Done by a bad mechanic - what would you have done?

Hi,

I've had my Mazda6 front wheel bearings replaced about 5 months ago.

The right hand wheel bearing was really bad and damaged quite badly the actual wheel hub.

The mechanic, trying to cut corners simply changed the bearings and used loctaite (!!??) to stop the new bearing from having any play inside the hub.

The mechanic told me about the loctite when i came to pick the car (after i paid the bill). In the invoice he added the following sentence "replace bearings and fix play in the wheel as much as possible". Red flags right there and then. I trusted the guy so i didn't make much of it. He also mentioned that 'the right hand wheel bearing did all sorts in the hub, we used loctite to secure the new bearing'.

To cut the story short, 5 months later i've been getting grinding noise coming from the right hand wheel. Apparently the bearing failed again. I took my car to the same place. The business was sold to a young guy recently and when i took my car there he told me he' has been having quite alot of work (done by the previous owner) come back since he took over. I felt really sorry for the guy.

We discussed my issue and he made me feel like this is a free repair under the garage warranty and that i will not have to pay again for replacing the right bearing. He also said he will talk directly to the previous owner (the old mechanic) to get him to pay some of the bill.

I called to ask when i can come pick my car today and was told the bill for my car is $750 (!!) and that i can not take my car until it is fully paid. I was also told by the new mechanic that they will not bear the costs (same place, same business name) and that it is the previous owner problem.

What would you have done?

 

It's the same business name, but the old business has closed down/moved on.

There is little you could do in this situation, perhaps contact fair trading, however, they can't do much if the business has closed/been sold.

I'd suggest not taking your vehicle to that place again.

 

Update, after much arguments with the new owner we agreed on me paying only for the actual parts replaced. Labour free.

So i was happy to pay $400 and get my car back. Almost 1.5+ years after, the car still drives great. The new mechanic did a great job.