car in garage for mot/repairs?

Question

car failed mot on tyres, brakes,steering,garage has had the car over 2 weeks we are now into third week due to steering problem
when turnig left or right you can hear a grinding sound garage has said it has put rack in, know the say it needs a new power steering pump, the have tried recondtioned ones its a rover 45 w reg can anyone advise if this is right or am i being conned

Answer 1

hi, i used to work as a service advisor for VW so although i never dealt with Rovers, the principles are the same.
1st things 1st, they put in a new steering rack, did it cure the problem? ask them that, if not, your not paying for it, they should put your original one back in. (if they cant diagnose it correctly that's not your fault why should you pay for it?)
now they say it needs a new steering pump, as mentioned above, power steering pump will not usually make a grinding type noise, when on full lock you may hear the belt.
1 fault it sounds like to me is the driveshafts/cv joint, or it could be something even simpler than that,
whats called an airbag slip ring, this is located just behind the steering wheel and causes this noise. its made of coils of copper wires wound round and round, if the casing splits/cracks/ or breaks in general you can guess the noise!!
So the way to put it across to them is was the steering rack faulty? did it cure the noise? if not why did you replace it.
Say your willing to pay a certain amount of diagnostic time (say 2-3 hours) but its not fair for them to guess and start a process of elimination at your expense. the diagnostic time is to find the fault it came in with not to replace parts it could be!!
Your the customer, they are meant to be the professionals, you do have rights. if they refuse to refit your original parts them get them checked and get a second opinion from a reputable garage.

If they still want to charge you for the whole lot and are awkward, contact C.A.B and consumer rights, consumer rights will black list the company and help with letters/court if necessary.

hope this helps

Answer 2

The power steering pump was making the grinding sound. As to the car needing a new or rebuilt rack I can not tell if I haven't looked at it. Any car with a steering rack has four tie rod ends, two outers and two that are buried in a rubber bellows, close to your steering rack. It may have gotten water in it causing the inner tie rod ends or the rack bearing and sleeves to become contaminated. Damage have ruined the the teeth on the rack or the small toothed gear that controls This small connects directly to your steering wheel. My nephew bought a new Rover a year ago. Nothing but trouble! He wished he'd gotten a Chevy Trailblazer or a Taloe

Answer 3

Check that the front wheels are not fouling the car's wings when you have full steering lock on. If they do then that would explain the grinding noise.
Note that a faint noise may be heard anyway if you're on FULL lock (but not otherwise), it doesn't necessarily indicate a faulty pump. A lot of car types do it.
Faulty power steering pump would cause you to notice steering to be 'heavy'. There may also be fluid leakage.

Ask about the above. If you're not happy with answers take it elsewhere. You may need a friend to tow it. Sorry.

Answer 4

I would be very concerned about this. I would get the car back ASAP and get it inspected elsewhere. I would also demand the parts back that they have removed, so they can be inspected by someone else.
You are in a really tricky situation because they probably won't give you the car back until you've paid for what they have done. If you find that the work was unnecessary then you will have to claim the money back from them, I expect.
I would say that they made a mis-diagnosis and it isn't fair that you should pay for that.

Answer 5

If a part breaks when removing it - it must have been either faulty or seized in the first place - so not the mechanic's fault. But you probably upset the garage to start with by supplying the other parts - they like to make 15% profit on supplying the necessary parts - and when they supply the parts they also guarantee them, but if you supply parts there is no guarantee. If you supply a part which later fails, you will have to pay the garage to remove AND replace it. But if they guarantee the parts, and a later replacement is needed, it should be done free of charge.

Answer 6

It's possible they're telling the truth, though I don't think much of their diagnostic abilities. I'd be concerned if I were you, particularly as it shouldn't take anywhere near as long as that - couple of days, possibly, couple of weeks, no way.

Have you a friend/brother/father who knows what he's talking about and could go with you to talk to them about what's going on?

Answer 7

A Rover 45.... hahahahahaha... no wonder it failed its MOT. You should have just scrapped it. You'll get it back, and the head gasket will go, and then you can scrap it. You have wasted your money.

Answer 8

sounds to me that they dont know whats wrong with it and are trying to eliminate things at your expense . tell them to stop and take it else where .

Answer 9

they will rob you,if they can