GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: Bodhi on 18 July 2004, 12:48
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I took my 16v into Trust Volkswagen in Stafford (soon you'll see that's possibly the most ironic name for a dealer....ever) on Wednesday to have a service done, got the car back promptly and looking like new - job well done I thought. skip forwards two days to Friday and I stop at the local Tesco's to use the cash machine. I get back in to drive off, turn the ignition key and nothing. The electrics fire up so it's clearly not the battery, so I phone the AA who send a dude out to investigate. turns out the starter motor is completely dead, so a push start later and I'm on my way. Clearly I was a bit annoyed that my recently serviced car had failed me, but it was only a starter and it's due back in the garage on wednesday to have a minor oil leak fixed. Also my drive is on a hill so bump starting it when i need it is hardly stressful.
Skip forward again to yesterday. My sister comes round at lunchtime to drop something off then leaves again. Just after she leaves their is a knock on the door and some frantic doorbell pushing. I go to the door and immaediately my eyes go towards the driveway, where my car is no longer sitting. I look down to the house across from us, and my car is resting against the corner, narrowly avoiding the Volvo parked in their drive. Of course with no starter it meant we had to push the bloody thing back up the hill. They aren't joking when they say Mk3 Golfs are heavy SOB's.......
Anyway my question is, I plan on calling up the garage on Monday (may even go in and see them in person tbh) to lodge a complaint, but what can I expect to get from them? I can see them shirking the starter motor because that was normal wear and tear, but the handbrake??? There is some minor damage to the front bumper - it's hanging ever so slightly lower on the left hand side - and surely the handbrake gets checked over during a service. Clearly it shouldn't be rolling down a hill 3 days later.
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Handbrake cable could of snapped, hard to check as cable is internal.
So it is possible it could just fail, but unlikely.
More than likely one has snapped because it has been adjusted up too tight.
Difficult to prove though, garages are slippery when it comes to making mistakes.