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I'm djbmx from Leamington Spa. I've been Qyping since 13-04-2012

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Malen - Leamington Spa

Sydenham Drive, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV31 1PH

13-04-2012

Absolutely amazing ability to get a car through an MOT and then accept no responsibility whatsoever a week later when a vital part of the test is found to be beyond repair and should of never of got through in the first place, even having the audacity to then blame the customer!!!

Bought a car from a secondhand car dealer next door to this so called garage and I said I wanted a full MOT on it prior to the purchase. The MOT was done at Malens, with a couple of minor faults to be rectified and an advisory of (and I quote) “slight blow from exhaust backbox”. The failures were sorted by the dealer and then the retest was done, albeit leaving the same advisory. I accepted this fact as the car was a Y reg, and would be used a runaround for my wife, and budgeted for about £75 for a new backbox as it was obvious it needed doing when you started it up as it was much louder than it should be for such a small engined car.

When I took it for a quote on this the exhaust centre said it didn’t sound like the backbox when it was running so got it up on the ramp. Imagine my horror when it we found a hole in the backbox, every clamp rusted solid, a jammed in lamba sensor and a huge hole in the catalytic convertor, this is where the noise was bellowing out from. When I told the mechanic what I’d been told he said that it should of never of passed the MOT and to add insult to injury I was quoted £480 for a new system, plus £80 if the lamba sensor broke when removing it!!!

The car dealer said he’d take it up with Malens who have today said “well it passed on the day so there’s no comeback”, and even tried to suggest my wife could of done it in the week she’s had the car! The cat has been damaged for months looking at the state of it and yet their MOT tester is obviously blind and deaf (although nice to see that they offer employment to the impaired) as he’s managed to get it through a test.

So my suggestion is if you do have the stupidity to deal with these crooks then make sure you inform of any complaint before you even drive off their site or you’ll be blamed. In my opinion it’s seems that they’ll get it through if they need it to but don’t care about any follow up complaints.

Even I, as a non-mechanic, managed to understand the VOSA MOT test guidelines found online so I can see no idea as to why they can’t! If you’re reading this Malens you may want to read the bit about exhaust systems and emissions!!!

akingpage Dear Mr Bicknell,

My Isuzu trooper broke down on the 05/10/2010 it was stuck in 5th gear, I requested Malen to recover the vehicle and take it to their Leamington Spa branch to assess the problem. After assessing the fault Terry at your Leamington Spa branch phoned me and told me it would cost the best part of £2000.00 to repair as it needed a reconditioned gear box. I asked Terry to go ahead with the repair and to include a new clutch, slave, major service and re gas the aircon. On the 16/10/2010 Terry phoned me to tell me the work had been completed and I could fetch my vehicle. I paid £2065.04 for the repair.

After driving the vehicle for a few days I noticed it would jump out of first gear on takeoff, I phoned Terry and took the vehicle back for them to assess the problem. After a week Terry phoned me back to say that they could find no fault with the vehicle so I went and picked it up again. After a month of driving the vehicle it was still showing the same fault and seemed to be getting worse, there was also a loud noise coming from the rear of the vehicle when it drove, I took it back on the 17/11/2010 for Malen to assess the problem. Terry phoned me and told me they could not find a fault on the gearbox but my exhaust needed a repair and this would cost £341.57 to repair. On the 23/11/2010 Terry phoned to say that my vehicle was ready for collection. I paid and left with my vehicle.

The fault with the gear box showed its face regularly but I ignored it thinking if I took it back to Malen they would say there was nothing wrong with it. The fault got worse over time and I got used to holding it in 1st gear with my hand when taking off but about 2 months ago it started jumping out of first even though I was holding it in the 1st gear position. I took it into Isuzu and paid £89.99 for them to assess the problem , they said it was a fault with the sincro and pins inside the gear box and these should not go wrong on a 2 year old reconditioned gear box. I took the vehicle back to Malen on the 24/10/2012 and told them what Isuzu had said and asked them to assess the fault. Terry phoned me back the next week and said they could not find a fault with the gearbox! I took JJ a college of Terry’s for a test drive and as soon as I started to drive off in 1st gear it jumped out of gear! JJ said they would get on to the gearbox company and see what they said. After a week JJ phoned me back to say that Malen were going to take the gearbox out and send it to the company for them to assess. He asked if I could pay £100.00 + Vat for this service which I reluctantly agreed to. After a further week I went in to see JJ and he said that the gearbox was back but they needed a new clutch kit as they damaged the new one that they put in 2 years ago and asked if I would pay for it, a further £230.00 + Vat, I reluctantly agreed as I just wanted my vehicle back the way it should have been the first time they repair it. The next conversation I had with JJ he tried to get me to pay £270.00 + Vat for the parts the gearbox company put into the now twice reconditioned gearbox!! I did not agree to pay this as the fault was there from the start of the repair and was down to the gearbox company to sort out. On 07/11/2012 Terry phoned me and told me my vehicle was repaired and ready for collection and requested I pay the £270.00 + Vat for the gearbox which I declined, I went to collect my vehicle and paid £376.00 for the new clutch and the removal and installation of the gearbox. I took the vehicle 2 miles up the road to test the gearbox, at first all seemed fine until I tried to use the reverse gear, the reverse gear was not engaging so I pushed it backwards and started back to Malen but when I put it in 5th gear it was stuck and would not come out of 5th. I had to phone the AA to tow me back to Malen!!

I have spent a total of £2782.61 to get this vehicle repaired and 2 years later it is in the same condition as it was when it first broke down! If Malen is not able to repair it this time around I will have no other option but to take this matter to court and request my £2782.61 back so that I can take the vehicle to someone who is able to repair it!

I look forward to your response.