Handbrake problem and garage liabilty?

[matzusdog]

hello

this forum has been a cracking source of information for me in the 12 months I've had my vectra, however I have had a slight problem with a recent repair and I'm wondering what the best way to proceed is.

2 weeks ago, my brakes started squealing, followed by a complete seizure in the rear driver side brake caliper.

I had a quote and the repair work done at a local garage( about £220 incl VAT), they replaced the caliper on the driver side and discs and pads on both back wheels.

When I picked the car up, I had to spend a longer time than normal bedding the brake pads in - took me a good hour or so before the brakes felt even half useful, the brake pedal had a lot of travel before anything happened and the strangest thing was the handbrake was now really stiff and only went up about 2 clicks, making a creaking noise and going to one side when applied.

Over the last 2 weeks the brakes have got better and the pedal is firmer, I assumed there might have been some air in the pipe or something, so I though no more of it, and someone had told me that the handbrake is linked to the driver side brake in some way, so I left it thinking that it would get better (the handbrake).

Now, I live on a steep hill with on street parking.

I'm sure you can see where this is going

I had a knock on the door last night from one of our more friendly neighbours. "Is that your car down there?" (with 3 police cars parked behind it, lights flashing and the whole street outside gawping)

basically, the handbrake had held on the top notch for a few minutes (long enough for me to get in the house and make a cup of tea) before my car had rolled about 20 metres down the hill and into one of my neighbours cars.

I normally leave it in gear, but not this time.

All in all, very little damage was done, as it only hit one car but it's still gonna cost me.

So here's the question.

I've offered to pay for the damage to my neighbours car without invoving the insurance (as I have a £350 excess, so it's gonna cost me that whatever) but is there any way of finding out if the work the garage did is what has caused the handbrake to fail?

Would it be worth contacting the garage to see if they would at least fix the handbrake for free, with perhaps a veiled threat of some sort of legal action if they refused. Or should I take it to a different garage to inspect the handbrake and then use that to either bill the original garage, or to take the claim through the insurers with some sort of reduced liabilty for myself (i.e blaming the garage).

any help would be appreciated, and also if anyone knows what would be a good price for taking an inch deep dent and 6 inch long scratch out of the front wing of a '96 Peugot 306, so I don't get ripped off too badly...!

cheers in advance

[Big Sig]

Just out of interest, has your car had the hand brake recall done?

[old cruiser]

You beat me to it BS, was just gonna mention the same thing!!
Cheers Pete

[matzusdog]

ah, I'm just reading about that now.

so this is a known issue?

I've had the car 12 months or so, it was a company car previously - 54 plate Estate with about 60k miles on it.

I have some service history, last 2 years but no mention of handbrake. how would I find out if it has been done or not?

If it has been done, is there a chance it's been done incorrectly or failed again?

If it hasn't been done, will Vx do it for me now?

thx for your replies btw!!

[soulman]

you need to Phone Vx and see if they have done the mod
and yes if it hasn.t been done book it in

[bigmac]

Surely if it rolled down a hill into another car there would be more than £350 worth of damage to both cars or did your car not get damaged

[matzusdog]

you need to Phone Vx and see if they have done the mod
and yes if it hasn.t been done book it in

ok thanks soulman.

bigmac the handbrake was still on, i tested it afterwards in neutral and the car rolled at about walking pace.

The dent in the other guys car is only about an inch deep, just like a parking bump rather than a proper smash. (which is what I was expecting when I looked down the hill!)

Gonna ring vauxhall now.

cheers for all your help guys, I'll keep you informed!

[soulman]

whooooooooaaaaaaaaaa hold it if the handbrake was still biting then it is not the handbrake recall fault ..........the handbrake goes altogether .it falls off the rachet completely

[paulhb]

Ring Vx mate if the mod has been done have the car checked at a MOT station as they can independantly check the action of each caliper on hydraulic and cable (handbrake) and then you may have a case against the original garage, in their defence they will say you didn't pull it on hard enough, but as you are looking to possibly take legal action I wouldn't discuss it much more on this public forum, but you must live in a low crime area 3 police cars for a minor traffic accident WOW when my house was done over in West London it took 9 hours for a bobby to turn up

[matzusdog]

ok rang vx, they said recall doesn't apply to my model however under the terms of their customer satisfaction guarantee I can take it to the dealers to be looked at.

yeah, I know the garage would deny liability, and it would be impossible to prove I didn't leave the handbrake on fully.

so back to square one, I'll take it to the dealers and at least they'll have a look at it, might get the repair done for nowt at least.

and yes, the police thought it was a TWOCA/abandonded so came in force. must have been a quiet night in nottingham!

Looks like I'll jsut have to bite the bullet on this one