On Tuesday, 8 October 2019 09:35:40 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I took my car in to have two centre prop shaft bearings replaced and
they have damaged the front coupling to the transfer box - it now has
play in it.

I wrote a letter by recorded delivery explaining why I knew that this
was the case, and asking them to contact me to take the matter forward.
They have ignored it.

I am not sure how to proceed, Assuming that this ends up in the small
claims court I am conscious of the need to proceed with caution. Should
I insist that they fix it? I am concerned that I am using a car that may
damage itself further if driven with an out of balance prop shaft. Or
should I get it fixed elsewhere, and claim the money back? The cost of
doing that ranges from a new 'spider bearing' at £36 plus labour through
an after market prop shaft assembly at £100 plus labour to a full Land
Rover OEM part at £200+ plus labour at main dealer prices.

My question is really how the court would look on each approach. I.e.
should I fix it and claim and if so at what level? Or should I take them
to court before fixing it so they have the option of fixing it for free?
And to what level should the (pretty old) car be fixed?

TIA

You'll need an expert report saying it got damaged, and 3 written quotes for the job. It's ok to refuse to let the original person/company sort it if there's good reason, and it sounds to me at least like you could argue that realistically. They may argue otherwise of course, and will insist they did the job correctly and damaged nothing. With that point you seem to be in a position of just hoping the jp sides with you, which is a total gamble. Don't forget to claim £20 costs.


NT