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485 Posts
So I was driving home from Rickmansworth about 3 weeks ago, and the Turbo Intercooler Pipe decided to give way JUST as I was driving past my house after a 200 mile drive (phew)
I phoned JCT in Bradford, and I was told to take the car down to the garage immediately, so I ended up driving there looking like Dell Boys Reliant, with black smoke pouring out of the back of the car at about 20 mph maximum.
When I got there, I was told they couldn't look at the car until the next day and because I was out of warrenty, it would be at least 2 weeks until I could get a courtesy car ( a Bleedin Polo of course ) so I had to cadge a lift back home from my Dad
They charged an ?87 diagnostic fee before they would do any work (even though I already knew it was a [email protected] Intercooler pipe!). So I went back the next day to be triumphantly advised that they'd done a diagnostic check and the intercooler pipe had indeed popped off :roll: but not to worry, as they had re-connected the pipe and everthing was fine with the world again.
So I was driving back from London 3 days later - I was just pulling onto the M25 from the M11 when the intercooler pipe blew off again while I was doing 80, just pulling out from the slip road into the middle lane in rush hour traffic (the car had felt strange on the way down). I came to a halt about 150 meters from the end of the slip road in a plume of black smoke, right in front of some flowers pushed into the crash barrier and a police sign advising there had been a fatal crash there a couple of days ago :shock:
After being stuck for an hour waiting for a low loader to recover me (the AA won't do roadside assist on motorways any more) during which time a car nearly ran into the back of me, I had to wait another hour for the AA to arrive at the Homebase car park in Enfield where I'd been dumped.
The AA chap took one look at the intercooler pipe (as had the Low Loader driver who had dropped me off) and he said the connecter was damaged and that JCT must have just wrenched it back on without even noticing it was broken. Not only that, but they had [email protected] the connector on the lower intercooler pipe in the process.
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He ended up lashing the pipes together with plastic cable ties, and I then had a very sedate journey from Enfield to Bradford with regular stops to check that the cable ties were holding - I finally arrived home at 11:00pm having been on the road since 5:00am
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I went into JCT the next day, who looked at it again and agreed the intercooler pipe was indeed [email protected] (how else would it have disconnected in the first place?? :evil: ). They advised it would be at least 5 days before they could get the parts from Germany :roll: during which time I had to make journeys to Coventry and Cardiff (unbelievably, the cable ties held together during this 800 mile marathon!).
TWO WEEKS later they have finally phoned up to advise the parts are in and as of yesterday the car is now fixed - and as a courtesy they didn't charge me any labour (well OK - I demanded they didn't charge any labour!) but it still cost ?205 for parts. :x
I feel really let down by the whole experience,and it was only a chat with Laura on the service desk that calmed me down at all (she has that effect on me). Fair play to her for making the best of a bad situation.
Too bad I got a phone call from a Survey company asking me about my recent service experience within 7 days of the original diagostic check - I gave JCT the absolute slating they deserved, and I think the chap at the other end of the phone went away with bleeding ears - poor sod
And throughout all of this, the only sight of the Service Manger I have seen is when he was hiding behind a door pulling faces at the thought of doing the work without charging labour
2/10 (and only because I fancy Laura on the Service Desk)
I phoned JCT in Bradford, and I was told to take the car down to the garage immediately, so I ended up driving there looking like Dell Boys Reliant, with black smoke pouring out of the back of the car at about 20 mph maximum.
When I got there, I was told they couldn't look at the car until the next day and because I was out of warrenty, it would be at least 2 weeks until I could get a courtesy car ( a Bleedin Polo of course ) so I had to cadge a lift back home from my Dad
They charged an ?87 diagnostic fee before they would do any work (even though I already knew it was a [email protected] Intercooler pipe!). So I went back the next day to be triumphantly advised that they'd done a diagnostic check and the intercooler pipe had indeed popped off :roll: but not to worry, as they had re-connected the pipe and everthing was fine with the world again.
So I was driving back from London 3 days later - I was just pulling onto the M25 from the M11 when the intercooler pipe blew off again while I was doing 80, just pulling out from the slip road into the middle lane in rush hour traffic (the car had felt strange on the way down). I came to a halt about 150 meters from the end of the slip road in a plume of black smoke, right in front of some flowers pushed into the crash barrier and a police sign advising there had been a fatal crash there a couple of days ago :shock:
After being stuck for an hour waiting for a low loader to recover me (the AA won't do roadside assist on motorways any more) during which time a car nearly ran into the back of me, I had to wait another hour for the AA to arrive at the Homebase car park in Enfield where I'd been dumped.
The AA chap took one look at the intercooler pipe (as had the Low Loader driver who had dropped me off) and he said the connecter was damaged and that JCT must have just wrenched it back on without even noticing it was broken. Not only that, but they had [email protected] the connector on the lower intercooler pipe in the process.
He ended up lashing the pipes together with plastic cable ties, and I then had a very sedate journey from Enfield to Bradford with regular stops to check that the cable ties were holding - I finally arrived home at 11:00pm having been on the road since 5:00am
I went into JCT the next day, who looked at it again and agreed the intercooler pipe was indeed [email protected] (how else would it have disconnected in the first place?? :evil: ). They advised it would be at least 5 days before they could get the parts from Germany :roll: during which time I had to make journeys to Coventry and Cardiff (unbelievably, the cable ties held together during this 800 mile marathon!).
TWO WEEKS later they have finally phoned up to advise the parts are in and as of yesterday the car is now fixed - and as a courtesy they didn't charge me any labour (well OK - I demanded they didn't charge any labour!) but it still cost ?205 for parts. :x
I feel really let down by the whole experience,and it was only a chat with Laura on the service desk that calmed me down at all (she has that effect on me). Fair play to her for making the best of a bad situation.
Too bad I got a phone call from a Survey company asking me about my recent service experience within 7 days of the original diagostic check - I gave JCT the absolute slating they deserved, and I think the chap at the other end of the phone went away with bleeding ears - poor sod
And throughout all of this, the only sight of the Service Manger I have seen is when he was hiding behind a door pulling faces at the thought of doing the work without charging labour
2/10 (and only because I fancy Laura on the Service Desk)
