Garage dilemma - would you go back?

[SMOG]

Just wanted to share my experience and get an opinion.

Back in 2008 my local Audi stealership packed up and left. I took my S3 to a newly established local VW/Audi indy owned by a former Audi Master technician. Something happened which made me swear never to go back.

Over a few weeks I had spent @£1200 getting work done, inc cambelt, water pump, sparks - full service and cylinder head.  I picked up my car from them and after a few days noticed an intermittent metallic tapping sound under acceleration, but couldn't work out where it was coming from - somewhere around under the front engine area. This persisted intermittently for a few days, but didn't seem to affect the car's performance. I had to take a trip up North that weekend, the tapping got worse and more persistent. The strange thing was it seemed to get better or worse depending on my speed, so I drove at whatever speed was affecting it least.

I was going to get it checked properly when I got back to London. On the way back down the M1 it got worse and the car started shaking. I pulled into a service station and looked the car over but couldn't see anything wrong. It was Sunday, getting dark and I just wanted to get home. I got back on the motorway and it had calmed down. I was in the middle lane doing 60-70mph when the front of the car started shaking violently and then suddenly the passenger side just collapsed. It sounded like that side of the car was scraping along the road.

I turned on my hazards, and luckily the cars behind saw I was in trouble and I was able to steer/scrape across onto the hard shoulder. I thought the suspension had collapsed - the wheel was wedged under the wing. I called the AA and waited 2 hours for the recovery lorry. I told the guy what happened. He jacked the car up and had a look. Turns out the garage didn't tighten the wheel nuts properly on that wheel and they had been working themselves loose over a few days. The plastic hub cap had stopped them from flying off - all five were intact. He put the wheel back on but couldn't let me drive it as the tyre was damaged and there could be other issues.

Anyway, I went to the garage the next day and told them what happened. To his credit he replaced the tyre, tracking, and repaired any damage to the underside of the car - although at no point did he admit liability. Unsurprisingly, I never went back there and took my car elsewhere. Since then his garage has won 3 Audi Indy service provider awards and gained a very good rep as a VW/Audi specialist.

Would any of you consider going back to a garage if you had the same experience as me?

[bodger00]

Nope - your lucky your alive!

[vRS Carl]

They, in a round about way, admitted liability by fixing the car.

Personally i would put it down to a bad experience and a mistake that could happen at any garage. If they had denied all responsibility and said "tough luck guv'nor that wil be £xxx's to fix" then yes id avoid like the plague. But otherwise i'd use them but be quite meticulous in checking any work done.

[chungster]

they do say if the wheels have come off at a service / tyre change etc you should check and re tighten them if necessary after 100 miles.

[ub7rm]

I had a similar sort of experience with a very well regarded VAG specialist a few years ago when they did the timing belt on mk mk4 1.8T.  The tits replumbed the fuel lines so the tank became pressurised and was spilling out all over the shop.  There was fuel spraying about in the engine bay too.  I got out of the car at home to find petrol pouring out the fuel filler and pooling under the car and dripping from the engine.  I put some distance between myself and the car pronto and started shouting down the phone.  It was an easy but stupid mistake to make as the fuel lines all look the same but apparently this  particular mechanic had done the same thing a week earlier.

I've never been back and never will.  I could easily have been toast for his carelessness.

[Andy]

if thier is another place you can use i would go thier--because you will always be douting thier work if you used them again

[Rampage]

It is an interesting dilemma... maybe it really was one of those crazy random bad luck episodes. There apparent awards and rep would perhaps suggest so? The fact that they made right the damage without any fuss or argument is a good sign. Perhaps it could work to your advantage in the future... if they recognise you, you may get future work at discounted rates? Agree its a big thing to trust again though...

[LouCyffer]

It's a fundamental safety error. And that makes it unforgiveable. Although errors may happen, the severity of it is shocking. It's not as if they forgot to stamp your service book, even the newest spanner jockey knows that wheel nuts need torquing. I'd never go back. I must add that I may have been slightly more demonstrable to said establishment post-incident too. Well done on your restraint, that loose wheel could have caused a lot more than a 2 hour delay.

