Would you sue for this?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Your car engine light comes on - so not wanting to take chances you take the car to the garage who perform an obligatory computer diagnostic (for $100) and tell you that the error is in the coolant system. You then pay $500 to replace the thermostat and one of the coolant hoses which you are given to understand is the cause of the problem.

You drive the car for 2 weeks - at which point the car inexplicably overheats and boils over (and the engine light comes back on).

You have the car towed to the dealer garage where you originally got it fixed as they did the last batch of work. They get to looking at it "when they get around to it" and quote you an $800 repair bill for a busted water pump and a boiled coolant sensor. "Generously" the garage offers you a 10% discount on the cost of the *new* repairs.

Knowing that there aren't too many reasons why a car will overheat and boil over - does the garage have some responsibility for not correctly identifying the original problem?

[MichelleN 0]

Just from my vast TV Judge Show knowledge, I'd say no. It was driven around for two weeks with no trouble. The mechanics can cite any sort of reason for it suddenly breaking, including the owner messing with it themselves. A good rule of thumb for when they say something needs replaced is to ask for the old pieces back and to see the box the new ones came in. And of course there's me, knowing next to nothing about cars and knowing people will take advantage of that.... I just ask my dad or my brothers to check things out for me lol.

[HAL 9000 96]

I wouldn't sue but then I'd probably refer a complaint for a mis-diagnosis to the local BBB or state regulatory agency that oversees customer complaints and the like.

And I would bring that up with the shop... perhaps they can explain why they're willing to offer you a 10% discount on something that could have been detected in a diagnosis. The coolant temperature sensor should be a dead ringer.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I wouldn't sue but then I'd probably refer a complaint for a mis-diagnosis to the local BBB or state regulatory agency that oversees customer complaints and the like.

And I would bring that up with the shop... perhaps they can explain why they're willing to offer you a 10% discount on something that could have been detected in a diagnosis. The coolant temperature sensor should be a dead ringer.

Thing is - we took the car to a different dealer about 2 months ago - who already misdiagnosed the problem as a knackered coolant temp sensor - which we actually had replaced. So the one that was in there (and which has now failed) was totally brand new. Would an overheat destroy it? I kinda doubt it...

The water pump is driven by the timing belt, the belt obviously didn't fail (or we'd be looking at a new engine) so we're being led to believe that this overheat was caused by a fault in the pump itself... rather than say... an air lock in the coolant hose due to it not being flushed correctly.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

May I ask what is the make, model and year of the car?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

May I ask what is the make, model and year of the car?

2003 VW Beetle

The wife's choice... Last time she'll be doing that I think

[HAL 9000 96]

I wouldn't sue but then I'd probably refer a complaint for a mis-diagnosis to the local BBB or state regulatory agency that oversees customer complaints and the like.

And I would bring that up with the shop... perhaps they can explain why they're willing to offer you a 10% discount on something that could have been detected in a diagnosis. The coolant temperature sensor should be a dead ringer.

Thing is - we took the car to a different dealer about 2 months ago - who already misdiagnosed the problem as a knackered coolant temp sensor - which we actually had replaced. So the one that was in there (and which has now failed) was totally brand new. Would an overheat destroy it? I kinda doubt it...

The water pump is driven by the timing belt, the belt obviously didn't fail (or we'd be looking at a new engine) so we're being led to believe that this overheat was caused by a fault in the pump itself... rather than say... an air lock in the coolant hose due to it not being flushed correctly.

Interesting... I would rely on the mis-diagnosis then... can you make sure that checking a water pump is routinely done and properly diagnosed in an engine diagnosis? Somehow it escapes me that it isn't since its a commonplace summer preventative maintenance issue. I think you might have something to take up with the shop- as in making it fall on their shoulders for not finding a 'simple' error that snowballed into a larger one later.

It might depend on your car though.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I dunno - I get the feeling I'm being taken for a ride on this, but I don't know enough about cars to confirm myself, and that diagnostic stuff isn't really something you can really do yourself anyway.

I am suspicious that while the coolant temp sensor was replaced (and that this wasn't the main problem - that apparently was the thermostat and coolant hose) we drove around on that for 2 months - using the a/c without any problems.

