shiney new WoF that the windscreen wipers werent working right (The nozzles had become INCREDIBLY clogged and it took me 45 mins to clean them with an air-compressor and a water blaster), isnt that on the checklist that the wipers work? Thanks for the comments Rob, I actually asked the assessor if they'd be having it checked by a 3rd party after completion this time. He told me there was no way they'd be doing that and I would have to pay for that myself :( I'll go get the photos off the camera and post them up so you can see how minor the damage is on the rims	Chilling_Silence (9)
527158	2007-02-22 10:32:00	Yup, Insurance new about all the mods before they insured me. It doesnt affect ABS in any way.. basically they just installed King Springs, thats pretty much it...	Chilling_Silence (9)
527159	2007-02-22 10:34:00	Personally I wouldn't have driven it at all until they had fixed all the problems, and this has been verified by an independent inspection. It is your word against theirs on whether you have caused extra damage(which you probably didn't), and in these situations they will always close ranks and play hardball. Good point. I was told it was fine, but still tried to drive it as little as possible, just to keep the battery charged and things.. in hind-sight, even that wasnt too smart.	Chilling_Silence (9)
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