Who covers the clockspring repair?

Maintenance/Repairs
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21

@Rod Knox most likely the sub-frame had to be removed to do the clutch and tech need to turn the steering wheel to remove the pinch bolt to separate the column. When it was done the steering wheel was probably rotated too far in one direction. Most time the column is disconnected from the rack. Personally I prefer to take the rack loose from the sub frame and secure it in the car if possible.

@GeorgeSanJose When a car comes in the shop a good tech will document obvious issues like warning lights on, cracked/chipped windows, body damage, etc. This helps shops prevent false claims of damage.

22

I’ve worked on some Proteges but don’t remember any clutch jobs on them. That being said, a look at the manual on a Protege clutch replacement makes no reference to disconnecting the steering shaft, dropping the column or anything else other than the normal disconnection of the tie rod ends.

One could make the point that the wheels were turned one way or the other to access the tie rod ends and separate them from the knuckle.
In theory I suppose this could cause a clock spring problem if you wanted to use the lock to lock logic. Maybe at 16 years of age and if that simple act wiped out the clock spring I’d say the clock spring was a dead man walking to begin with IF separating the tie rod ends was the cause of this problem.

23

There’s always talk here about shops trying to upsell all kinds of things, about the customer being bombarded with recommendations and needed repairs. What many people don’t realize is that this is done for everyone’s benefit, the shop and the customer. If there’s a clear understanding of what shape a car is in before work is done everyone benefits.

Every car that comes in here gets a quick once-over and anything out of the ordinary gets noted on the tech worksheet. Brake light out, washer fluid inop, airbag light on, noisy brakes, whatever. It gets noted on the invoice and the customer is advised of the needed repair. If the shop in question did that then on the final test drive there would be no question as to responsibility. The light wasn’t on before, it is now. The shop should either take responsibility, or better yet the shop should have contacted the customer and informed her of what happened before she picked up the car.

Here’s a perfect example…a woman brings her car in on a weekend for an oil change. The Saturday guys do the service, and on Monday the lady is back complaining of an oil leak she never had before. I run the car in expecting to find a missing drain plug gasket or something simple. I see an engine caked with oil that has obviously been leaking for some time. I dig up the invoice and the tech worksheet, and see the lube kid did write “several oil leaks” on his sheet but that info never made it onto the final copy of the repair order. Had the invoice been properly notated I could easily tell the customer to get lost, but instead I have to spend 15 minutes arguing with her about how we’re not taking any responsibility for oil leaks on her 12 year old Audi.

24

I’m afraid I don’t buy the “dead man walking” argument

that’s because I work on plenty of vehicles older than 16 years that don’t have snapped clocksprings due solely to age

In my opinion, the shop caused the clockspring to break . . . whether they admit to it or not

I suppose if the shop ate the cost, without admitting fault, that would also be an acceptable outcome

I think the best possible outcome would be if the shop “investigates” the incident, realizes a mistake was made, ate the cost of the repair, and told the customer that the fault is theirs.

If they’re honest and play their cards right, it might be seen as a good outcome, and maybe the shop will not lose the customer

But I think it’s already too late, because they handed the customer the car back with additional problems, which they caused

That was a pretty bad impression to make

They’ll have to work hard to overcome it. If they want to, that is

Maybe the shop senses that the customer is going to be lost, anyways

But there’s word of mouth. If the customer is made to pay for the shop’s mistake, never brings the car back in for service/repairs, AND tells their congregation, friends, relatives, etc. about the overall negative experience, the shop might lose more than one customer

:warning:

25

I’ll be speaking with them tomorrow and I’ll post the outcome. Thanks for everyone’s comments!!

26

I’m in agreement with asemaster about the shop notating any problems and no shop should ever hand a car back with a known problem without the customer being informed first.

There is the possibility that a problem was noted and never made it to the customer or that the problem surfaced as the car was parked in the lot or at the end of a test drive. Not saying that’s the case here; only food for thought.

There’s also a fair number of people who will come back and argue points even WITH problems being notated on their copies and which a blind man could read. Again, not saying that’s the case here; only a possibility.

