Timing belt failure after only 10,000 miles - where do I stand?

[jjones2908]

Hello all,

Back again after a mainly trouble-free year of motoring. 

Long story short, on Saturday evening, my car broke down while I was just about to pull out of a petrol station forecourt. The exit was blocked, so I was coming to a stop and putting my car into reverse (clutch in, obviously) to turn round and go the other way. The car then cut out and wouldn't start again. I called my friend, we checked all of the obvious things and couldn't find a cause or solution, so called out the AA.

He arrived and identified very quickly that the timing belt had gone. I couldn't believe my ears, considering I'd had it, the water pump and tensioners replaced only 2 years and 10,000 miles ago.

I have a fairly bad relationship with the garage that carried out the work and since the issue with the core plug last year, I've vowed never to use them again. The car is currently being looked over by the mechanic that I currently use. The added complication, is that the garage that I have a bad relationship with is actually run by the best friend of my uncle! I very reluctantly called up the garage that did the work in order to "test the water" and as expected, no sympathy and didn't seem very interested in helping. The only thing I got from them was the possible supplier of the parts - Andrew Page, Gates or Euro Car Parts.

My question is really about where I stand / how others would proceed with this? I imagine that it depends on whether the root of the problem is poor / faulty parts or poor workmanship or a combination of both? My current mechanic said that he will tell me if anything seems out of the ordinary.

In any case, I am inclined to get the work done because the car is in great condition and has only done 60,000 miles. Let's say the repair bill was £1000 - am I really going to be able to buy something comparable, for that price? I'm not convinced.

Any input would be much appreciated!

Cheers

 

[jmurray01]

It is entirely up to you on how much you want to spend repairing the car.  Some people would scrap a car for £100 of work and whilst others would spend £1000+ if it was otherwise sound.  I'm one of the latter.  For £1,000 you could probably pick up another Focus of that age and mileage, but there is no guarantee that it's timing belt would have been done.  Better the devil you know!

The problem is, unless they gave you a guarantee with the work/parts, there is no legal obligation for them to do anything in the way of fixing it or providing compensation.  Yes it shouldn't have gone after 2 years/10k, but unless your mechanic can prove it was something they did wrong which shortened its lifespan, there is nothing you can do.  They could easily just argue that it was "one of those things" or that "it must have been your driving".  I've heard all those things before and more, and unfortunately they are valid arguments. 

Let us know how you get on though.