What were they doing an eight-mile test drive for if it was a simple oil change?
I would fight tooth and nail if any dealer did that to my car.
It maybe unfortunate that they've actually repaired the car, as your case would have been stronger if they hadn't.
I'd still see a solicitor though.

Stef.

 

Russ,

They can't sue you for libel if you stating a fact.

Be a real thorn in their side mate. Threaten to bad mouth 'em to the gutter press/Watchdog etc and make yourself such a pain in the **** (legally) that they will cut you loose with hopefully whatever it takes.

Good Luck with it.

blubs

 

Thanks for the support folks.

My attitude now is definitely to take this all the way. My solicitor is already on it and i'll be issueing proceedings when its all ready - i've got a lot of info and evidence to back up my claim. I've kept full records of all our conversations and letters.

The way i see it is that i WILL lose money when i come to sell it, which i feel they should settle now,not in a year or two years time.

It's just a shame that it comes to this.

No - i'm not going to let this one go. You'd think they'd want to minimise any adverse publicity but No. They're threatening to sue ME for libel!!!

Really makes me MAD! I work hard for what i have and this was a real dream car to me. I feel like getting rid of it now i know its a bent one. Trouble is, who the hell would buy it!

Catch 22.

Thanks for the support - times like this you feel like you're taking on a huge dealership on your own and knowing you all feel the same way is very encouraging.

Russ



[This message has been edited by webmaster (edited 15 December 2000).]

 

Right. Need to be careful here as Barretts of Canterbury have told me that they will sue me for libel if I say anything nasty about them.

But I need to get this off my chest….

Some time ago, you may remember I posted on here about Barretts of Canterbury trashing my nearly new Sti whilst “Road Testing” it. The car went in for a simple 8000 mile oil change (its first service) and the test driver decided that he’d take it for the “test drive” eight miles out into the country lanes.

Guess what… he slings it off the road and into a ditch with a very hard wooden post in the middle. Result? Pretty much £5k worth of damage including new inner wheel arch/wing, wishbone, cross-member, steering rack, two front wheels, tyres, drivers door glass and mirror, both sides requiring full repspray etc etc. It was, quite simply, a wreck..

Still, amazing what they can do nowadays. The car’s back together (it was in their body shop for pretty much 5 weeks) and the quality of the repair seems okay (though it now mists up badly, the electric mirror makes a funny noise and its already been back for refitting of the turbo timer and heater fan).

What really annoys me though is this. Barretts of Canterbury take a car in perfect condition – involve it in a huge accident and will not in any way offer any compensation. As far as they are concerned, they have now put it right. My point, which they are choosing to ignore, is that the value of the car has been substantially reduced (the advice I’ve had from the importers is that it is probably worth £2-3,000 less than a similar car which hasn’t had a big accident and repair). Let alone the fact that I lost use of the car for 5 weeks and had to pay the insurance company to change insurance etc. It’s cost me loads so it’s now going to have to go to court to settle, as the dealer will not take responsibility for their effect on the value.

What do you guys think? Would you buy my car knowing that it has had a fairly heavy frontal?

The funny thing is that Paul Barrett (the owner of Barretts of Canterbury) even told me on the telephone that “Obviously a car that has been mended will never be exactly the same as a new one….” Word for word. Yet now, they tell me, it is at least as good as before! Also, that the guy driving it has caused complaints from people in the village where he trashed my car because he came through it in the company’s Rally Car at some stupid speed. There’s a pattern emerging….

So, my point is this. Be very careful what “Test Drive” means when you put your pride and joy in to a garage for service – I’m afraid that in my case the car was blatantly taken for a country lane joy-ride.

And if this post gets me sued for libel then so be it. It’s all true so they’ll have trouble proving it!

 

Sorry to hear about your problem Russ.

My advise to anyone would be if your not 100% happy with the dealer, note the mileage, and tell them not to test drive your car. Make sure you get that writen down on the job sheet, and perhaps even signed by one of their staff. They have no right to drive your car if you don't want them to.

David

 

I think you might to have to take it on the chin. The missus got rear-ended when she owned a Fiesta, and the insurance coughed up and fixed it. Of course, when we came to sell it there was all this "oh look, it's been resprayed here" stuff. I think we lost nearly 3 grand on it in 10 months of ownership (and we only paid 6.5k...) but as far as the insurance company are concerned the damage was fixed -- no payout for loss of value.

 

RussP

I sympthasis with you.

Fact is they damaged your car...full stop and have admitted libility.

I do think that u should proceed the court route via a solicitor and surprising what a solicitor can do.

