Garage crashes Nova in for MOT....

[retrogeezer]

Not sure if this has been posted, I didn't see it if it has, feel sorry for the car owner:

 

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread ... ead-this!!!

[dollywobbler]

That's truly shocking. What a cowboy operation! Didn't read it all but I hope he got it sorted in the end.

[warren t claim]

I read as far as .........The outcome of this one could be interesting with car still being a 1.3 on the logbook! Think there could be an arguement there as the car shouldn't have been on the road in the first place. .............

[dollywobbler]

Someone's quoted a link to a news story - not the first time this garage has smashed stuff up apparently. M&J Motors in Swansea - TO BE AVOIDED!

[Ross_K]

No sympathy here for the "1.3 on logbook" arseholes.

 

He's running a 2.0 and the DVLA thinks he's got a 1.3 under the bonnet? What are the penalties for that?

Date of Liability 01 10 2012

Date of First Registration 03 06 1989

Year of Manufacture 1989

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1297cc

[Cavcraft]

If he'd crashed it himself I'd have no sympathy but this was entirely the garages fault so I do feel sorry for the owner.

[Micrashed]

Something similar happened in Lytham a few years ago, bloke takes his Astra in for a service (sporty one) garage YTS takes it for a "spin" to test the brakes and totals it leaving the road and going through a hedge winding up upside down in a field.

 

Astra owner understandably furious and eventually got a brand new Astra out of all the compo.

YTS bloke broke both legs.

Garage went under as insurance would not cover them.

[RedSparrow]

Deffo the garages fault, sound like they were messing about with it.

Sadly though the lads insurance will be invalid if it's still 1.3 on the paperwork, so I doubt he could persue any kind of claim.

[Ross_K]

What does a redtop put out? 150-200bhp?

 

Maybe some apprentice assumed it was a 1.3 and didn't expect the power delivery he got? Just saying...

 

We don't know the full story of what went on/whether the garage knew what was under the bonnet/etc.

 

A friend of mine had his car written off by a mechanic on a parts run/joyride - the garage owner paid up but circumstances could be different there...

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

OK, shit does happen, but I am impressed by the garage's GR9 SERVICE REKOVEREE SKILZ!!1!

 

Irrespective of what's on the logbook, what the insurance says yadda yadda ya, this is a clear case of the garage failing to exercise their duty of care to the customer and they would be held 100% liable for the damage if this were to go to court. Generally, I do try to avoid generalisations , but I imagine that most members of the L@@K REDTOP NOVA brigade would be too scared of the law (especially if they've done something wrong, even if that's completely irrelevant to the case in hand) to even write a nasty legal letter.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. Two wrongs don't make a right. The attitude of the garage absolutely stinks. You just know they hooned it for a joyride.

 

He is a twat for keeping it as a 1.3 on the logbook - though I'm sure at some point he says it was declared modified on the insurance.

[Spiny Norman]

Am I just being a bit dim here, but why was someone from the garage even driving it on the road if all it was in for was an MOT anyway?

Don't they usually just drive a punter's car from the car park to the MOT bay and back again, or did they somehow smash it doing just that?

Sorry, the original post is 20 odd paged long and I CBA reading it all to find all the ins and outs of it.

[Micrashed]

Unsure if this relates to that car or maybe is another one

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Damag ... story.html

[Wilko220]

The crash is, of course, the garage's fault and their attitude is not acceptable. It's also a shame to see a Nova written off.

However, these "1.3 on the logbook" pricks are one of the reasons that insurance is so expensive for the rest of us. So I have very limited sympathy.

[Angrydicky]

To be fair to the bloke, he does say it's insured as a 2.0 with all mods declared, so he's only saving a bit on road tax. I do feel sorry for him, that was a really tidy car and I know I'd be gutted if it happened to me.

[Richard]

It could be that he's tried to notify DVLA of the change.

[eddyramrod]

I just did read the entire thread and the link to the second story. OK, Nova boy is wrong for not getting his V5 changed, but that doesn't affect his right to expect the service he asked for from his local garage, and to be treated like a human being, or even possibly a valued customer, when it went pear-shaped. From what I've read, he's been threatened with violence and verbally abused, and now the garage owner is holding back the legal process by not notifying his insurance. People are advising the lad to keep calm and just badger the police, VOSA, Trading Standards, etc, and I'm inclined to agree. I would have wanted the car removing from the premises immediately though, preferably to my own address; there's been no mention of that. Last we saw was NB throwing the keys back at the garage and walking away. I'd also have about 1100 more photos of the damage all over the internet...

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

The garage doesn't have to put this through its insurance. The Nova owner can just issue them a demand and, if they don't pay, take them to small claims court, which is really painless.

[Pete-M]

The garage doesn't have to put this through its insurance. The Nova owner can just issue them a demand and, if they don't pay, take them to small claims court, which is really painless.

 

and spectacularly fucking pointless.

 

Trick is to say to the garage "You've bent my car driving it when it was in for an MOT. Therefore you either fix it to my satisfaction, or pay me enough money to replace it, otherwise it's going through your insurance".

 

Small claims court will just end up with the garage offering to pay a menial sum "Novas are worth £50" and he'd be unlikely to get the cash within a few years.

