kas
New Member
Hi All,
Just over a month a ago, I had a problem with my boot lock which needed a part replacing. I bought the replacement part and gave the car to a local mechanic who worked from home, Sati in Southall, West London.
He had previously worked for P and S Motors in Park Royal, having closed down he was now working full time from home.
I had used him in the past and would definitely have recommended him as he knew what he was doing.
Having given the car on the Sat, I received a call from him on Sun morning- the good news was that the boot lock was fixed, the bad news was that overnight, someone had driven into the drivers side wheel.
It seems he had the car parked outside on a bend near the kerd, with the steering at full tilt facing outwards. Someone had driven past and hit the front drivers side tyre protruding out. He had jacked the car and said that what seemed damaged was the track rod on the drivers side. This wasnt much and if I picked up the part from Eurocarparts, he would replace it free of charge. The result of this accident was that when the car was driven in a straight line, it moved heavily to the right.
Pointing out to him that the car had been in his possesion and that the damadge was his responsibility I received the reply that he wasnt insured and that he had no money to pay for the part.
In order not to waste any more time, I went to Eurocar parts who informed me that only the complete Steering Rod linkage was available, this the same option at the Mercedes dealer as well.
We replaced this part, the old one had sustained considerable damage, but found the same problem persisted. The track rods were adjusted but with the tyres facing straight, the steering wheel was off about 10 Deg to the right.
He then said it may be the wishbone, I bought this and he replaced this. The problem still persisted. Then we changed the anti roll bar ( do not buy from airbagcity) which I ordered in from Merc.
Still no effect.
At this point I took the car away from him telling him that I would be in touch shortly.
The car was booked in at Wheels In Motion who ran a diagnostic with the conclusion that it may be the steering box at fault.
At this point I handed in the car to the Mercedes Bodyshop in Brentford who awaited the report of the engineer from my Insurance company, Direct Line. The engineer came over this Thursday took a look at the car, ran no tests and diagnosed that the cars fault was down to wear and tear.
I rang Direct Line in disbelief stating that how could the engineer have given an opinion without running a steering geometry test. They stated that they were going along with the conclusion of the Engineer and would not authorise a steering geometry diagnostic unless I could provide proof that the fault with the car resulted from an accident.
Tony at Wheels in Motion was top class in providing a report based on the tests run. I,ve sent this to Direct Line. They say they have passed this onto the Engineers who will let me know the answer of whether they will authorise a Steering Geometry test.
Any help guys?
Just over a month a ago, I had a problem with my boot lock which needed a part replacing. I bought the replacement part and gave the car to a local mechanic who worked from home, Sati in Southall, West London.
He had previously worked for P and S Motors in Park Royal, having closed down he was now working full time from home.
I had used him in the past and would definitely have recommended him as he knew what he was doing.
Having given the car on the Sat, I received a call from him on Sun morning- the good news was that the boot lock was fixed, the bad news was that overnight, someone had driven into the drivers side wheel.
It seems he had the car parked outside on a bend near the kerd, with the steering at full tilt facing outwards. Someone had driven past and hit the front drivers side tyre protruding out. He had jacked the car and said that what seemed damaged was the track rod on the drivers side. This wasnt much and if I picked up the part from Eurocarparts, he would replace it free of charge. The result of this accident was that when the car was driven in a straight line, it moved heavily to the right.
Pointing out to him that the car had been in his possesion and that the damadge was his responsibility I received the reply that he wasnt insured and that he had no money to pay for the part.
In order not to waste any more time, I went to Eurocar parts who informed me that only the complete Steering Rod linkage was available, this the same option at the Mercedes dealer as well.
We replaced this part, the old one had sustained considerable damage, but found the same problem persisted. The track rods were adjusted but with the tyres facing straight, the steering wheel was off about 10 Deg to the right.
He then said it may be the wishbone, I bought this and he replaced this. The problem still persisted. Then we changed the anti roll bar ( do not buy from airbagcity) which I ordered in from Merc.
Still no effect.
At this point I took the car away from him telling him that I would be in touch shortly.
The car was booked in at Wheels In Motion who ran a diagnostic with the conclusion that it may be the steering box at fault.
At this point I handed in the car to the Mercedes Bodyshop in Brentford who awaited the report of the engineer from my Insurance company, Direct Line. The engineer came over this Thursday took a look at the car, ran no tests and diagnosed that the cars fault was down to wear and tear.
I rang Direct Line in disbelief stating that how could the engineer have given an opinion without running a steering geometry test. They stated that they were going along with the conclusion of the Engineer and would not authorise a steering geometry diagnostic unless I could provide proof that the fault with the car resulted from an accident.
Tony at Wheels in Motion was top class in providing a report based on the tests run. I,ve sent this to Direct Line. They say they have passed this onto the Engineers who will let me know the answer of whether they will authorise a Steering Geometry test.
Any help guys?
Insurance companies don't like cars that have been part/badly repaired after an accident.
They like to control the whole process from accident notification--followed by assessment--- followed by repair at a certified workshop to a certain standard. 
To be honest that's entirely reasonable practice ( and I'm no fan of insurance companies believe me) Just suppose that they repair/ replace the steering box and couple of months down the line another steering item repaired by a third party they were unaware of fails.
Your car goes out of control and you mow down a queue of people waiting for a bus? The claims could be into 6 figure territory------and whose to blame???? 
By your actions you have entered the territory of unquantifiable risk and my guess is that your insurance company will be extremely reluctant to have anything to do with it. 
You may end up having to pay for the repair yourself and try to obtain recompense from your mechanic by resorting to court action?
Hopefully your insurance company will come around but-------------???
