www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi All,

My sons car has been in a garage for about 8 weeks after a fault where the engine would either not start or would cut out and die.

Initial diagnosis was a sensor/indicator which cost £185 to fix. The car subsequently died the next day.
The next fix was the whole exhaust system as the garage said it was fully blocked, that cost £800. Again the car died soon after whilst the garage took it for test driver.

That was about 5 weeks ago, since then they have looked and also sent the car to a "specialist" but have now come back and said the car cannot be fixed.
My son is now nearly £1000 out of pocket plus the garage say they are looking for about another £200 for the work they have done on the car even though it is still not fixed.

We realise they have spent time working on the car but also they have carried out 2 supposed fixes which ultimately did not rectify the problem.

Couple of questions.

Where do we stand now?
Is there a common problem with this make of car?

Rgds
Carl

Of course it can be fixed, though for how much we do not know. Presumably the garage was not a Peugeot Main Dealer? It's only six years old.

Is the car being held by the garage who want £200 more or is it in your possession? You need a second opinion, preferably from a main agent - explain the story & cost so far, tell them you want their opinion sympathetically. They may even recover it from where it is, and if the first garage, they ought to release it to a dealer for repair.

Then use that opinion (preferably in writing) to at the very least avoid paying the £200; tell them you will be checking the score with Trading Standards (Local Authority department). General garages cannot possibly be expert in absolutely everything no matter how many thousands of pounds worth of SnapOn tools the guy has bought himself, most of which he rarely uses but are kept pristine in a tool cabinet that also cost thousands.

In the meantime, as to whether a common problem, try searching for & joining (like you have here) a Peugeot owners forum - they may have more inkling than asking on a DIY/Handyman/some of our members are professional builders, plumbers & electricians, not expert motor technicians, forum.

Failing all that, contact Peugeot UK. It's only six years old. They won't want bad press. Whatever the outcome, tell Peugeot you expect sympathy, it's only six years old.

You shouldn't be made to pay for parts that weren't required - clearly the sensor and exhaust system did nothing to rectify the fault therefore they replaced them for no good reason unless they can show you the actual defective parts.....

Intermittent faults are notoriously difficult to isolate - but not impossible. They probably consider the fault to be 'beyond economic repair' rather than impossible. For a professional outfit it's pretty poor performance but unless you;re prepared to throw unlimited amounts of money at it then their opinion is probably valid.

I'd agree with arco iris.

Someone on the Peugeot forum might have access to the Peugeot diagnostic software.
Might be worth asking.
TBH, with modern motors, I avoid general garages for fuel / ignition / electronics related engine problems. You want a specialist.

kellys_eye wrote:For a professional outfit it's pretty poor performance but unless you;re prepared to throw unlimited amounts of money at it then their opinion is probably valid.

Comment aside: IMHO, as a qualified, letters after my name then, motor engineer - in the 1970's and now long lapsed, I have always held the opinion that, in my day we were engineers who understood the basically primative technology of the day and actually fixed things - we were mechanics, & I never had any SnapOn tools, I couldn't afford them.

As technology progressed, newcomers to the trade became fitters - take a complete part off, fit a new complete one. Gone were the days of rebuilding a water pump, repacking the glands for example. I reckon I could still rebuild an engine, from scratch, nowadays they just 'fit' an exchange unit. SnapOn blokes are not engineers in the true sense I mean.

And so, IMHO, OP's garage keep replacing bits that they "think" might be the problem. Main Dealer will have masses of information, data & technology to absolutely understand the fault. And then 'fit' a complete component!

IMHO.

I have always thought French cars were vulnerable to electrical faults. When I was car trading a few years ago my partner pushed to buy a Renault Clio, I never wanted to touch French stuff. We got it for a good price but it soon developed a fail to start issue. We got a guy we know too have a look and it transpired that it was leaking through the sunroof seal that allowed water to creep into the immobiliser unit that was near the courtesy light. We got the seal replaced and some electrical units and it seemed okay so we put it through the auctions to move it on and took a hit.

I just wondered if there could be a similar issue here?

DWD

Expanding on my post - the standard remit would be to "jack up the number plates and fit a new car"...

Thinking about this, check the earth cable/braid between the engine and the chassis (NOT the one between the battery and the body) as this has been known to cause this type of fault in other cars and is often overlooked as a possible culprit.

What engine and gearbox ?? it seems like the garage are just parts fitters throwing parts at it (sounds something what a main dealer would do), What are the original symptoms ?

Any lights on the dash ? I take it had the codes read if so what where they ?.


Edit. ARCO - A main dealer may have all the kit but they don't have the trained staff that have half a clue or how to diagnose a problem other than what the computer tells them too.

Intermittent problems are always difficult to diagnose but this seems consistent enough for their declaration which they should qualify the reasoning.
Mostly bad connections are a cause and difficult to find in modern electronic ignition and ECU fuel systems. Often the computer will throw up a sensor only because it has a slightly changed resistance with age but then it should be a consistent fault. Going through each connector in these 2 systems is laborious but necessary.
My B in L is about to junk his old low mileage 207 due failed MOT on tyres and exhaust rot but the engine g.box were still sweet and body work reasonable for the age.

The OP's garage more than likely wanted to throw a ecu/bcm at it, dealer retail is no doubt £3k +vat, if its a diesel they where aiming at a pump and injectors at it

Parts Cannon locked and loaded