Now 2 weeks after we have work done and the wife turns on the a/c (on a low setting) after we have a mild August the thing suddenly overheats, boils over and now we're lumbered with all these additional problems...

$1200 (we have to get the timing belt replaced anyway in addition) is basically about 1/5 of the total value of the car.

[HAL 9000 96]

Sucks... you may want to think about *sell*sell*sell*

But I do recommend checking VW forums for these kinds of stats from other Beetle users. And perhaps talking to an actual couple of VW mechanics from the dealer... if you approach them coolly I am sure they can give you good info on the frequency of water pump failure in their cars.

[*julez* 124]

Ask your question to Tom & Ray on Car Talk. They are very knowlegdeable.

Or, as Maviwaro suggested go to a VW forum.

[amiquechu 0]

Finding a good mechanic can be a tough thing to do. Once you find a good one you can trust, it's worth maybe paying a little extra and building a relationship. Some mechanics know they can get away with doing a half-azz job and make really good money from doing low-quality work. We found a good mechanic close to our house just a couple weeks ago and are RE-paying to have stuff RE-fixed that our last mechanic did an absolute sh*t job on. You live and you learn, I guess. What goes around, comes around for those MFer's.

[HAL 9000 96]

Ask your question to Tom & Ray on Car Talk. They are very knowlegdeable.

Or, as Maviwaro suggested go to a VW forum.

Then we'd have to get an air date so we could all hear 6's British voice talking about VW engineering.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Actually this weekend has turned out to be spectacularly bad for us. Here's the full list:

Friday:

Car overheats - requires tow and rent a hire car at $60 a day.

Bank flags fraudulent transactions on my bank account - $600 at CVS in Pennsylvia. ATM/Debit card cancelled and have to wait for replacement (and for money to be refunded).

Saturday:

Doctor diagnoses borderline high blood pressure - requiring change of diet and more visits to the gym.

Monday:

$1200 car repair

I'm actually in a pretty good mood surprisingly - but I'm curious to see how many other things can go wrong.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Sucks... you may want to think about *sell*sell*sell*

But I do recommend checking VW forums for these kinds of stats from other Beetle users. And perhaps talking to an actual couple of VW mechanics from the dealer... if you approach them coolly I am sure they can give you good info on the frequency of water pump failure in their cars.

That's the shitty thing really - the car is worth more or less exactly what we still have left to pay on it. If I sold it - I'd still owe about $1000 and have nothing for a downpayment on a new car... And obviously the car is next to worthless with a knackered coolant system.

[desert_fox 32]

Your car engine light comes on - so not wanting to take chances you take the car to the garage who perform an obligatory computer diagnostic (for $100) and tell you that the error is in the coolant system. You then pay $500 to replace the thermostat and one of the coolant hoses which you are given to understand is the cause of the problem.

You drive the car for 2 weeks - at which point the car inexplicably overheats and boils over (and the engine light comes back on).

You have the car towed to the dealer garage where you originally got it fixed as they did the last batch of work. They get to looking at it "when they get around to it" and quote you an $800 repair bill for a busted water pump and a boiled coolant sensor. "Generously" the garage offers you a 10% discount on the cost of the *new* repairs.

Knowing that there aren't too many reasons why a car will overheat and boil over - does the garage have some responsibility for not correctly identifying the original problem?

I would think that a thermostat for that car is on the order of $30.

Go tp Walmarts ande for less than $100 you can but a code reader that plugs into the dianostic connector and you can read your own codes.

I would talk to the owner that you think that it should have been properly diagnosed for first time, but if the water pump was working when you originally took it in, then what are they going to do. If it wasnt working, then you would have known about it within a few minutes of driving.

The timing belt is internal to the engine an has nothing to do with the water pump. You are talking about the serpentine belt which is a pain to replace an the front wheel drive engines, as you have to dismount the engine from the motor mounts and raise it a few inches to slip the new belt in.

I think the only thing you should complan about are the prices. They use standard times that are published for each kind of task for any kind of car. Check the allowable hours and the retail prices of the parts, as you paid way too much.