Paying for repairs that didn't fix the car

I can say that I would have only charge you for the sensor and not the labour as the problem wasn't fixed

I'm a firm believer that customers bring there cars to me as I'm apparently a professional so in that respect I only charge for work I've done to fix a vehicle

Can you swap the ballast side to side to rule it out?

depends if they said that they knew what the fault was and you agreed with them.

otherwise a mechanic can only do as good as you, albeit with more experience and tools.

if a mechanic is unsure then they should talk you through some sort of process of elimination and the potential work and costs involved, but then youre going to have to be interested and knowledgable about whatever it is theyy are talking about and you know some people just drop of the keys and say do your best, get on with it etc...

if i have to use a mechanic its do ask them to do something specific. if there is a problem that i don't have a clue about(and in some cases neither do they)its best to thoroughly talk it through with them and have a proper think about the worse case scenario or whether it is something you might stumble across yourself.

ultimately any purchases and work carried out should be authorised by the customer otherwise youre under no obligation to fill your end of the contract.

I'm happy to go to my local mechanic, pay them for their time for looking at something and taking the time to talk about it and then doing it myself if I'm capable and have the time.

when you have a mystery problem though, you have to put a limit on how much time you want them to investigate for you.

years ago, a garage told me i need to spend £450 odd quid to replace 4 sensors, i paid them £25 for the diagnostics, went home, had a look around my inlet manifold hose and patched a small slit with a piece of duck tape that cost me nothing and took all of 10 minutes.

so replacing things in sequence to rule them out seems like a bit of a lazy route to me because a sensor fault on a diagnostics doesnt mean that the sensor is faulty even. personally ive learned to test sensors and that garage i took my car to that time wouldve done better to test the sensors before creating a bill by wasteful practice.

just have your eyes open.

have you not posted on on here about it?

In the modern age of sensors and electronics it's not uncommon for garages to have a look at the codes thrown up and either 'best guess' or Google it to see if it's a common fault with a known solution.

There's often a lot of reliance on the computer telling you what's wrong, with no 'real' diagnostic work carried out to figure out why a particular fault is being flagged up, hence a lot of 'replace parts until it goes away' work.

I won't argue that modern engines -and vehicles in general- aren't complex electronic systems, but the basics remain the same as always, and a sound basic knowledge of the system combined with the use of computers -and google- as fault finding tools to assist a diagnosis is as foolproof a method as one could hope for.

There's more could be said about traditional mechanicing skills/knowledge dieing out, and that most young lads are now trained as 'fitters' who change broken bit for new and not much else.
I count myself lucky to have served my time in a proper 'Old School' garage, whilst my initial training was as an agricultural engineer, so I've learned a great deal more than I might have otherwise done had I ended up going through a main dealers technician training programme.

Slightly related example, last week at work (I'm a plant mechanic for an agrictural contractor/compost/wood fuels company) I was presented with a JCB Telehandler which -according to the farm fitter- needed a head gasket as it kept boiling up, and had an air leak in the fuel system as it kept cutting out.

My spidey sense told me the engine was in fact fine -Perkins Phasers are bloody hardy things- and some proper investigation found a hydraulic leak above the fan cowling, which combined with barley dust had completely choked the radiator and the fan cowl with a solid oily gunk.
Replace the leaky pipe, clean out the radiator and fan, and back to running like a sweetie.
The cutting out issue? Blowing out the fuel lines, cleaning the sedimentar bowl and giving it a fresh fuel filter cured that one.

I could cite lots of other examples, but that's the most recent.
I would also add I'm always learning, and don't mind admitting if I don't know, or if I've made a cock up.

A great example of following the computer.
Anyone with a bit of nouse would be doing a continuity test of the wiring betwixt ECU and sensor, and a visual inspection of the sensor plug and the loom heading back to the ECU.

It's not complicated, just time consuming, which the dealers would rather not be paying their techs the time for.

I think a friendly chat with the service manager is needed.
You're obviously happy to pay the 'diagnostic charge' even though it's told you nothing new, whilst they're probably within their right to ask you to pay for the sensor, or a small surcharge on it if they remove it and replace your old one.

There is a bit of difference between you instructing them 'please diagnose and fix the non starting fault' and telling them 'replace the crankshaft sensor'.

If the manager has any nouse and realises you're smart enough to know what you're talking about then it shouldn't be too hard to resolve amicably.
Unfortunately there's far to many people who don't have a clue and will quite happily let the garage do as they wish, and pay for it on their credit card without question so long as their car starts and goes when they want it too.

You've taken it to the garage for repair. - they either repair it, or charge you for the labour/parts they have currently put into it (if you do not wish to continue).

Sausage your username/avatar looks a familiar from the club lupo forum? The original thread is on there...
1.4tdi and code was P0321 (using vids-lite). I mistakenly replaced the camshaft position sensor first...thinking they were one and the same. So I already have done that one and garage has now done the engine speed sensor. When I get it back I'll rescan and see what it's saying...

Surely it wouldn't matter how many faults ?
If the was dropped of with a vibration
It's my job to work out why fix it and charge

Not guess

I wouldn't pay a plumber or electrician to come to my house
Take a wild gues at the fault and try to fix it and not

The same as I wouldn't go to Tesco and hope there was something in the box I just paid for

Today I was called out to look a Vauxhall zafira
None starting
After spending 30 mins checking plugging in ect I believe it's the cim "think " it's the cim
I didn't charge them as the car wasn't running when I left and at the time on there drive in the curse word rain I couldn't be 100% sure what it was

I'm confused by your gripe on this one. It's not as if the garage changed a random part, if after scanning the codes they asked you if you wanted the sensor changing, I assume you would have told them to go a head.

Yes it sucks that you are having to pay for work and parts that hasn't solved the problem, only ruled out a potential issue. At the end of the day, the garage has invested time, money and parts at your request and they are a business so need for them to be paid for.