As far as the misting up etc then clearly there is a fault(s) that need remedying. Sling it back to them after of course you have had an inspection carried out by an independent 3rd party (RAC or AA). Use the report that is produced against them and have the faults repaired to your full satisfaction. Your solicitor will brief on what can or cannot be done.

Good Luck

 

I personally wouldnt want the car back, cant Barretts at least buy the car from you, surely they are in the wrong being off the designated test track in the first place. Write everything down and go and see a solicitor.
Hope it all works out.

 

Sue 'em.

They should not have been "testing" the car in a way that ended up in a ditch.

They owe you BIG time.

Mossman

 

Be worth finding out if its going to be shown as repaired on the insurance database, or whether they did all the work from their own pocket (which means it wont).

I cant see how they can fail to reimburse you if it can be proven that you have lost value. Providing you get a decent solicitor.
Did they lend you a car whilst yours was in?

robski

 

Try and sort it out face to face, then I'd echo the "take legal advice" side of things.

(btw, I am not a lawyer. Don't listen to me. Hence the edit)

[This message has been edited by chiark (edited 15 December 2000).]

 

STi, Service, Barretts all in the same sentence. Aren't they a Subaru dealership?
I didn't think dealers could service Japanese Imports...

 

Forgot to say.
The other option is to make them an offer.
Decide what you feel is fair for them to do/pay you, and send them a letter stating this.

Say that you are willing to take legal advice, and persue this through the courts to ensure that you are not out of pocket for something that they have admitted liability for. Point out that they will attract some negative publicity for the damage they have caused to your car, and the way that they have not "sorted you out", and that it would be in their interests to settle this promptly and out of court.

robski

 

Keep your cool tell them what you want in the form of compensation, give them time to get back to you keep a time and date of all conversations and what goes on if they don't get back to you warn them you are contacting your solicitor, give them a little more time and then you have done your best to be civil.

Your next step if you are going to take it further would be contact Subaru UK about the incident, get evidence from the people in the village about the guy who crashed it and then take them to the cleaners.

Darren.

Mail me off the list or ring me 07979 800880.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by robski:
<B>Forgot to say.
The other option is to make them an offer.
Decide what you feel is fair for them to do/pay you, and send them a letter stating this.
robski[/quote]

If you do this then do not forget to add
"Without Prejudice" this means that you are trying to resolve the situation without waiving or altering your legal or negotiating position.

 

The key here is "I will not go away until I am satisfied".

Stick up your dukes!!!!

Hope it gets sorted. No cars the same after a serious front end.

 

Russ, you have my sympathy.

Did they give you a courtesy car?
Did changing the insurance over cost you anything?
Is the car on the "accident" register? (it is now thanks to the BBS)
Have they offered any form of compensation?

 

Before this goes too far off course,

The car wasn't seviced or indeed crashed by Subaru dealer Barretts of Canterbury, so it's unfair that this thread should reflect badly on them. The company in question was the motorsport team which goes by a different name and is to all intents and purposes a seperate company which concentrates on running their rally team. It's an unfortunate event and you have my deepest sympathies Russell.

With regards to Barretts the Subaru Dealer, their customer service is second to none and Paul Barrett himself is very customer service orientated.

In truth Russ, from a legal standpoint I think you've accepted the repair, and they did in all fairness compensate you to a degree with a day out in the rally car alongside David Higgins and provide a courtesy car as well as offering you a very good deal on a P1 at the time IIRC. From what I studied of law at university, if you've accepted their offer to repair, and it was done to a high standard then it's too late to seek compensation, really this should have been sorted out at the time. As long as the car drives fine, which it seems so, I wouldn't be too concerned about residuals as it isn't registered.

Obviously it's not good that this happened in the first place and I'm sure the appropriate people have been reprimanded but they have made the best out of a bad situation and did make gestures of apology.

I'm sure I'd be as equally pissed off as you are but unfortunately these things happen, by all means follow it up if you like but I think you'll end up spending lots of money with the usual result that the only people who gain being the solicitors.

Regards
Nito

er, ignore the smiley at the top of the page, I can't seem to be able to change it!!

[This message has been edited by NITO (edited 15 December 2000).]

 

Nito,

Although I don't know the circumstances, a 'good deal' on a P1 sounds like a fine offer in the way of compensation. Don't place much truck with the 'day out with David Higgins' as it probably isn't worth that much, but the fact that Russ has accepted it would indicate that he considers the matter closed and I'm sure that's what a solicitor would say. Otherwise, they could have offered 3 grand compensation and he could have accepted, and then *still* enlisted the assistance of a solicitor to claim more damages.

I don't think the courtesy car thing should make any difference -- having wrecked Russ's car they should give him a courtesy car out of courtesy (hence the name...). Acceptance of this wouldn't prejudice his claim in my view.