 

Your faith in the British legal system is somewhat bewildering, Luxo. I deal with it on a daily basis and if the garage has a half decent solicitor they could get that Nova valued in a small claims court at 1/3 of fuck all.

[trigger]

The long and short of it is that the Nova shouldn't have been driven on the road during a mot test without the owners permission, surely that could be classed as thief if the owner decided to go down that route but ultimately the garage should be insured for that kind of thing, It should be a simple case of the garage ringing to say they have fucked up and will get the repairs or total loss payout sorted via their insurance company and should lend the customer a courtesy car mean while.

 

Years ago i had to collect a Daewoo Espero from a tyre & exhaust centre after a young mechanic not used to automatics drove the car of the 4 post ramp with the drivers door open wrenching it around the wing, The garages insurance paid out quickly and the customer got his car repaired whist having a loan car meanwhile, that's how it should work.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

The garage doesn't have to put this through its insurance. The Nova owner can just issue them a demand and, if they don't pay, take them to small claims court, which is really painless.

 

and spectacularly fucking pointless.

 

Trick is to say to the garage "You've bent my car driving it when it was in for an MOT. Therefore you either fix it to my satisfaction, or pay me enough money to replace it, otherwise it's going through your insurance".

 

Small claims court will just end up with the garage offering to pay a menial sum "Novas are worth £50" and he'd be unlikely to get the cash within a few years.

 

Your faith in the British legal system is somewhat bewildering, Luxo. I deal with it on a daily basis and if the garage has a half decent solicitor they could get that Nova valued in a small claims court at 1/3 of fuck all.

 

If he's gone to the trouble of having insured it with an agreed valuation (which he must've done what with having those mods declared), he should have no issues proving the car's value to him. I've been involved in a fair amount of litigation threats (both threatening others and being threatened) and a couple of 'fast-track' (just over 5k) cases, and I've found the process to be really reasonable. That's just for contract law, mind- I wouldn't have as much faith in the system in a case of the state coming after me.

 

Having said that, Hirst may well have a point with regards to phantom "reorganisations" in case of trouble. Although it's probably not worth it for a claim that's barely a worth a bag o'sand.

[Lankytim]

If I was Mr horrible garage owner i'd just have the Nova crushed and deny all knowledge. Job jobbed.

[ruffgeezer]

If I were mr nova owner, I'd have the garage owner crushed and sold to the local kebab shop and deny all knowledge.

[Ross_K]

It could be that he's tried to notify DVLA of the change.

 

Aye right.

 

Owner of the garage is being awkward so I have to go through Insurance (of which the car is fully covered on a modified policy).

My insurance company cant do anything as I wasnt driving!!!

 

How many of us don't have a clue what our policies cover us for? Scary.

[Burnside]

Not much else to say that hasn't been said all ready about this. But regardless of the logbook issue or for the people who don't like Nova's at the end of the day this bunch of w**kers who cliam to run a garage have destroyed his pride and joy. An then to treat him they way they have on top of it is just terrible. Hope the cars owner can get justice {though Im sure there are people who might just do it for him!} I think getting the media and vosa etc involved is the wright way to go with it.

 

I think if it was me I would be doing a 10 stretch by now. Muture, No but I'd feel a hell of alot better afterwards for it.

[Station]

Love the wheels!

He wasnt driving the car, he may have only completed engine change, etc I don't know of many people actually declare engine changes, hardly a war crime, eh?

[Bobthebeard]

Resurrecting and old thread here, but had a similar kind of experience once ten or so years ago. I owned a rather tidy Citroen DS Safari and took it into a specialist garage for servicing and an MOT. They serviced it and MOT'd it but rang me to say 'there is a problem with your car'.

Turns out that somehow, massive damage to the near side rear and tailgate had occurred when it was 'being parked in the yard after the MOT'. The garage told me that a coach belonging to the company in the unit next door had reversed into it whilst turning round.

To cut a very long saga/story short, three insurance companies were involved, mine, the Citroen garage and the coach company.

The coach company claimed that the mechanic had hit a stationary coach whilst driving my car around the industrial estate. The Citroen garage denied this, and said the car was parked up! The result was almost 18 months of legal wrangling and arguing between them. Result was my car written off and I got less than 50% of its value. Arse.

I found out years later that one of the lads in the garage had indeed been hooning around the industrial estate in it on his tea break!

Lesson learned.

[Bobthebeard]

Resurrecting and old thread here, but had a similar kind of experience once ten or so years ago. I owned a rather tidy Citroen DS Safari and took it into a specialist garage for servicing and an MOT. They serviced it and MOT'd it but rang me to say 'there is a problem with your car'.

Turns out that somehow, massive damage to the near side rear and tailgate had occurred when it was 'being parked in the yard after the MOT'. The garage told me that a coach belonging to the company in the unit next door had reversed into it whilst turning round.

To cut a very long saga/story short, three insurance companies were involved, mine, the Citroen garage and the coach company.

The coach company claimed that the mechanic had hit a stationary coach whilst driving my car around the industrial estate. The Citroen garage denied this, and said the car was parked up! The result was almost 18 months of legal wrangling and arguing between them. Result was my car written off and I got less than 50% of its value. Arse.

I found out years later that one of the lads in the garage had indeed been hooning around the industrial estate in it on his tea break!

Lesson learned.