A compromise has been reached between a car dealership and a motorist, after a dispute over repairs on a Citroen Berlingo motor home flared up.Tony Currell explained how his vehicle had been left with a well known dealership for a simple service and a replacement on his timing belt.
It was only 6 months later, upon running the engine once winter had subsided, that Mr Currell discovered that more work was needed on the timing belt as the pulley had collapsed.
The additional repairs cost Tony, of Jarrow, South Tyneside £485. Mr Currell believes that the repairs would not have been necessary had the garage not failed to notice the problem in the first instance.
“I had the service done and then laid the vehicle up for the winter months. When I gave the engine a short run, I noticed the timing belt was not running true on the pulley,” said Tony.
He then took it back to the dealership to be told it would cost him an additional £485 to correct the issue. Tony believes the garage should carry the burden of the cost. He enquired as to the reason that the timing belt had not been replaced during the initial service, but was told that after a visual inspection by one of the mechanics, it was deemed unnecessary.
Tony still believes that had it been replaced in the first instance, the second repair would not have been needed.
The work was carried out by Town Centre Citroen in Sunderland. The manager, Andrea Foster, was asked to look into the matter.
Although she felt that the garage had done nothing wrong she informed us that they were happy to pay £200 towards the cost as a gesture of goodwill. Tony has since accepted this offer.