Thank god none of that lot work in the aviation industry. Kinda puts it into a serious perspective, doesn't it?

[stealthwolf]

As above, I think the severity of the situation means I'd never use them again. Awards don't mean anything.

Or you could make them double-check everything every time you go. It might make them think before they give you back the keys!

[SMOG]

Thanks for your thoughts. All valid points (inc. that it was my fault for not checking after 100 miles). Opinions seem split on this - which probably explains why I'm in two minds myself. The owner seemed a genuinely decent bloke. The company's expanded, and the guy who worked on my car may be gone. In my head I'm thinking they'll take extra care with my car after what happened - but maybe that's just wishful thinking. 

The car is has been on longlife servicing - things done at odd intervals. I want to change it to T&D next service but I'm confused as to what needs doing. I definitely don't want to take it to one of the 'high street' service chains and I don't trust any local garages to look after it properly. The only alternative is to take it to the main dealer which I don't really want to do.

[zoomered]

I would stay clear of main dealer servicing. I recently purchased a full vw history car from a dealer, just serviced. Hit a pothole after 300miles and knackered a tyre. Went to remove the wheel and the air gun would only shift 3 of the 5 nuts. Got a lengthy breaker bar on the remaining 2 nuts and only just managed to shift them. They had just been hounded up with the gun, definately no torqueing involved. All wheels had no copper slip on any threads either, it doesn't take 2 seconds to put a bit on before putting a bolt back in. Shoddy if you ask me. Its lucky the tyre didn't puncture because there would have been no getting that wheel off at the side of the road!

Sorry that this is the opposite of your original problem but it just shows how crap dealers are...

[gazbutS3]

I wouldn't go back, it could have been a genuine error, human factors let this kind of thing happen sometimes, but it would put me off.

I had a VAG specialist change the clutch in my car and they forgot to put any oil in the transfer box causing it to sieze in the middle lane of the M6 doing 70 
They admitted liability, put a new transfer box in free of charge, but I've never been back

[vRSAlex]

I wouldn't go back, it could have been a genuine error, human factors let this kind of thing happen sometimes, but it would put me off.

I had a VAG specialist change the clutch in my car and they forgot to put any oil in the transfer box causing it to sieze in the middle lane of the M6 doing 70 
They admitted liability, put a new transfer box in free of charge, but I've never been back

Now thats a bummer!  I can never understand why the transfer box would get removed when doing a clutch.  The gearbox comes off with the transfer box connected with no issues at all.  The transfer box's oil isnt separate to the gearbox anyway so its strange you had it seize.

[gazbutS3]

I wouldn't go back, it could have been a genuine error, human factors let this kind of thing happen sometimes, but it would put me off.

I had a VAG specialist change the clutch in my car and they forgot to put any oil in the transfer box causing it to sieze in the middle lane of the M6 doing 70 
They admitted liability, put a new transfer box in free of charge, but I've never been back

Now thats a bummer!  I can never understand why the transfer box would get removed when doing a clutch.  The gearbox comes off with the transfer box connected with no issues at all.  The transfer box's oil isnt separate to the gearbox anyway so its strange you had it seize.

I was told, by the garage, that the oil in the 8P S3 transfer box and gearbox are seperate and they forgot to top the transfer box up after priming it with a litre of oil, is this not the case, I'd be very interested  to find out, I just took there word for it

[SMOG]

I would stay clear of main dealer servicing. I recently purchased a full vw history car from a dealer, just serviced. Hit a pothole after 300miles and knackered a tyre. Went to remove the wheel and the air gun would only shift 3 of the 5 nuts. Got a lengthy breaker bar on the remaining 2 nuts and only just managed to shift them. They had just been hounded up with the gun, definately no torqueing involved. All wheels had no copper slip on any threads either, it doesn't take 2 seconds to put a bit on before putting a bolt back in. Shoddy if you ask me. Its lucky the tyre didn't puncture because there would have been no getting that wheel off at the side of the road!

Sorry that this is the opposite of your original problem but it just shows how crap dealers are...

I've had bad experiences at main stealers too, which is why I didn't want to go back to them.

Unfortunately, unless someone can recommend a VAG specialist in NW London area, I don't feel I have much choice.