Serious problem and i need advise

[Vapor]

Okay i have a serious problem and need some advise from people who may be in the know on this sort of thing,

Basically i have had the car now for 44k miles (golf GtTdi 2.0)
4 and a half weeks ago a woman did a u-turn in the road hitting my car at low speeds causing damage to both nearside doors,

i contacted the insurance and they said i send it to a local garage that they chose to have the repairs done,
bearing in mind there is only minor exterior damage (no engine or mechanical problems)

the company collected the vehicle a couple of days later and left me a courtesy car,
around a week later i got a phone call asking for my locking wheels nuts, dont see why this was needed to be honest for door repairs and a dent to the sill under the b pillar. i thought nothing of it and posted it that afternoon

i recieved another call a week later saying my car was ready for collection s i said i would be in within the hour ( they had the car for 2 weeks at this point ).
i then recieved another phone call whilst on the way to the garage saying it was not my car that was ready and they had mistaken it for another, they also stated that the airbag light had come on and that the engine was not running correctly
( i IMMEDIATELY stated that the car entered there garage with neither the airbag light on or any engine troubles )
They said it was nothing to panic about and it would be sorted by morning and they would call me to collect my vehicle.

I never recieved a phone call and had to call them myself in the afternoon, i was told my car was not running and they could not find out what the problem was and that they had sent the vehicle to a VW dealer for a diagnosis.

i went to the garage and saw my vehicle being pushed in by the mechanic (with the repairs complete) meaning this damage to the engine had occured after the repairs had been carried out.

i was contacted by the garage the next day and told the turbo had blown and i would need a new intercooler and exhaust system too, no oil was present on the dipstick and there was 2 litres of oil in the manifold,

the vehicle was running fine when it entered their care and had only had a service 18 week beforehand (although as a foreigner) and i had a timing belt and water pump fitted.

they have estimated a repair cost of £3500 and say i should collect the car to which i refused, basically admiral insurance say they are not obliged to pay due to the turbo not being damaged when my car was hit, and the garage are tryng to wash their hands of it stating that it blew as part of mechanical failure,

now bearing in mind the car has done 44k no problem, was collected and delivered to their repair centre which is 7 miles away from my house with no problems but in this 2 weeks they have had the vehicle and the couple of hundred meters they will have moved it around they forecourt etc the there has been excessive damage to the engine,

i have sent them a letter stating all of this in a more formal way and said i will be seeing my solicitor, they said they would phone their insurance for advise on there part due to me getting a solicitor and call me back, that was 2 days ago and ive heard nothing,

i just need advise on where to go, should they be paying for this damage? do i have any chance of winning this battle? should i reside myself to getting spare parts and getting it repaired myself? but so far they have had the vehicle for 4 weeks 3 days

any advise is great,
thanks in advance

[Vapor]

38 Views and no reply? surely someone must have something to say on this matter

[onzarob]

I belive your right in no accepting the car back, interestingly what was the miage on delivering the car and the milage now...body work does not rewuire a long test drive if any. You've done the right thing in getting legal advice...keep us posted don't give in £3k is allot of money

[richard@thebrae]

I agree you have to go Legal and ensure all correspondance is in writing or recorded, and further to that pre-warn them to have the repair parts reciepts produced with the bill/invoice, and only genuine VW parts are to be used.

[knt]

I had a similar problem with my old car, just a slight damage to back bumper and light. Went through insurance repair company as it was the quick and easy option compared to finding one myself.

Car came back fine, but after a few weeks the dashboard lights came on, took it to the dealers and needed new abs/eps.

Next time I'll take more time and find my own repairer and not take up the insurance option.