In July my Seat Arosa broke down. My garage said the throttle body needed to be replaced. They said on the phone it was £418 inc VAT. When I turned up to collect the car, it was actually plus VAT, so was nearer £500. I complained but the owner just said, you should have checked the price with me, not the apprentice. I paid it simply to get my car back, didn’t know what my rights were.

Its broken down 3 times since, going into limp home mode, with exactly the same symptoms. They replaced the throttle body twice more but didn’t know what was causing the faults. They spoke to the dealer, who didn’t know. When it broke down last week, replacing the throttle body didn’t make any difference. The garage ended up taking it to the dealers, which I agreed to. They didn’t ring me at all throughout the time it was at the dealers, & next thing I know, the car is fixed but there’s a bill of £213 from the dealers to pay.

Should the warranty cover this as it was the same as the previous fault?
Forgot to say, the fault was actually a speed sensor, which the dealers replaced. The dealers said they wouldn’t be able to tell if the throttle body actually needed replacing in the first place or not.
Already some useful info!! But my problem is that I used an independent garage (not a Seat garage) for the original repair & subsequent breakdowns, and it was my garage that decided to use the dealer as they didn’t know what the fault was. They have paid the dealer, and now I have to pay them back. I had a look on the net and it says if I refuse payment then the garage has the right to undo the work and give the car back, or to keep it until I pay. Its so confusing! Seat UK say they won’t do anything as its out of their warranty & I didn’t go to a Seat garage first. Because I wanted to avoid paying a fortune, and the dealer’s tried to rip me off before with an alloy wheel I didn’t need!

No related posts.