I took my car in for a repair on Wednesday, unfortunately I bumped a curb a bit hard on Monday and Snapped the passenger side front Coil Spring. Took the car into ford on the Wednesday because of the rattle from the coil spring and the obvious wobble from knocking the wheels out of balance when i hit the curb.

I didn't get the car back until last night with a nice £280 bill for fitting a new coil spring and a 4 wheel alignment.

I noticed when I was driving back from the dealer that the steering is now dodgy, the steering wheel doesn't naturally return to a straight position like it used to, it now rests aiming to the left slightly so when i straighten the steering wheel the car veers off to the right. I take the motorway to work and this morning it was just shocking, couldn't drive in a straight line at all.

I had NO problems at all with the steering when i dropped the car off with them on Wednesday morning, it was perfectly fine, now i've got it back its terrible.

I've phone the dealer and they have asked me to take the car back in to them on Monday morning and leave it with them so they can have a look and advise me if any repairs need doing. I'm actually quite annoyed at them because i would have thought the steering problem would have been spotted by them when they went for a test drive after finishing their work.

Should I be expecting to pay for anything when i take it back in on monday? Because in my opinion there were no problems at all with the steering before it went to ford, now I can't even drive in a straight line properly

Look like it is rant at ford week :)

Lets put it this way,if it's had 4 wheel aliginment then it should pick it up if something is wrong.

I have the laser one and it looks at a lot of stuff.

If it's a part broke through you hitting the curb then i should say you will have to pay but it

should of been picked up thats the thing,don't forget the labour they charge.

Look like it is rant at ford week :)

Lets put it this way,if it's had 4 wheel aliginment then it should pick it up is something is wrong.

I have the laser one and it looks at a lot of stuff up.

If it's a part broke through you hitting the curb then i should say you will have to pay but it

should of been picked up thats the thing,don't forget the labour they charge.

The issue i have is that when I was driving the car for two days after hitting the Curb, and the steering was perfectly fine, its currently really obvious that there is a problem. The ford dealer told me they took the car for a test drive and told me that it was the coil spring and also that a 4 wheel alignment was needed. If there was an issue with steering they would have spotted it on the test drive, and they didnt appear to. So I obviously paid for all of this to be done, and since it has been done (I only got the car back from them last night) there is a big problem with the alignment which makes me think that maybe they decided to cut corners and not clamp the steering wheel in place?

Sounds like they didn't lock the steering wheel in the centre position before aligning the road wheel. If this is the case then the alignment procedure will need to be carried out again. As long as nothing else is found to be broken you shouldn't have to pay IMO.

Sounds like they didn't lock the steering wheel in the centre position before aligning the road wheel. If this is the case then the alignment procedure will need to be carried out again. As long as nothing else is found to be broken you shouldn't have to pay IMO.

its very annoying, they cant claim it was already like that because I would have noticed the difference mainly because its a huge annoyance

Should I be expecting to pay for anything when i take it back in on monday? Because in my opinion there were no problems at all with the steering before it went to ford, now I can't even drive in a straight line properly

I wouldn't expect to pay anything more. I'm no legal expert but it sounds like you paid for a repair to be done, and they didn't do it to a reasonable standard. So they should put it right free of charge. I'd ask them if they will charge you or not before you give them the keys just to be sure.

I wouldn't expect to pay anything more. I'm no legal expert but it sounds like you paid for a repair to be done, and they didn't do it to a reasonable standard. So they should put it right free of charge. I'd ask them if they will charge you or not before you give them the keys just to be sure.

I asked them on the phone if i would be charged and they said "We won't charge to have a look at it but if there is going to be a charge for the repair then we will let you know before we do anything" but i'll be telling them on Monday before i had over the keys that i won't be paying for anything, and if they do try to charge me then i wont be going to them again

The thing is they gave the car back to you and took your money, which implies that they repaired the problem (which clearly they didn't). They have no right to charge you anything else because all they will be doing is putting right what they did wrong, in my opinion.

The thing is they gave the car back to you and took your money, which implies that they repaired the problem (which clearly they didn't). They have no right to charge you anything else because all they will be doing is putting right what they did wrong, in my opinion.

Exactly. Unfortunately I couldn't have driven back to the dealer as soon as i spotted the problem because i left the dealer at like 5:50pm and the closed at 6pm so i guess we'll have to wait and see what happens on Monday morning

Exactly. Unfortunately I couldn't have driven back to the dealer as soon as i spotted the problem because i left the dealer at like 5:50pm and the closed at 6pm so i guess we'll have to wait and see what happens on Monday morning

Let us know how you get on.

Sounds like a basic case of the alignment having been done without the steering wheel in the correct position.

Shouldn't be any question of how it was when you took the car in as the whole point of the alignment is to correct everything after they've had to drop the suspension strut out in order to replace the spring.

Sounds like a basic case of the alignment having been done without the steering wheel in the correct position.

Shouldn't be any question of how it was when you took the car in as the whole point of the alignment is to correct everything after they've had to drop the suspension strut out in order to replace the spring.

Ahh I never thought of it that way, so should I really have had to pay for the alignment check on top of the spring fitting? Sounds to me like if they have to check it anyway then i shouldn't have been charged an extra £50 for the alignment check. Ahh well, too late now anyway.

Ahh I never thought of it that way, so should I really have had to pay for the alignment check on top of the spring fitting? Sounds to me like if they have to check it anyway then i shouldn't have been charged an extra £50 for the alignment check. Ahh well, too late now anyway.

Think you'd just find if they costed the alignment as part of the spring replacement job it'd be the same price in any case. Course it always help when it's done properly the first time, though even the place I use have got the steering wheel alignment a bit out in 1 case. Depends what kind of kit they use to set the steering wheel position, and it does the job properly which is harder than you'd think.

Did they replace the springs as a pair?

Did they replace the springs as a pair?

Ahh yeah that's a good point what you said about the costing.

They didn't do it as a pair the just did the front left as that's all that was needed, they did a visual inspection, you know one of then free safety checks they sometimes offer and the right is fine

Cars in with ford now, dropped it there about an hour ago. Showed the evidence that the steering is out and said i want it correcting, When I asked if i'd be charged they said "We'll center the steering wheel but if we find anything that wasn't caused by us we'll let you know" so I get the slightest feeling im going to have to pay for something today...

Let us know how you get on.

Got it back, didn't have to pay anything and it's fine now :)

Got it back, didn't have to pay anything and it's fine now :)

Well done :)

Got it back, didn't have to pay anything and it's fine now :)

Result :)