Help, i need legal advice or a good point of view!!!?

I took my car to a renault garage today bcoz it had a knocking noise and it is still under warrenty till dec 2007. So i left the car at 9am and signed the bit of paper sayin id left it there but ive now got phone call saying the problem was loose wheel nuts and they are charging me 拢25 labour as it took them an hour to find the problem. I refused to pay as i think the warrenty shud cover labour aqnd now they wont give me my car. I got the police involved but as it is civil matter they cant do anything. Would it be wrong legally if i took the car 2nite when garage is closed. Sounds stupid as 拢25 isnt much but this man i spoke to also swore at me and got quite threatening. I left my car as i was upset by the way i was treated. I wont pay the money which some people may think is easier but im skint. Any advice as to what 2 do. I wanna stay right by the law as well so that nothing can come back on me!


Please any advice would be great. ThanksHelp, i need legal advice or a good point of view!!!?
First of all, if you have never touched to wheel nuts there is no reason you would check to see if they're tight. If the garage has had the wheel off in the past they might not have torqued them up properly.


The best thing to do is call Renault's customers services (not the garages) and tell them how you've been treated by the garage, and how they were probably the only people to have had the wheel nuts off in the vehicles life. They will call the garage and get it sorted.





I work for a Toyota garage and although it's frustrating spending time looking for a noise when it turns out to be something stupid, it sometimes happens. We would rather let the customer know what we found, but wouldn't charge them as they are more likely to remain a customer.





By the way, a main dealer charging 拢25 per hour is unheard of these days (we're 拢69 plus VAT) so they aren't charging you for an hours labour.Help, i need legal advice or a good point of view!!!?
You should pay it.. they did their job, which you asked them to do. 拢25 is good for 1 hours labour... I would have thought at least 拢35.





The Warranty will not cover wheels.





Anyway, how can you possibly be skint for the sake of 拢25 when you run a car in the first place. You ought to at least be able to maintain it.
The garage has a duty of care regarding the safety of you and your vehicle. He should not of swore at you , but there are two sides to every story and we are only hearing the one. To be honest I would pay them and put my tail between my legs and get out of there a.s.a.p. check your wheel nuts on a regular basis and fifty miles after every wheel change.
labor isn't under warranty when the item itself isn't under warranty. tightening loose wheel nuts is not a warranty item, but a maintenance item. oil changes aren't under warranty, so neither is tightening a bolt.





you owe that money, period. to take the car without making payment allows the dealership to now press theft charges on you and the police you called earlier....will now be coming to arrest you and most likely impound your car. causing you more cost.





pay the bill......its the right thing to do, the legal thing to do.
Have you had new tyres fitted somewhere else, if not tell the garage to go F*** it self!!
It is called '' a mechanics lein''...yes they can hold the car until you have paid for services rendered, an hour is not that long and I think it is $25.00 the amount due? if so...small price to pay.


If you just take the car...it is illegal and you can be jailed for it, theft is the proper term.


even though you may own the car....you have to pay for there services.


as far as warranty...not on a loose tire....sorry.


it is cheaper to pay, then, never go back to them.


good luck.
No it is not a good idea to go to the garage and get your car, as that would be breaking and entering.Although you dont have a legal leg to stand on see if you can get a big mate to go and get your car back....Red tape is a pain in the butt, but the garage do not have to give you your car back unless you pay..Next time get a manual for the car and diy....
Don't go and snatch your car back. Pay them, saying you do so under protest. Then contact Renault's Customer Service people, explaining as you have here and ask for their views in writing.
Sorry to say , but as a driver it is up to you to make sure your car is safe for the road, IE , Lights, wipers, horn, the wheels and wear of the tyres, This also means wheel nuts,


So if you had done this before you drove the car, you would not have this bill,





As for the way you were treated, that is a civil matter, but make sure you have a whiteness
You took it someplace to get it fixed and they did and now you are mad because you were wrong. you came to them for help remember. and maybe you should pay for it in full seeing as how you didn't even know what the problem was. It would be soooooooooo wrong if you stole your own car, first off that's being worse then the mechanics, way worse. How big of a person are you to ask for help then refuse to compensate? i mean really maybe it's time you took auto shop, or maybe a course in why paying your mechanic is worth it. But you know if you can find a good hill those soap boxes can fly man! tuck it in and pay your dues
You are very lucky that you are only paying a basic amount of 拢25, if it is a main dealer garage the hourly rate could be as much as 拢130 per hour.


My question to you is how did the wheels become loose, surely common sence should have told you to check to wheel nuts.


why are you not in the AA or RAC
I'm not sure what '; skint'; means. Probably a slang you dudes use in jolly 'ol england. Anyway, the warranty you spoke of does not cover normal wear and tear items and I'm sure lug nuts or wheel locks are not considered in this warranty. Pay the 25 bucks and get on with your life.
Why would you think a maintenance problem like you not checking the lug nuts would be covered under a warranty? It's not a defect, it's your failure to check. If you were a quart low on oil, would that be covered too? Or your tires low? There are things that are not covered, and that would be one of them.





