Shop denying responsibility after ruining car - what can be done?
 

Hi all,

My dad took his 3 series to a private shop in order to get a sunroof leak fixed. A day later we were told the leak was fixed, however he reports the car now won't start and all the dashboard lights are on, and to give him some time to fix it. After calling later, he says the car now starts but the dashboard lights are still on, and says to take the car now, as the dashboard lights will go away once it dries.

I told my dad not to take the car back while it's not yet fixed, as i highly doubted this problem would resolve on its own. As we call each day, the problem is still not fixed, and the shop owner claims this problem is not his fault and that he didn't do anything wrong, despite being aware that no lights were on when we brought the vehicle. He also says he doesn't know what the problem is, and keeps pushing to give him more time to try and fix it, but we never hear anything back and always have to call. So far it has been two weeks that the car has been sitting at his shop, with nothing done.

What can be done as he does not seem to be trying anything to fix the problem, and just keeps trying to delay and deny any responsibility. Any advice appreciated

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and talk to a lawyer.

take it to the dealer for a second opinion

The sunroof leak caused subsequent damage to wiring and or electronics. It's not the shops fault. I can't blame them for not figuring it out , it's a pretty complex fault to find.

Your dads in for a world of hurt

Lawyer up. The shop should be able to show what, if any components are damaged due to the leak. It's pretty straightforward.

But then no lights were ever on the vehicle prior to bringing it in, and only happened during the time in his repair.. if he can't figure it out I don't think he should've even attempted a repair in the first place.

Spoke to the service manager at a bmw dealer who I've known for a while and he mentioned the repair may have been done improperly. suggested to bring it in for a look but the shop and gave a rough quote but the shop would not be willing to pay it and keeps dragging it on

Sometimes shit does go wrong that is not the shops fault. You can bring your car in for a tire rotation and the shop might snap a wheel stud (because the lug nut was cross threaded on prior to service) but then the customer always says "well it was on just fine when I brought it in" etc etc

Possible water damage can be far reaching, if you have no faith in the shop, take it to the dealer, get a lawyer, call the BBB but don't forget that you might not win 100%

You have a friend at a BMW dealer whom could have taken care of your BMW? Yet you go private shop to get it fixed? why to save money , I see no savings at all.
FailFish

Yes, I know the service manager but can't say he's a close friend just previously dealt with him a lot for my own vehicle, and that doesn't equtd to any savings necessarily. Also, I found out from my dad after he took it to this place and had this problem. The problem has already oxcured and I'm just asking for any suggestions that anyone may have


Also, the shop rate was much less than at a dealership. Not like anyone would've known beforehand it'd have his problem after the repair

which shop was this?

I'm pretty sure your pre existing water leak flooded some wiring/modules/sensors and it just so happens that the no start/dash lights came up while the car was at the shop. What fixed the water leak?

Bring your car back to the BMW dealer for a diag. I doubt the issue was caused by a water leak repair.

The shop was Bowma Auto Service and I believe the leak was fixed by unclogging the drains of the sunroof. I could take it elsewhere to diag, but have already been told that it could be likely due to the repair, so then who should be assuming responsibility? Shouldn't the current shop be looking for a solution as this problem happened there

BBB = useless.. you probably get more reaction from a bad yelp review. or do what other BMW owners had done throughout Vancouver history, park the BMW outside the dealership every day with graffiti claiming the shop had done them wrong.

Lawyer = for the amount of damage, also useless. Unless you know the final bill amount, chances are it will go to small claims which you don't need a lawyer for.

The only thing your dad can possibly do if the shop decline to accept responsibility is go through small claims. But before that he has to have fix the car and know how much exactly he is out of the pocket.

good luck

"Bring My Wrench"

Either that or someone did a leak test to find out where leak was which initiated the problems with electronics and/or made it even worse

They were the ones who diagnosed and tested it as a sunroof leak though. As initially we only noticed the passenger side of the carpets got soaked whenever it rained

The issue here is if you want to chase after the shop. You will have to fix the problem first, in order to present the court / shop with a monetary amount.

Who told you? Do you have it in writing? if not it will be heresay.
The question is do you have the stamina to go through with the case. Remember small claims is any amount less than 25k. Unless your 3er is a unicorn. I am not sure it is worth it.

for what it's worth, I know the owner of the shop and have taken many vehicles there. He has always been super honest and upfront with me, and charges very reasonable prices.

i'm just wondering how you think the shop could have caused the car to not start and dash lights to come on through an error. all they were doing was fixing the sunroof leak..

Because it happened while it's in the shop during the repairs...in fact it has still been at the shop. It's not like this happened after the car was taken back or anything

Even if it's not the shop's fault, IMO, it's still their responsibility to fix it, even if they charge you.
If they take on a job, they should be aware of directly related side effects, and how to resolve those, or else don't take the job.

Above, there was the example of the wheel stud. That isn't the shops fault, but they should know how to fix it. I would be pissed if that happened, and they said sorry, not our fault, come tow the car away, we can't fix it.

My 540 just recently blew the upper radiator hose. After it was replaced, when they tested the system, the lower one blew as well. So they fixed it as well, charged me, and got the car back to me.

what year / series is the car?
Can you start pulling relays / fuses?

did I read..... "bowma" ...



:suspicious:

I used to work at an auto glass shop and we did lots of leak testing and hunting from bumper to bumper. Most times you have to take apart the entire interior to get right down to the frame and find the tiniest holes. One instance we were required to find a leak which resulted in the dash being taken apart and later put back together by either someone who didnt take it apart or by someone who has no idea what they were doing. They were headache jobs with a lot of responsibility and we always tried to avoid them but my boss was greedy and took on every leak job and usually ended up unsolved and lost money. All while the customers car sat in the shop for weeks to months. I would say the shop is probably responsible for this one. I know that my boss used to send the guy who got paid the least to find the leaks cause it costed the least to spend all that time on it.

I see we've already gone through all the real responses so I'll provide my response:

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/...fdc8ea66c7.jpg

saving 40 dollars cost you alot more than a legit bmw repair place...gg,You Took the gamble and lost,they prob knocked out a wire somewhere and don't know where with 1 million of them in that dash board.

who knows,maybe that place is rat infested at night and had a nice snack on you're wires.