Mechanic Crashed My Car, Anything to Claim?

Hey guys,

Technician in a large dealership/service centre crashed my car causing damage to passenger side during "test drive". Car is a Ford Focus RS, so test drive, maybe joy ride who knows?

They've had it for a month now waiting for an insurance rep to look over to approve repairs, have been given a s*** loaner car in mean time.

Can I claim anything for the inconvenience or time taken?

Also, I only bought the car in Jan, so it had 1 month stat warranty when it went in, which is now expired.

Thanks team

Edit: Got a good call from them today, insurance assessors came today (coincidence?), and repairs have started.

Comments

  • +1

    I know you are claiming on their insurance, but what insurance do you have yourself?

    • +2

      Claiming on their insurance, I have full comp.

      • +15

        No no, claim on your insurance and let your insurance get the repairs done. It will be done faster.

        • +1

          Which is why I asked

        • Why would OP want to have a "Claim under his name"

          putting a claim will increase his premium, and also increase any other future Insurance providers quotes too, since they factor into account all claims made by policy holder whether be AT fault or NOT AT fault claims

          • +2

            @USER DC: Its a not at fault accident. the insurance will chase the dealer for the $. why bother with insurance if you wont use it?

            • -5

              @pharkurnell:

              why bother with insurance if you wont use it?

              Exactly why i dont pay for it,

              someone in my family really like to donate money to them, I have clearly told them I ain't paying the insurance company a single cent, they keep forcing there need to insurance blah blah blah, I tell them if so you pay it.

              • +2

                @USER DC: If you don't have insurance you have to do all the chasing and claiming through courts yourself. The mechanics here could tell OP to get lost and it would be a hard road ahead for OP to get money out of them and meanwhile have no car to drive.

                • -1

                  @Quantumcat: Last and first time I bothered to make on comprehensive insurance, Was told by BINGLE They dont cover in comprehensive insurance, damage caused by mechanic, (mechanic worked on radiator and his improper work blew it up)

                  Since then never wanted to pay a single cent to these looters

                  • +3

                    @USER DC: Damage while driving is different to mechanical damage. No insurance will cover you for mechanical problems. OP's case is damage while being driven.

  • +1

    If they’ve had it for a month, then it was outside its 90 day dealer warranty when you took it in…

    Still a trash situation, but sadly I don’t see much recourse without taking the legal route

    • Very trash unfortunately I guess!

      • I’m sure they’re also getting messed around by their insurer

        • Yeh, it's getting to the point where it's taking so so long to make anything happen, plus parts arent easy to get.

        • Wonder if they've paid their premiums?

  • +1

    There's no reason why you can't name the dealership as long as you are factual with your account.

    • +2

      Once I've got my car back 👍

    • -1

      Actually mods will probably delete it if he names it here.

      • That is not true, there are regular posts naming businesses that users have had issues with. The user is welcome to mention the business if they wish/decide that is best for their circumstances.

  • +2

    Tell them you are very upset and want a new, top of the line loaner car and a couple complimentary log book services.

    • +2

      Is it still wise to go back there fro log book services?

      • It’s going to be easier than getting equivalent value in cash.

        • +1

          Or getting scammed by them ?

          aka them charging for service while either not doing it fully, or not doing it at all, or even worse- they make situation worse, e.g. put wrong grade engine oil than recommended oil grade.

          I personally would never ever wanna go back to that place, and since it's dealership OP can simply go to another dealership (more like stealership honestly) if he wants to stick to service from dealers.

          You are best to get it serviced at a local independent trustworthy mechanic (most are not honest and trustworthy)

          • @USER DC: Only had to go to them as it was under warranty and had a little computer issue with the car (need special Ford scanners or something I'm assuming). Local mechanic is my go to for regular services, to many wrong oil stories from Ford dealers all over NSW.

            • @Mattbeard03: Once your car is out of warranty, try doing the service yourself, You'll get to know a lot more about your car, and ofcourse you'll take a better care of it than any mechanic (who just cares about getting job done and charging customers)

              • +1

                @USER DC: Not a bad idea! I do the performance parts myself on my previous car, only do the oil changes at the mechanic to get them to have a look over and deal with the oil. Been going there a long time and have worked with them before so trust their work.

    • They will laugh at him.

  • +1

    How bad is the damage? A panel or 2, or structural like A-frame?

    If latter, tell them to lodge at fault claim through their insurance to write off the car?

    Have to suck up the inconvenience though.

    • Non-Structural, not worried about it being fixed, just annoyed at the time its taken. Guess its time to start sucking!

  • +3

    My guess is drift mode was accidentally enabled prior to test drive.

    • D1ckhead drift mode, FIFY.

  • +1

    Happened to me a few years ago. Took ages for them to do anything (on their insurance). Ended up lodging on mine, and got it sorted in a couple of weeks.

    Some insurance companies, like aami, get you a rental if you have a not at fault accident until your car is back

    • Got a good call from them today, insurance assessors came today (coincidence?), and repairs have started.

  • Was this the orange Focus RS that was in the media reports a few weeks ago as being crashed by the mechanic on a test drive? I can't remember the details, but I remember that the circumstances were newsworthy enough to rate the news.

    • It was not no, luckily for me. Focus RS Mk3 in Blue.

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