During the daily business of servicing and repairing a wide variety of cars, most jobs are fairly straightforward and our technicians just get on with it. Sometimes though, in the midst of a job, they might notice something ‘unusual’ or not quite right about the way a part is fited, or some kind of previous ‘bodge’ repair. It could be something as simple as a ‘wrong’ bolt fitted that rubs on something, or occasionally a piece of wood jammed under something to stop it from moving. Sometimes, we find whole parts missing that have obviously not been put back during work, or worse still, something really dangerous like brake pads not fitted correctly or wheel bolts left loose!

Often, when we ask the owner if they have any idea how their car may have got like that, the answer is invariably the same. It’s generally that a friend/brother/father-in-law has been ‘working’ on the car, but didn’t know exactly what they were doing. Now, I’m all for a bit of DIY maintenance and often encourage customers to check their own oil, water and tyres. I wouldn’t however recommend for instance, changing your own engine on a Renault Scenic, as it’s a hell of a job even for a skilled mechanic! One customer recently decided to do this though, with the help of ‘a friend’ and a secondhand engine from eBay. Although we’d quoted around £350 in labour to fit the new engine, a kindly ‘neighbour that knows a bit about cars’ offered to help for a much smaller fee.  It was only a week after they’d done the job that we were asked by the customer to take a look as something ‘didn’t seem right’ with the new engine. Once our technician had it on the ramp, it was clear that around half of the bolts that secure engine to gearbox, as well as numerous bits of the engine were just missing without a trace. Quite where they’d gone, we couldn’t say for sure. We also found that the radiator was loose, and that the alternator wasn’t bolted to the engine properly and the belt was rubbing on something it shouldn’t. All in all, it took around 4 hours labour, a few parts and a lot of new nuts and bolts to put it all back to a safe and reliable standard. That lot cost the owner over £200, and not a lot less that we’d have charged to fit the engine properly in the first place.

Another car today was suffering from a poor heater and took about half an hour to defrost on a cold morning.The customer had had a new thermostat fitted by ‘a friend’. When our technician removed the thermostat housing to check it was operating correctly, he was surprised to see nothing but a hole, as the actual thermostat was missing. This meant the engine ran too cool and the water wasn’t hot enough to operate the heater. The customer asked us to fit a new thermostat, and the heater was restored to its former glory. You have to ask though, what happened to the one her friend fitted? Perhaps he just ‘forgot’ to put in back in the hole, or maybe he bought the wrong one and it wouldn’t fit, so he just threw it away. Either way, the owner of the car assured us that he wouldn’t be touching her car again.

So, if you’re contemplating having some work done on your car but can’t bear to pay garage prices, be very careful about accepting a generous offer from a friend or relative. Unless they’re actually a qualified technician or at best, a skilled DIY mechanic, it’s best to ask them if they’re absolutely sure they know what they are doing. Modern cars are getting so complicated nowadays that even the simplest jobs require a degree of skill, knowledge and special equipment that only a fuly-equipped workshop is likely to posess.

Also, if you happen to own a 2005 or newer Volkswagen Passat  and it needs some new rear brake pads fitting, DO NOT let a friend do it. They’ll need a diagnostic computer plugged into the car’s OBD port just to release the electronic handbrake so the pads can come out!

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