Bumper damaged after exhaust falls off.Exhaust 3 months old

[astraman]

Where do i stand as far as reparation to my exhaust and bumper.I have a 3 year guarantee with the exhaust but would the exhaust repair centre be liable for my bumper damage as well as it was a result of theexhaust coming off?

[jno]

depends exactly what the guarantee says but I would have thought not; it probably just guarantees the exhaust itself. I mean, imagine... your exhaust falls off. The car behind swerves to avoid it. It hits a bus. The bus falls off a cliff and lands on an explosives factory. The factory blows up and thousands die. I don't think your guarantee would cover consequential damage like this. They'll probably just say you should have come in earlier while it was working loose. (And that's assuming you're covered for the exhaust actually falling off rather than just rusting.)

[astraman]

But how can you take a car in to get the exhaust checked when there was no previous sign or noise coming off it to suggest you should take it in.After all its almost a new system so your not expecting it to go if you know what i mean.

[david1702198]

did you have the the centre section and rear box replaced???or only the rear box?

[johnny37]

I assume you are not just trying it on! ! ! Not sure how an exhaust can damage a bumper but anyway: How muach is the car worth? A new bumper can cost over �500.

Jno's example is rather extreme but I would have thought that if its a clear cut case that the damage to your bumper was directly as a result of a dodgy exhaust then the garage that fitted the exhaust would be liable. Act dumb. We are not experts. When we get a car repaired we expect the workmanship to be of good quality. When you take it back ask them politely what they intend to do about the bumper. They may offer a compromise but if you are not happy with that again politely tell them you will going to trading standards of the small claims court.

[plowter]

Why did the exhaust fall off?

Exhausts are held in place by clips and hangers. If the clips or hangers were corroded, then it could be argued that it was your fault for failing to maintain the car. Think it's a traffic offence to let things fall off your car.

If your argument is that the exhaust was improperly secured by the workmen, either because of faulty materials or poor workmanship, then you would have to prove that this was the case.

As johnny37 says, go back to the garage. Double-check whether you instructed them to carry out specific work (ie. I want you to fit a new exhaust), or asked for their experts to check and recommend the work required (ie. we've 'ad a look as you asked and your 'ole exhaust needs done, mate). In the second instance their 'expert fitters' should have noticed any problems with the clips/hangers and advised replacement.

Your argument would be that you bought goods (the exhaust) and services (the expert advice and fitting). One or both were not of satisfactory quality, leading to the incident.

Also check whether the guarantee applies only to the goods (ie. the exhaust) or to both the goods and services (ie. the fitting as well).

As for jno's scenario, the second car and the bus should both have been travelling at an appropriate speed and distance to allow them to take avoiding action. The Highways Agency should have protected traffic from falling over the cliff with an appropriate barrier. The explosives factory should have carried out a risk assessment to reduce the risk and impact of such an accident. The local authority shouldn't have built so many homes near an explosives factory.

Injured by an accident that wasn't your fault? Phone ...

[jno]

I expect you're right, plowter, and as for the resulting avalanche that buried the city, well, the ground should have been properly landscaped in the first place.

But anyway, astraman needs to check exactly what the guarantee covers

[astraman]

Kwik fit have said to be fair they would replace the exhaust system as soon as they saw the receipt that said a complete system was put on on oct 07.The front section had came out whereit joins the front downpipe hit the ground and ripped the complete system of in the opposite direction.However they just said not our problem regarding the bumper.Im waiting till the new system is fitted then its onto there head office.

[plowter]

If KwikFit accept that the joint was at fault then you can claim consequential loss or damage. Depending on your insurance policy, you may have some legal cover. Check about claiming on your insurance and having your insurer recover the cost from the cowboys.

jno, gotta larf. I worked for a central government organisation that took over a large warehouse site and populated it with more than 2500 office workers. It was built next to an airport, directly under a busy flightpath, near an oil refinery. The management carried out a full risk assessment estimating the number of deaths and injuries resulting from various scenarios.

In an admirable show of environmental concern, they recycled printed A4 paper into A5 notpad blocks. Unfortunately, their risk assessment didn't include considering the effect on staff of finding the result of these reports on the reverse of their notepads. Doh!

[david1702198]

the only reason i asked is that sometimes when we fitted new back boxes onto cars where the centre wasnt replaced the odd time the centre section would break shortly after, we did advise at the time for the cenre to be replaced but the punter said no!!

[jno]

the law of unforeseen consequences, eh plowter? Bet that went down well