Agency May Offer Help in the Clutch
Question: I am having a big dispute with a service garage over a new clutch that they installed in my Ford Mustang. They claim that they can’t guarantee a clutch because it could be ruined by the way I drive. But it failed after only one day, and I think they just botched the job. I am out $375. Is there anything I can do?--B.C.
Answer: It is true that a motorist can so badly mistreat a clutch that it will quickly fail, but a brand-new clutch almost never fails in a single day. Moreover, unless the clutch lining was worn out, you have a very strong case to pursue.
Almost every state, including California, has a government agency set up to help motorists with repair disputes. With all the problems motorists are having getting today’s complicated cars fixed, you can imagine that these government offices are swamped. Still, they are often able to help.
In California, you need to contact the Bureau of Automotive Repair, which licenses and regulates automobile repair facilities. Their areas of jurisdiction include whether repairs were properly made and whether they were properly priced. Their toll-free telephone number is (800) 952-5210. The agency has 10 operators on duty, in addition to 21 offices around the state where a motorist can walk in and file a complaint. They typically handle more than 100 complaints a day.
After receiving a complaint, the agency contacts the motorist to get his side of the story and then contacts the repair garage. Because it is in charge of regulating and licensing the garages, the agency has some clout in getting the garages to agree to reasonable settlements.
The bureau does not get involved in new-car warranty disputes; those are handled by a different state agency. And problems in registration disputes are handled by yet another agency, the Department of Motor Vehicles.
If you don’t resolve your dispute through the Bureau of Automotive Repair, you can always sue in small claims court. It’s a lot easier than you think. Under state law, the garage is not allowed to hire an attorney and neither are you, so it is a fair contest of your allegations against the garage’s defense.
Q: My 1982 Toyota Corolla fails to restart after it is warmed up. The dealer has checked the battery, changed the cable from the battery to the starter and changed the starter. It seems worse in hot weather. Do you have any ideas?--E.V.
A: Hot restart problems in which the engine does not turn over are generally traceable to a poor electrical connection in the high-amperage cables that carry current from the battery to the starter. You say that the lead from the battery to the starter was replaced, but you should also change the ground cable from the battery to the body. It is also possible that the electrical charging system was checked out but that the battery is not capable of putting out adequate current. Hot weather imposes a big load on the battery because resistance in the cable and electrical connections rise.
Update
A motorist recently wrote that his Audi, equipped with a fuel-injection system, had been running poorly and that a mechanic said his combustion chambers needed to have the carbon cleaned out. Audi has strongly recommended that its owners use gasoline that contains detergents, which help keep fuel-injection systems and combustion chambers clean. In addition, Audi dealers will clean engine and fuel-injection system carbon deposits one time at no charge. Some Audi owners have received notices in the mail. If you have any problems getting this service, you should contact Audi’s factory representatives.
