Ardfallen motorcare

kawa87

Hi All, just wondering if we were unlucky in our dealings with Ardfallen motorcare in Cork or if our experience is typical of their behaviour.
My son's car, a VW Passat failed to start earlier this month and he called out the breakdown assist who also failed to get it going but offered a strong possibility that the fault lay with the ECU.

The car was delivered to Ardfallen and they checked fuses etc before coming to the conclusion that the issue was in fact with the ECU. They charged €240 plus vat for their diagnosis along with a charge of €100 plus vat for having the ECU checked by a third party.

The invoice included €20 for a courier fee. Anyway after all this they declared that the ECU was not repairable and we would be looking at a bill of €1400 plus vat for a new ECU plus additional labour charges. I paid €180 to have the car recovered to Limerick and Roman Electrical Repairs fixed the existing ECU for €250.

He told mme that the anti-tamper screws on the ECU had not been touched so it was evident that it had not been opened. It is hard to see how anyone could deem it unrepairable when they didn't even take the cover off of it. At best we were the victims of incompetence but on the other hand !!!!

Toyotafanboi

You wouldn't have to open an ECU to confirm it's faulty.

The picked up the car, carried out checks as necessary and confirmed (correctly) the ECU was defective.

Then you took the car away and had it fixed somewhere else.

Sounds like the only issue is they quoted for a new component replacement whereas you went and had your existing unit opened, which is advised against and had it refurbished at a cheaper price.

I dont see how that makes the first workshop incompetent?

kawa87

Yes I agree that they correctly confirmed that the ECU was defective. However they also claimed that the ECU could not be repaired which clearly turned out to be false.

They made that assertion without opening the ECU so I would really have to question the thoroughness of their work. If I am paying for a service I expect that supplier will be working to a code of practice that includes value for money for the customer. I definitely do not feel that this applied to us in this instance.

The only option which they wished to explore was the purchase of a new ECU at a significantly much higher cost to the customer. It was only at this point that the car was removed from them. Roman received the car on Monday and had it fixed that evening.
Ardfallen did not make enough of an effort to provide a solution that was offering the best value possible to the customer.

frozenfrozen

Sounds like a reasonable grievance you have with them. Did you tell them that someone else was able to easily fix the issue? If I was them I'd want to know so I could send ecus to that guy in limerick to fix

Toyotafanboi

kawa87 wrote: »

Yes I agree that they correctly confirmed that the ECU was defective. However they also claimed that the ECU could not be repaired which clearly turned out to be false.

They made that assertion without opening the ECU so I would really have to question the thoroughness of their work. If I am paying for a service I expect that supplier will be working to a code of practice that includes value for money for the customer. I definitely do not feel that this applied to us in this instance.

The only option which they wished to explore was the purchase of a new ECU at a significantly much higher cost to the customer. It was only at this point that the car was removed from them. Roman received the car on Monday and had it fixed that evening.
Ardfallen did not make enough of an effort to provide a solution that was offering the best value possible to the customer.

That's total matter of opinion.

Value for money is relative and cheapest isn't always best.

Why do you think any tamper screws are fitted to an ECU? They aren't fitted so Roman from Limerick can open it up.

Garages go with a replacement component option as to stand over their work, the safety of you and the car, the repair part must come from a known reputable source. They quoted you for this and you decided not to go with it, as is your right.

People do repair ECU's, it's worth a risk given the costs involved and Romans repair was cheaper and the car is back running and that's fair enough. That doesn't mean the other garage was in any way wrong, sorry.

It'd be a different story if he bricked your ECU repairing it, or if the car sat down on the road after repairs and left you in the middle lane on the M50, or if the ECU was beyond repair etc etc. A new unit removes those and plenty of other doubts and is a reasonable repair to advise IMO. You not wanting to pay for it doesn't make it bad advice.

Dirty Nails

kawa87 wrote: »

Hi All, just wondering if we were unlucky in our dealings with Ardfallen motorcare in Cork or if our experience is typical of their behaviour.
My son's car, a VW Passat failed to start earlier this month and he called out the breakdown assist who also failed to get it going but offered a strong possibility that the fault lay with the ECU.

The car was delivered to Ardfallen and they checked fuses etc before coming to the conclusion that the issue was in fact with the ECU. They charged €240 plus vat for their diagnosis along with a charge of €100 plus vat for having the ECU checked by a third party.

The invoice included €20 for a courier fee. Anyway after all this they declared that the ECU was not repairable and we would be looking at a bill of €1400 plus vat for a new ECU plus additional labour charges. I paid €180 to have the car recovered to Limerick and Roman Electrical Repairs fixed the existing ECU for €250.

He told mme that the anti-tamper screws on the ECU had not been touched so it was evident that it had not been opened. It is hard to see how anyone could deem it unrepairable when they didn't even take the cover off of it. At best we were the victims of incompetence but on the other hand !!!!

It would appear that you joined Boards specifically to libel a garage in Cork?
If you reread what you wrote " for having the ECU checked by a third party",your grievance is with the people that deemed it unrepairable,not with the garage that correctly diagnosed the problem.
Garages don't open ECUs,it's a specialist job. Google a pic of ECU internals & you;ll understand why.

kawa87

Yes Toyotafanboi I take it that your opinion of Ardfallen motorcare is quite high or rather that you feel my enquiry about them is possibly lacking in merit. As you say this is a matter of opinion and my original post was to check if others had a decent opinion of them. Of course it is much easier to have that opinion of them when you are not being asked to pay over €2000 for a job that you can subsequently get done for €250. We can agree to differ there. Roman comes highly recommended by my own mechanic in Limerick and he does provide a warranty on his work so I am hopeful that we wont wind up with any further trouble with this unit.

My son only recently moved to Cork and we had never had any dealings with any mechanics there so I was just concerned that he had been taken for a complete ride by this crowd. I am only working working from the facts that I have to hand. He was charged €100 for having the ECU sent to a third party who deemed it unrepairable.

I rang Ardfallen twice last Tuesday and told them that the ECU had been repaired. I was expecting to receive a call from them today but I have not as yet. I would like to speak to the third party that they sent the ECU to.

Guy:Incognito

kawa87 wrote: »

being asked to pay over €2000 for a job that you can subsequently get done for €250.
.

Its not the same job though. One was a new ECU and the other a repair to your existing one.

fryup

ok let's cut to the chase here,

OP do you want a refund? or an explanation ...or both?

kawa87

An explanation as to why I was not offered the repair option or more so as to why we were told that a repair wasn't possible would be great.

Toyotafanboi

Doctors differ, patients die, as they say.

I dont think they owe you an explanation.

kawa87

Tis a good job for me so that you're not my doctor.

newmember2

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

You wouldn't have to open an ECU to confirm it's faulty.

The picked up the car, carried out checks as necessary and confirmed (correctly) the ECU was defective.

Then you took the car away and had it fixed somewhere else.

Sounds like the only issue is they quoted for a new component replacement whereas you went and had your existing unit opened, which is advised against and had it refurbished at a cheaper price.

I dont see how that makes the first workshop incompetent?

Surely if the garage in question diagnosed the ECU as faulty and as you say followed the preferred route of replace faulty rather than repair, then why did they then charge the customer another €100 for the ECU to be investigated further by a third party? The customer then pays twice to be told his ECU is faulty?

Toyotafanboi

kawa87 wrote: »

Tis a good job for me so that you're not my doctor.

It's more the luck of the draw.

If i was your doctor you'd probably ask me to prescribe you a splint and a few rolls of tape for a broken leg. None of that going to hospital criac for you. Same result, a fraction of the price, just not as reliable.

newmember? wrote: »

Surely if the garage in question diagnosed the ECU as faulty and as you say followed the preferred route of replace faulty rather than repair, then why did they then charge the customer another €100 for the ECU to be investigated further by a third party? The customer then pays twice to be told his ECU is faulty?

Sounds like the garage suspected it was a faulty ECU via onboard testing but couldn't bench test it and paid a third party to bench test it to confirm. A small addition cost for a concrete diagnosis.

A continental ECU i'm guessing.

lalababa

One garage 500 to diagnose and try repair. Couldn't do it. Potentially costing another 1400...total 1900
Another garage repair for 250.
Simples😀
Question......how do people find this original garage?

Toyotafanboi

It doesn't bridge the gap but do remember the second workshop didn't gave to do a number of hours pre repair diagnostic work, that was handed to them. That alone should be an alarm bell in terms of their repair standards.

kawa87

Just an update to this thread. Kevin from Ardfallen rang me and told me that they did send the ECU away to try to have it repaired. Their preferred course of action was to have the original unit repaired rather than drawing down the significant expense of a replacement with a new unit. Those who demeaned our attempt to have it repaired can think on that fact. The third party that they engaged charged them for "looking" at the unit and deeming it unrepairable. He did not reveal the identity of this third party. He took the details of Roman Electrical Repairs from me and he will consider using their services in the future.

Toyotafanboi

I dont think anyone demeaned you.

So the situation is still basically the same?

Truckermal

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I dont think anyone demeaned you.

So the situation is still basically the same?

That's one of the reasons I'm not self employed anymore dealing with the likes of that, those lad's always have a great name..

Orebro

Just wanted to add here that I have dealt with Ardfallen for many years (even in the days when they were based in Douglas) and have had all my cars in for repair & service with them. Workmanship has always been top notch. Not a chance they were trying to pull one on you OP, they have a fantastic reputation.

cpoh1

Orebro wrote: »

Just wanted to add here that I have dealt with Ardfallen for many years (even in the days when they were based in Douglas) and have had all my cars in for repair & service with them. Workmanship has always been top notch. Not a chance they were trying to pull one on you OP, they have a fantastic reputation.

I would second that - they are not cheap but a reputable and reliable independent garage none the less.

Leonard Hofstadter

I concur with the above, although I would say for any BMW heads here they're not really a BMW specialist any more, they cover all makes of cars. I certainly don't think they're pulling a fast one on the OP either.