Holiday + Car

[Nath88n 37]

So with the summer holidays coming up we made the decision to take the 205 with us to the south of France, it was going to be more expensive with fuel and the crossing cost than taking the plane but it offered us the freedom to go off and do what we want, also I was looking forward to trying out some of the fabulous B roads around here.

I saved up the money for the holiday and to get the 205 up to scratch (rear beam, rear disc brakes, quick rack etc) and off went the car to be done. Disappointingly most of the jobs were not done in time but the car was patched up ready to go with the rear brakes being one of the jobs that was done.

The rear calipers were fully refurbished by Biggred a few months ago ready to go on, I've had my front calipers done by them a few years ago and had no problems.

So the car was done and I picked it up a few days before the crossing to get a few miles on it, ready for the 700km drive down to the south of France. Everything was fine until the day before the crossing I could see that something was leaking from the rear. A quick look underneath and I could see that the rear near side caliper was leaking brake fluid, luckily I know a MOT tester and he was able to look at it. Turns out that the caliper had failed (seal inside) and a new one had to be put on, just in time so I didn't miss my crossing.

When we got to Northern France the braking didn't feel right but we decided to press on and got to our destination in the South.

Having takin it to a garage here it turns out that the offside rear caliper has failed too (this was checked in England and it was fine then), so basically both rebuilt calipers have failed in under 1000 miles.

So I am currently halfway through my holiday waiting for a new caliper to arrive and be fitted, having not enjoyed the car at all and spent out a lot more than I should have.

 

Anyway sorry for the long story but it's good to vent. What I want to ask is what realistic compensation would you be asking for from Biggred in my situation?

The cost the refurbishment back?

Plus the cost of the new calipers and fitting?

More?

 

Any thoughts will be welcome.

[willis 18 1 Cars]

Frustrating, but I think you'd be lucky to get anything apart from the part replaced/repaired again I'm afraid.

 

It's worth a snotty letter to the boss though and the best way to get heard is through their social media site if they have one so have a search on Facebook and Twitter etc.

[notamondayfan 44]

The calipers / service wasn't fit for purpose, and so they should refund you the full amount.

 

Check this out http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/cars_garage_repairs_and_services_e.htm

[willis 18 1 Cars]

The calipers / service wasn't fit for purpose, and so they should refund you the full amount.

 

Check this out http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/cars_garage_repairs_and_services_e.htm

Not according to that guide.....

[SkyQuake 70 1 Cars]

This is not the first instance of biggred's parts failing though is it? I'm sure I've read other threads on the topic on here previously.

 

Also, in my own experience, I bought the seal kit and refurbished the calipers myself. Within a few months, the boots on the front caliper pistons were already badly micro-cracking:

 

 

Considering the extremely light use these had seen, this did seem somewhat strange. Micro-cracking such as this could be caused by embrittlement from extremes of temperature (which are unlikely in the UK) or incompatibility with chemicals, such as brake fluid for example. Either should be very unlikely.

 

I reported this to biggred, and they led me to believe that it was 'a first for them' and that they hadn't seen any similar occurrences. In biggred's defence however, they were very apologetic, and replaced the seals without quibbling. As this was an easy swap, there was no need for me to take any further action, and to my knowledge, I haven't seen any sign of this reoccurring.

 

However, this is still a little worrying. For a safety critical system, such as brakes, I would not expect failures such as these. In the Nath88n's position, where the calipers had been fully restored by Biggred, I would be furious.

[Nath88n 37]

To bring this to a conclusion. A strongly worded letter was sent to Biggred along with a caliper, the fault was found to be the push rod. Now I'm being refunded £320.82, this covers the full cost of refurbishment including postage and the cost of one of the new calipers and the fitting.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Nath88n

[mechanicalrepairs 8]

Not a bad out come, just a shame it put a dampener on your break?

 

Carl