Clio 172
Ok, hey all it's a shame my first real post is coming from a bad experience and this this could be a long story, so I'll try and condense it as much as possible.
I bought a 172 approx 2 months ago pretty cheap as it was due a belt and also the clutch was slipping. Gearbox would sometimes grind into third but I put this down to the clutch being on it's last legs. So after driving it for a month and having no problems, decided it was worth biting the bullet and having all the belts done and at the same time the clutch.
So after best part of £800 spent getting the car in top order (all genuine Renault parts), and after approx 300 miles (2/3 weeks) of having the belts done, I'm driving a bit spirited on the way back from an evening out with the missus and do a pretty fast change from 2nd to 3rd (the same kind as when the old clutch was in) - really bad crunch and it wouldn't go into gear. Thought it was strange, so tried again, it went into gear and and as soon as I lifted the clutch it went bang and the gearbox s**t itself. I didn't know what was going on and panicked and slowed right down. Got my senses back and slowly tested to see if I had any other gears. I managed to ease it into 4th and it sounded absolutely horrible - literally like someone had thrown a bag of nuts and bolts into the box. Tried for 5th, no drive when putting it in, 3rd just wasn't there at all. I managed to get it home the 30 odd miles using 4th and second gear with some real funny looks when people went past :smiley:
Anyway, I source a box and had it booked in with someone recommended to me by a friend. Box change went fine, text message saying it drives lovely and it's ready to pick up when I want. Then a text message simply saying "Ring me". I phone the guy up and receive; "I've got some bad news for you, your cambelts gone". This is after 1 or 2 miles of the box being changed, and also hear that he was "ragging it" up and down the road (I knew someone at the BP garage it was left). Now I'm stuck in a really awkward place. The guy wants his money for fitting the box, whilst giving me back a fuxed car that was simply left at a local BP garage and saying I should take it up with the people who fitted my belt. Basically, he's taking no responsibility of it at all. This was last Thursday, so I was left with the headache of sorting it out and being so much out of pocket and wtf am I going to do, when I should have been enjoying a Friday day and night away with the missus, and then my mothers birthday on the Saturday night.
So after leaving it there Friday and Saturday as I was unable to get over there and collect it, I get it home the Sunday morning and have a little look to try and diagnose what's happened with the guy who fitted the belt. After a bit of looking around, the guy who done the belt can only see a mark on the crank pulley where the engine has been dropped to change the box, if this had anything to do with it we don't know, but it wasn't there before. It couldn't really have gone any worse, both belts have stayed intact. The aux belt has come off at speed, and jammed in the cambelt cover, which in turn has strangled it and caused it to skip a couple of teeth. One cam is at 1 o'clock, and the other one is at say half 2. It's also dumped all it's water from somewhere (I'm guessing water pump when the belt has strangled everything).
Basically the guy who changed the box can't see how it was anything he did, and the person who did the belt is 100% he did everything right and it's a bit of a coincidence I drive it 300 miles without a problem, yet the person who has changed the box get's 2 miles down the road and it all goes to poop. It's currently sat in the guy's garage who did the belt, and although he's a friend, I can't expect him to look at it too far and diagnose it for free when he's a one man band and he's got other jobs booked in.
I really don't know what way to go with this, who should be taking responsibility for this?
Sorry for the wall of text, and this is the condensed version :smiley:
I bought a 172 approx 2 months ago pretty cheap as it was due a belt and also the clutch was slipping. Gearbox would sometimes grind into third but I put this down to the clutch being on it's last legs. So after driving it for a month and having no problems, decided it was worth biting the bullet and having all the belts done and at the same time the clutch.
So after best part of £800 spent getting the car in top order (all genuine Renault parts), and after approx 300 miles (2/3 weeks) of having the belts done, I'm driving a bit spirited on the way back from an evening out with the missus and do a pretty fast change from 2nd to 3rd (the same kind as when the old clutch was in) - really bad crunch and it wouldn't go into gear. Thought it was strange, so tried again, it went into gear and and as soon as I lifted the clutch it went bang and the gearbox s**t itself. I didn't know what was going on and panicked and slowed right down. Got my senses back and slowly tested to see if I had any other gears. I managed to ease it into 4th and it sounded absolutely horrible - literally like someone had thrown a bag of nuts and bolts into the box. Tried for 5th, no drive when putting it in, 3rd just wasn't there at all. I managed to get it home the 30 odd miles using 4th and second gear with some real funny looks when people went past :smiley:
Anyway, I source a box and had it booked in with someone recommended to me by a friend. Box change went fine, text message saying it drives lovely and it's ready to pick up when I want. Then a text message simply saying "Ring me". I phone the guy up and receive; "I've got some bad news for you, your cambelts gone". This is after 1 or 2 miles of the box being changed, and also hear that he was "ragging it" up and down the road (I knew someone at the BP garage it was left). Now I'm stuck in a really awkward place. The guy wants his money for fitting the box, whilst giving me back a fuxed car that was simply left at a local BP garage and saying I should take it up with the people who fitted my belt. Basically, he's taking no responsibility of it at all. This was last Thursday, so I was left with the headache of sorting it out and being so much out of pocket and wtf am I going to do, when I should have been enjoying a Friday day and night away with the missus, and then my mothers birthday on the Saturday night.
So after leaving it there Friday and Saturday as I was unable to get over there and collect it, I get it home the Sunday morning and have a little look to try and diagnose what's happened with the guy who fitted the belt. After a bit of looking around, the guy who done the belt can only see a mark on the crank pulley where the engine has been dropped to change the box, if this had anything to do with it we don't know, but it wasn't there before. It couldn't really have gone any worse, both belts have stayed intact. The aux belt has come off at speed, and jammed in the cambelt cover, which in turn has strangled it and caused it to skip a couple of teeth. One cam is at 1 o'clock, and the other one is at say half 2. It's also dumped all it's water from somewhere (I'm guessing water pump when the belt has strangled everything).
Basically the guy who changed the box can't see how it was anything he did, and the person who did the belt is 100% he did everything right and it's a bit of a coincidence I drive it 300 miles without a problem, yet the person who has changed the box get's 2 miles down the road and it all goes to poop. It's currently sat in the guy's garage who did the belt, and although he's a friend, I can't expect him to look at it too far and diagnose it for free when he's a one man band and he's got other jobs booked in.
I really don't know what way to go with this, who should be taking responsibility for this?
Sorry for the wall of text, and this is the condensed version :smiley: