Hi r/AusLegal!,

​

My partner recently had her car serviced by a large corporate tyre/mechanical chain in QLD.

​

She initially took it to one branch of the mechanic to enquire about an oil leak, and was given a list of items that she should get repaired, including her timing belt.

About a month later, she took it in for it's regular service, and in speaking with the mechanic about the seriousness of her timing belt error indicator, she decided to get all of the repair work done at service time. She was told it would take approx 1 week.

She organised to hire a car and dropped her car in. She was called 2 days later and told her car was ready to pickup. She asked if they were sure, as she expected it to take longer than it did. She was assured all was finished and the car was ready to pickup.

When she picked up the car, she asked about the timing belt, as it had been a concern. She was told they measured the belt and it was within tolerance, and everything was ok concerning the belt.

2 days later she noticed the car was still leaking oil (this had been noticed before), and called the mechanic. They told her to bring it back in. As she works Mon-Fri it would have to be the next weekend.

The next day she started her car and it made a few bad sounds (assuming this is when the head gasket blew). She had it towed back to the mechanic.

They told her the head gasket was blown, and it will cost her $8,000 approx to replace the engine, and that it was most likely caused by a timing belt slip.

​

To my mind, it seems pretty clear that the mechanic has made a (multiple?) mistakes and given bad advice, which has directly caused the engine to fail.

​

My initial thoughts are:

1. Engage the mechanic's head office, and detail all of this out to them, asking them to repair the car
2. If they don't agree, or at least come to the party in a way that suits us, take them to small claims court, also claiming for the cost of a hire car while this is being settled

​

If you were in this situation, how would you approach it?

​

For context, my partner is a single Mum (we don't live together), and only has the one car. This is really causing her some grief with work.

​

​