Unnecessary carb replacement

[Paterkie]

My son(student) drives a VW Jetta which began to backfire and the engine is choppy.

He took the car to a VW workshop and they replaced the carb telling him that was the problem. After a R5000 repair bill the symptoms are still there. Now they say the TCI unit is faulty and will repair for R6000.
They also told him the old carb had a leak and had to be replaced.

To me this seems a bit fishy as I got a estimate for a TCI unit for around R500. My advice to him was to demand they put the old carb back and give him his money back.

What is his chances to succeed under the new consumer act?

[adrianh]

Backfiring can be caused by several reasons including a faulty carb, ignition module, fuel pump etc. The only problem I can see is if there was really a fault in the carb and that it was reasonable to replace the carb. They could then say that it was the first step in solving a compound problem.

My little car has developed a serious leak in the secondary clutch servo. So I call Fiat and ask them for the cost of a service kit. No they say, it is sold as a complete unit for R1,2000. Say what, I have to purchase the entire thing because two rubber seals are worn out, I think not. We stripped it and made shims that fit like shell bearings between the shaft and the seal - cost - nothing. It is not a perfect solution and it won't last forever but it does solve the problem cheaply for a while at least.

I'd love to know how much stuff just gets replaced for no reason.

[AndyD]

I think under the terms of the consumer protection act the garage must offer you any old parts back.

[SilverNodashi]

sounds like a case I had a few years ago on an Audio A3 where Audio said the Turbo was faulty and replaced it @ R17K (this was before the CPA, and they did it without my prior consent). The "noisy" sound in the new Turbo wasn't gone though and they said I need to replace the manifold and possible fuel injectors as well - at another R12K I think. So I tell them to shove the quote up where it's very dark. At the end of the day, there was a odd whistling sound, which they thought was a faulty Turbo, due to a leave that was stuck in the air-intake, and it only produced the sound at high speeds.

So, yes, suppliers often shaft their (ignorant?) clients for things which don't need to be replaced.

[Justloadit]

Hahaha, the leaf was acting like a sound reed when the high flow of air passed over it, just like a harmonica.

[adrianh]

I had a Nissan 200SX. The car also started misfiring and Nissan diagnoed it to be faulty coils. The car didn't have a single coil before the distributor but a coil on each plug controlled by the ECU. They quoted me R400 per coil. I decided to take a look myself because I thought it odd that all four coils would give trouble simultaneously. The coills each had a brush (just like the brush on a normal electric motor). The brushes had worn out. I went to a company in town that makes up brushes and I ended up paying a total of R40 o get the car perfect.

The same car developed a main bearing knock. Took it to Nissan again and was quoted R53K. They quoted me to replace every single part in the motor including, I am not lying, the radiator cap. After complaining bitterly the qoute was reduced t R46K. So I shulped into the workshop and had a talk to the mechanic. I asked him what he would do if it was his car. He said he would regrind the main bearing journals and fit new bearings. I asked him why he qouted me for all the other crap and he said that it is policy. So, we did exactly as he said for R5K and the car was perfect...

[Paterkie]

After a refund minus a handling fee of 20% they took out the new carb.
Did'nt even bother to put the old carb back. He had to tow the vehicle away, worse than when he took it in.
It is sad that custumers get such bad service if any.

[SilverNodashi]

After a refund minus a handling fee of 20% they took out the new carb.
Did'nt even bother to put the old carb back. He had to tow the vehicle away, worse than when he took it in.
It is sad that custumers get such bad service if any.

Have you lodged a complaint about this with the National Consumer Commission? It's time that we stand up against suppliers who bully their client around like for for every cent they have.