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[megaomega123]

I had a little bump a few weeks ago  
Vauxhall had the car for the last 14 days and returned it in a pretty shoddy condition.
It had new front bumber, drivers headlight unit, number plate and driver fog light amongst another few bits behind front bumper.
The car took side impact on the passenger front wheel and the front end got dragged along the central barrier.
I told them from the start that immediately after there was a rumbling and the steering wheel wobbled from side to side, being most noticable at 50mph. They road tested and did geometry and alignment, it has 2 new front tyres but the wobble is still there. Not quite as bad but it is there and the steering wheel now wobbles at 40mph and it has a deep rumbling sound all the time. This is the main thing that needs addressing but it would be helpful if I could give them some possible diagnostics.
The new headlight unit has a defective bulb, the bonnet is squint and the car was filthy and to top it, their customer service was shocking!!

Any thoughts on the wobble issue would be appreciated.  

[Dazzler]

1-Buckled wheel
2-Bent strut
3-All that suspension should be thougherly inspected after that type of accident.

They really should have changed the wheel as well as the tyre.

[Entwood]

I'm surprised you accepted a car back in such condition ....  

I would have refused it ... point blank !!

If an insurance company is paying, speak to THEIR customer services ... surprising what a little pressure from them can achieve !!

[Kevin Wood]

As above. In addition, the wheel bearing might have been damaged.  :-/

Sounds like they've repaired the visible damage without looking too deep.  After a knock like that everything should have been closely inspected or replaced. It's not fun when suspension components fail.

Might also be worth getting the geometry checked just too see what sort of shape it's in.

Kevin

[megaomega123]

It does seem that they just did what they could see, despite my insistence that they checked more thoroughly.
Geometry was done. The drivers alloy has a deep scuff as that was the 1st to catch the kerb and passenger fog has a scuff across the full length. These are all consistent with the accident so surely should all be changed?? My 1st feeling was a damaged wheel bearing but they just tried to fob me off with "it could be worn ball joints and nothing to do with the accident" LMAO!!!

[Kevin Wood]

It does seem that they just did what they could see, despite my insistence that they checked more thoroughly.
Geometry was done. The drivers alloy has a deep scuff as that was the 1st to catch the kerb and passenger fog has a scuff across the full length. These are all consistent with the accident so surely should all be changed?? My 1st feeling was a damaged wheel bearing but they just tried to fob me off with "it could be worn ball joints and nothing to do with the accident" LMAO!!!

The ball joints were on it when the accident happened, surely? If so, if there's a problem with them they should have been replaced. The car should have been returned in a roadworthy condition regardless.  


Kevin

[Dazzler]

And ALL accident damage should be repaired/replaced. The car didn't wobble before so its due to the accident and must be rectified by them.

Also as stated contact your insurance company and get them involved to apply pressure and issue a bollo**ing to them, it worked for me

[JamesV6CDX]

My poor old miggy

Don't accept it back in anything less than mint condition.

By the sounds of the accident, it was a bit more than a little bump! ?

[Danny]

why did it go back to vauxhall??

there's a garage not too far from me (no help to you i know, but..) who are high on the list of insurance company recommended garages to take cars for repair and when they took my corsa after i pranged it, it looked and felt better than it did BEFORE i bumped it!

[Kevin Wood]

Returning a car dirty after repair is just unbelieveable. How are you supposed to inspect the work if it's covered in sh!te? Can you be sure they bothered to clean it before spraying it?

Thinking about it, I would be complaining to my insurers, as you've given the repairers their chance. Tell them the repair is not satisfactory and you want it rectified.

Kevin

[megaomega123]

This is what I did  

It has gone back to them today with a 2 page list of the things that were not done or not done to the required standard.
I had a good look around and found a lot of bad points. The new bumper must of been hanging on by the skin of its teeth. The 3 points underneath the front of the car didn't have a single retaining clip. 1 loose clip in wheel arch and 1 missing in other arch. Passenger headlight trim ill-fitting by around 7mm. A deep scrape on passenger side alloy (from kerb impact). Passenger fog light scraped from accident. New headlight has blown sidelight bulb. 2 scratches on the newly painted bumper and the paint job is poor. All this on top of the rumble and wobbley steering.
To top it off.... I requested a courtesy car and that they collected my vehicle. The reason for this is that the dealer is 50 miles from me and I shouldn't have to be out of pocket from going back and forth. I expected them to bring the courtesy car on a recovery truck and then take mine. Imagine my horror when he turned up in the courtesy car and then drove mine back to dealer, using my fuel  
I shall be demanding a full tank of fuel upon return (petrol not LPG).

[JamesV6CDX]

NO!

MY BABY!  

I'm gutted, especially after the work went into it - I can't imagine how you must be feeling  

[megaomega123]

NO!

MY BABY!  

I'm gutted, especially after the work went into it - I can't imagine how you must be feeling  

Probably just as gutted  
I would feel better if it came back in tip top condition though  

[megaomega123]

Had a call from dealers today. They have finally done a proper road test and the result is "A flat spot on drivers side alloy".
I haven't a clue what this means. They are replacing the alloy but would still be nice to know what it actually means.

[JamesV6CDX]

Had a call from dealers today. They have finally done a proper road test and the result is "A flat spot on drivers side alloy".
I haven't a clue what this means. They are replacing the alloy but would still be nice to know what it actually means.

Basically a buckle.