I’ve been in the middle of some doozies in regard to this kind of scenario and once even had to resort to pulling a tire iron out from under the counter when some yo-yo stepped over the line and threatened me with an axx kicking. I started toward the end of the service counter with the iron and the service manager grabbed the back of my collar while pleading with me to calm down a notch. I just told the SM and the yo-yo that nobody was threatening me like that but the yo-yo was already booking it for the door.

The guy was as dead wrong as can be and the car he was arguing over was not even his nor had he ever driven it. Dealing with the public one finds a lot of last straws wandering around out there… :smile:

27

Dealing with the public one finds a lot of last straws wandering around out there…

Yup, you got that right.

I hate to say this as an industry “insider” but I’m sure some of the other pro’s here have seen what I’m about to say…the shop missed an opportunity for an additional sale here by releasing the car with the broken clockspring.

“Mr. Jones, I’m sorry to give you bad news, but part of the procedure for replacing your clutch required separating your steering column from the subframe. During that process unfortunately the clockspring broke, possibly due to age. I feel bad that it happened as part of our repair so we will repair it for just the cost of the part…”

28

“Mr. Jones, I’m sorry to give you bad news, but part of the procedure for replacing your clutch required separating your steering column from the subframe. During that process unfortunately the clockspring broke, because proper precautions were not taken. I feel bad that it happened as part of our repair so we will repair it at no charge to you.”

I like that much better

:smiley:

29

True, but at some point the shop can’t take responsibility for everything that happens to a 16 year old car. Maybe the wheel was allowed to spin, or maybe the jolting of the slip-joint to separate the steering shaft from the rack was enough to push the worn out clockspring over the edge. Just because something breaks while we’re working on it doesn’t mean we’re responsible.

Either way, handling the problem as part of the clutch job instead of after the car was released would have left a better taste in everyone’s mouths.

30

“handling the problem as part of the clutch job instead of after the car was released would have left a better taste in everyone’s mouths.”

I agree wholeheartedly

31

A local independent shop owner uses surveillance cameras to document the condition of cars coming onto his lot. One customer demanding a new hubcap and another demanding a paint job (big scratch on one side) were made to slink away when the video was shown to them. Also, cameras inside the shop document stuff like lug nuts being tightened, etc. Once, one of his mechanics lost the keys to a customer’s car (oops!). The video showed where he had set them down.

32

I also wholeheartedly agree about this being sold additionally as part of the clutch job. The only thing that nags at me a little is the idea that the problem could have possibly surfaced as the car was parked in the lot after being out the door or at the end of a test drive.
Car problems routinely pop up out of nowhere and while I’m not saying that did happen here there is at least a possibility of it.

The video is a great idea and could head off a lot of problems. That customer demanding a paint job sounds like the same type that pulled it on us once. He got a maintenance service and alignment with a notation on the repair order that something had been dropped on the hood and slid towards the nose. This left a substantial crease and was badly rusted.

The guy came in, paid, went out to his car, and came back in screaming that we did it and he wanted it fixed. Our idiot service manager caved instantly while dismissing the rust and the notation. He had the entire nose of the car repainted, replaced the front bumper and grill, etc.
The car was then parked under the awning out front for this guy to come back in.

A local hands-on SAAB/Alfa dealer a mile up the road came into the dealership for some VW parts and saw that VW sitting there. It had a distinctive front plate and fog lights on it and he wanted to know if the guy BSed us into fixing his car. Yep, courtesy of the service manager.
The SAAB/Alfa dealer was laughing while telling us that guy had tried that stunt on him 6 months before and he had told him to get the hxxx of the lot and never come back.

The SAAB/Alfa dealer was a cool guy because he spent most of his time in the shop in uniform twisting wrenches and getting his hands dirty while leaving sales and so on to others.

33

The shop admitted they broke it and covered it at 100%! I wish this had gone smoother but what a relief. I am not a confrontational person and do not like dealing with this sort of thing.

34

Congratulations. It’s also possible they’re doing this in the name of PR and to simply hold any potential ruckus down even if they do have doubts about whether they caused it or not.

35

@HardWorkingDad

Congratulations!

I’m glad to hear that the shop owned up to their mistake and made it right

36

@ok4450 they actually told me what happened. It’s what I suspected.

37

@HardWorkingDad, I hope you give this repair shop another chance. They deserve it. You often find out the most about people when something goes wrong.