Cam belt snapped.....

[Hulio]

I just want to post my woe's on here.

The cam belt has snapped on my hybrid and as the car needs quite a lot of other wok on it besides this I have decided to take it off the road untill next summer.
I decided to buy a fairly cheap Rover 45 club turbodiesel to save money on fuel and so that my wife can drive it also as I dont let her anywhere near the clio!

Anyway, the garage that had just done some work on it for the m.o.t. that it had two days before I bought the car did not replace the circlip that holds the lower wishbone on to the hub on the offside wheel. I pulled away from some traffic lights and..........thud! SCRAPE!!!!!!!
The wheel was turned 90 degress away from the car and was pressed up into the arch whilst gear oil pissed out from where the drive shaft was pulled out in the process, it now needs a new wishbone, new drive shaft and new wing........oh and some gear oil.

This crap never happened in ten years of owning the clio and to make matters worse, when I called to swap the insurance over, I found that the diesel is MORE expensive to insure...........?

WHY GOD WHY!!!!!!!!!

[BristolSam16v]

Harsh but can't you take it back to the garage that cocked up the hub though? And do you mean the bolt which holds the lower ball joint/wishbone onto the hub?

[white16valver]

as above, goods sold must be fit for purpose, surely!

I know it's all that sold as seen bollocks but surely selling a dangerous car means you have some comeback?

[Wobba]

Yes of course you have a comeback on the garage. The law recognises that the average joe in the street is not a trained mechanic and should not be expected to spot flaws in workmanship like this, plus you have a right to expect things to be done properly when you pay a tradesman/professional. This is a right we all have.

It is clearly not wear and tear if you just drove it out of the garage! Take it back, tell them what you want. If they try and resist, use legal leverage. Get advice from CAB if you have to. They will suggest trading standards and small claims court.

[valverJam]

^^^ totally agree, i had a cambelt changed on a valver last year by a garage, after a couple of months i had a major fuel leak under the bonnet, they had put everything back after replacing the belt and left a fuel line touching a belt it cut through after a while, i got them out and they fixed everything for nothing.

[Hulio]

Thanks for the advice guys. On reply to a previous post, yes it was the bolt on the ball joint.
I contacted the guy I bought the car from and he contacted the garage that did the work. I also spoke to the garage and they claim that they did replace the cv joint boot but that they did not touch that particular bolt.....anyway, they should have noticed it right? Also it should have been noticed in the m.o.t. right?
The garage have agreed to rectify the problem for free though although they are taking their sweet time in picking up the car as its been sitting outside my mother in laws house since sunday night. I only broke down 5 minutes from there, a bit of luck.

[1995clio16v]

Similar story to me.

Took it into Renault for a cambelt change, came out, oil pissing out everywhere.

Never leaked a pin dot of oil when it went in and in 2 years of owning it.

They refused any responsibility whatsoever.

However FACT was they ****ed it up.

Kick up enough fuss mate and threaten and it will get you far in this day and age.

It will be more worth their while to fix than doing any small court claims, solicitors etc!!

[Hulio]

I just have to add to this that I had just completed a 200 mile round trip from london to bristol in the car on the motorway to be a godfather at a christening on the same day that it happened. I am counting my lucky stars that it did not happen whilst I was on the motorway......

[number1]

Im pretty certain you have to undo the bottom balljoint on those cars to do the cv boots, they are pigs to change on these cars as they have a ****ed up suspension setup (cue a rover boffin who will defend the suspension saying its real good etc etc)

just go in there talk to the boss, tell him you work for the local paper or something, it'll soon get sorted

Dave

[Allan]

they can just undo the 2 top bolts attached to the damper and pull whole shaft from the hub, i have done it on mine, its just easier to take the whole lot off but it can be done with out removing the ball joint.