My engine needs replaced - is the garage that changed the timing belt, but not water pump, at fault?
When I agreed last October to buy a Saab 9-3 TID convertible with 69,000 miles, the garage agreed to change the timing belt. The engine cut out and stopped working last week, AA discovered it was the timing belt failure so relayed me to my local garage who took the cover off and saw the water pump was seized solid. The original garage have admitted that they did not replace the water pump last October and are not responsible for anything. Do I have a case against them for what is now apparently a new engine, timing belt and water pump? Saab say that they would never replace a timing belt without replacing the water pump. Should the garage have replaced the water pump? The part suppliers have already said that without a new water pump, their guarantee on the timing belt is invalid.
It's standard practice to replace water pump, tensioner and also the aux belt when a timing belt is replaced and I seem to advise all four about half a dozen times every day. But in your case all the garage agreed to was to change the timing belt and that's all you got. You could try taking it to Small Claims on the basis of "reasonable expectation" that the job would be done properly: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/
Answered by Honest John on
