Fixing damage caused by repairers

Illustration by KEVIN GROULX/QMI AGENCY

Opinion: Choose the best shop to repair your vehicle

Our resident mechanic recently wrote about having to testify on behalf of a customer about damage reportedly inflicted on a vehicle by a repairer and that got me thinking about how often that may happen and what the course of action should be after it happens.

Everybody has a story, or knows of somebody who has a story, about a vehicle that doesn’t get fixed properly the first time and has to return, sometimes multiple times, to a shop, but here I’m referring to actual damage caused by the shop.

In this case, the vehicle in question had some serious structural problems that on closer examination pointed to its likely falling off the hoist. It’s not as simple as a worn gasket being wrongfully reinstalled or a bolt that didn’t get torqued to spec.

What would you do if that happened to you? You get a call from the shop saying your vehicle has had a terrible mishap but the shop will put it right at no cost to you; they may even offer you a loaner.

On the surface, it’s a no-brainer – they broke it; they have to fix it; you don’t pay a thing.

But what if that shop is not equipped to handle the repairs? What happens if after all the work is done, your vehicle isn’t as it was before? Things sometimes happen to vehicles that aren’t readily apparent even to experienced shops.

We once had a long-term test vehicle involved in a rear-end shunt. There wasn’t much damage to our SUV because the other vehicle (which suffered extensive front end damage) hit our SUV’s trailer hitch, which in turn nudged the under-floor full-sized spare and prevented extensive structural damage forward of it. The dealership put on a new hitch receiver and we were on our way a couple days later. The following day, our driver noticed decreased braking ability (it seems the spare was pushed forward enough to pinch a brake line – not noticeable until fluid pressure caused fluid to leak through a hairline crack in the hose).

Maybe the shop you chose for your vehicle’s quick and cheap oil changes can have you on your way with record-receipts within a half hour, but are you sure it can handle an extensive repair, or choose the best shop to perform that repair?

If similar damage were to happen in the course of your everyday motoring, you’d notify your insurance, get several quotes and choose the shop you want to repair your vehicle. But, then you’d also likely see an increase in future premiums.

So regardless of what you envision your future financial burden to be, your first course of action in this case, regardless of how much you’re offered by the shop to keep it “between ourselves,” should also be to alert your insurer. Then get the proper repairs done by your choice of repairer.

On a simpler level, look at this way – if the shop you’ve chosen has damaged your vehicle during a simple repair job, do you really want it handling a complex one?

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Tags: mechanic, repair, repairer, vehicle