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[dave the builder]

If a garage does a repair which fails after 4 to 6 weeks
admits they made a mistake, has the car back for repair," fixes fault" FOC
(under an 18 month warranty)
but the problem remains, say a clutch  still noisy after 15 miles of driving
do you have to keep letting them have it back for repair?
(the garage refuse to come and look at the problem, insisting they recover the car)
but the car is effectively evidence in what could be a future court case, so, not happy to let them have it 
I think..... they had it back,failed and enough is enough 
time to take legal action to recover costs 

[STEMO]

As far as I know, you have to give them the opportunity to put things right before you can take them to court. Give trading standards a ring.

[Lizzie Zoom]

As far as I know, you have to give them the opportunity to put things right before you can take them to court. Give trading standards a ring.

Yes, you must be seen as giving them a reasonable (such an important word in law) time to carry out the repairs.  Once that has happened, and they still fail to carry out a satisfactory repair, then take small claims court action, making sure you give them proper legal notice of your intent.

If you have to take that route it is straightforward to do via the online service:
https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

[dave the builder]

Thanks for the replies 
they had the car back for repair and within half a day, said it was fixed
Having lost confidence in them to repair, with ‘reasonable skill and care ‘.                                                                                                 I got an independent inspection from a motor vehicle engineer,
 that states, due to poor repair, the car is economically unviable to repair
they refuse to come and examine their handy work
insisting they want it to recover it back to them for examination
I think that I have been fair with them, only asking for a refund of the work they failed to do twice.

[STEMO]

Thanks for the replies 
they had the car back for repair and within half a day, said it was fixed
Having lost confidence in them to repair, with ‘reasonable skill and care ‘.                                                                                                 I got an independent inspection from a motor vehicle engineer,
 that states, due to poor repair, the car is economically unviable to repair
they refuse to come and examine their handy work
insisting they want it to recover it back to them for examination
I think that I have been fair with them, only asking for a refund of the work they failed to do twice.

That's your opinion, Dave, not necessarily how the process works.

[dave the builder]

Thanks for the replies 
they had the car back for repair and within half a day, said it was fixed
Having lost confidence in them to repair, with ‘reasonable skill and care ‘.                                                                                                 I got an independent inspection from a motor vehicle engineer,
 that states, due to poor repair, the car is economically unviable to repair
they refuse to come and examine their handy work
insisting they want it to recover it back to them for examination
I think that I have been fair with them, only asking for a refund of the work they failed to do twice.

That's your opinion, Dave, not necessarily how the process works.

So, as an outsider, what do you think Mr STEMO ?

appreciate your feet hurt from ill-fitting footwear but if you could spare the time 

[STEMO]

On the occasions I've had need to ring, I've found trading standards really helpful. Lizzie touched on the fact that the word 'reasonable' is open to interpretation, so it's really up to you in the end.
Give them a ring. If you ask for advice on here, you'll get a multitude of different answers, but folk are pretty gung-ho when dealing with other people's money.

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, keep evidence of every step you've taken so far, of course, but now's the time to get proper advice, IMHO, not a vast array of opinions from an internet forum on what type of blunt instrument should be used to remove their genitalia.

[Viral_Jim]

FWIW, I would get an independent quote to restore the car to it's correct condition and demand that from the garage. The "beyond economical repair" thing shouldn't matter in this instance, it's about putting you back in the position you would have been in had the garage done their job properly.

Extracting the cash shouldn't be hard. You've done the hardest part by getting the engineer's report. Now just move to writing letters. They've had an opportunity to correct the repair and bodged it. You don't have to offer them another.

This article from Which,  would be useful reading.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-car-repair/

If it were me I'd also keep track of: engineer's cost, mileage, expenditure, other costs incurred trying to sort everything out and add it to the bill. Because a) there's no reason you should be out of pocket in any way and b) because I'm like that. 

[dave the builder]

ok, Thanks everyone for the input 
one last letter asking for a refund,  then trading standards for advice