If you take the car without paying the bill, you can be charged with theft of services. Not car theft as someone is bound to say, because you can't steal what is legally yours to begin with.





Just pay the bill and be done with it, and be glad you caught it before any real damage was done or your tire fell off.
I wouldn't advise you to go get the car in the middle of the night.


I'm not sure where you are from, and consumer law varies from place to place, but where I'm from a garage must supply an estimate and get approval before doing any work. You may have a Better Business Bureau or equivalent organization to complain to.


I would advise you to pay , retreive your car, and then make a stink. Now matter how you slice it, you would have had to pay to have your car checked and fixed. If you feel that your expense should have been covered by your warranty, take it up with the car manufacturer.


The other thing that I would worry about if I were you is that you're dealing with a bunch of stinkers who might not be above tampering with your vehicule in retaliation for your refusal to pay. You would have a hard time proving they did anything, and could end up with expenses several times what they are now.


Once your car is off their lot you can raise hell without fear of reprisals. Speak with the owner of the garage and explain that you couldn't possible do business with them again after the display of thuggery displayed by his employee.Complain to the car manufacturer and ask why the warranty wasn't honored. Find a consumer advocacy organization and complain there.
if your bought the car there you should not have to pay as you are still under warranty but if you decide to pinch it off the premises your braking the law


the thing is the garage can keep your car because you owe them money you can't do anything but pay it they will probably keep putting they cost up as well for having the car on their premises there is nothing you can do as they will make you in to the bad guy there are garages and car dealers out there that rip people off


i bought a car from a dodgy car dealer and didn't know he was a crook until it was too late the car cost me a fortune to get fixed with little problems 30quid here 40 quid there it was still under warranty as i needed the car i had too pay


i bought my second car from a reputably garage and no problems and if i do find a fault as my car is still under warranty they check it out for nothing
Well I have two questions for you, 1. Did they fix the problem or just identify it? 2. What does your warrantee say about diagnosis? Often times diagnosis isn't covered in warrantees, so they may be legally able to charge you for the diagnosis time/labor. On the other hand if they didn't explain to you up front about diagnosis fees, or give you a receipt/contract stating they were doing diagnosis, that is their error. So my opinion is, if they fixed the car and that part is covered under warrantee, I'd try to negotiate getting the diagnosis waived, if they won't do it, I'd pay the diaganosis to get my car back. If they didn't fix the car and they want you to pay for the diagnosis BUT they didn't give you a contract or a copy of the receipt, I would just go pick up my car.
It sounds to me like you are owed a free estimate and informed of such BEFORE they touched the vehicle.





They should have only charged you if you gave the OK to actually work on the vehicle's problem.





I do not recommend taking your vehicle back if they keep it locked somewhere over night. That would be Breaking and Entering into private property. If they keep it parked outside where it could be ';stolen';.. use your keys and take it over night.





Good luck
Look in your owner's manual for the customer service toll free telephone number and contact the manufacturer.trust me when I tell you that a dealership does not want to get a phone call from them ! when a vehicle is still under it's ';bumper to bumper'; warranty,you should have to pay nothing !You may want to let the dealer know that you are calling the manufacturer,most likely they wil cave in.
Wheelnuts do not come loose if properly tightened, so someone should reimburse you. The offending garage should not have done any chargeable work without your OK, which may have been given unintentionally in conversation. Cars can be held legally if bills are unpaid. So maybe you should pay and sort it out later. Tell Renault atout their attitude though.
no dont pay... your with in your rights as they should get your permission to do the work before commencing. get in touch with trading standards. or threaten them with it and say you will take it further.


no work should be carried out on any vehical with out the owners permision.
piknik,welcome to the the school of life,you are in no win situation you took the car there to be sorted and thats what they did and 拢25.00 is reasonable,just think if you told them not to do anything and you drove off ,the wheel fell off and you killed someone,your legally responsible for that car,rise above the situation , don`t take the car or you could end up in court and it will cost you more than 拢25.00 ,go back to-morrow with 4 cans of beer ,smile sweetly and say i`m sorry we got off on the foot, pay the money willingly because one day you will need them and they will remember you nicely and be co-operative.Remember we all have bad days and one wrong word from someone remote from the situation can spark an argument. A good saying is'; chose your words sweetly because you never know when your going to have to eat humble pie, ';all the best , John.
Renault dealers normally charge 拢75 per hour. You got off lightly. Its not their fault the wheel nuts were not torqued correctly unless they had recently serviced the vehicle or rotated your tyres / fitted new tyre.





Go back %26amp; appologise for your comments %26amp; behaviour %26amp; hope they haven't put the price up to cover the cost of overnight storage.