He's probably done the right thing in rejecting the P1 offer (unless it was a real steal... did it include trade in on the wrecked Sti?), but I can't help thinking it was a mistake to accept the day out with David Higgins.



[This message has been edited by carl (edited 15 December 2000).]

 

Did you get any photo's of your smashed pride and joy. Present them to a solicitor aswell (helps with court cases producing definate evidence) Surely if your car had 5K worth of damage wouldn't that be classed as a possible write off,in which case Barrets should give you a new one or cash equivelent

 

NIT0

RossP said:

Some time ago, you may remember I posted on here about Barretts of Canterbury trashing my nearly new Sti whilst “Road Testing” it.

Are you saying that this is not the case?

Who serviced the car?
Who crashed it?
Who does that person work for?

C

 

I'd suggest to them they settle this via goodwill ie make the car as good as new and compensate your for being without it and the loss in value. If this is not agreeable then go the legal route. Inform them you'll write to Watchdog, The Consumars Association, local & national press and Subaru UK. I beleive they shouldn't even be touching an STI and Subaru UK would take a very dim view of this.

Good luck , I'm sure common sense will provail and you'll get some compensation.


AllanB

 

There was never any offer made on a P1 - which to be honest I don't want in any case!

And accepting a 2 minute ride in a car next to their rally driver whilst the repair was done is certainly not equivalent to £2-3k in depreciation!

I made it perfectly clear at the time i was looking into the effect on value of the damage and seeking professional advice so they were always aware the matter was anything but "closed".

Unfortunately, whether it was Barretts Subaru or Barretts Motorsport that thrashed my car down country lanes - i'm well out of pocket with a car nobody would touch. What i find so insulting is being treated like a wet-behind-the-ears kid who has no conceopt of the stigma attached to a heavily damaged car.

I've made an offer to Barretts and they have NO intentions of settling without it going to court - which is a hell of a shame. All it means is adverse publicity for them, solicitors rubbing their hands together and loads of wasted time on both sides.

The fact is that i can prove that the car has been substantially reduced in value whilst it was in Barretts "care" - and the legal advice i've had indicates it will be a fairly open and shut case to reclaim this in county court.

Before the Scooby, i had a bboring Golf Gti - why couldn't it have happened to that????

Russ

 

This is one of my pet hates. It soooo p**sses me off when you take your car in for a service and when you go to collect it, it's got 10+ miles on the clock. Funny it didn't ever happen to me when I owned a Citroen. Even worse is when it goes in to have a paint chip done and they feel the need to test drive it! Probably just trying to speed up the paint drying!

The worst part about all this IMHO is not that the car is worth less (although that's bad enough), but that you entrusted your pride and joy to an Impreza dealer and you now have a sub-standard car. It would so spoil my enjoyment of owning it.

Not sure about all the legal stuff - especially without knowing the full story, but I suggest contacting Subaru. Doesn't really fit in with the JD Power 'Dealer of the Year' accolade year after year, does it? Whatever the legal rights and wrongs, this is fundamentally WRONG. Take it to the papers, Top Gear and Watchdog- in my experience it CAN pay off.

 

Open letter to Russell Pullen

I am saddened that we must continue our communication in this way. As we have already stated we are dreadfully sorry that your car was involved in a road traffic accident whilst on road test.

As you know our Subaru Dealership does not and will not work on grey imports. It was our Motorsport division, part of the same holding company but with different staff and based at a different location & independent of the Subaru Dealership that was servicing your car.

Barretts Motorsport are probably the most experienced and successful independent Subaru Rally Team in the Country. We were British Gp N Rally Champions in 1997 & 1999, winning the Vauxhall Rally of Wales outright in 1999. As we have much experience, we offer a routine servicing, repair and performance modification service to members of the public owning Subaru STI vehicles.

When a new customer brings in a car that we have not seen before we carry out an "evaluation road test". This helps us in advising the customer about the car. Remember that many imports have been modified in some way either in Japan before they are shipped, or here in the UK. We find our customers appreciate this feed back. The road test is over a prescribed route, which includes A & B roads as well as "motorway". The route is about 10 miles long.

To suggest that your car had been taken on a "thrash" is simply not true. With respect, our motorsport technicians drive standard STI, modified STI, Gp N and Gp A cars on a regular basis, a drive in a 5dr V5 is everyday work - not the thrill it might be for a regular dealership technician.

It was on such a road test that the accident involving your car happened, our technician came round a corner to be confronted with a lorry in the middle of the road. He took evasive action by steering onto the verge but sadly there was a wooden post hidden in the grass. This was a relatively slow speed accident supported by the fact that neither airbag deployed. Quite simply it was a road accident with the blame split equally between the two parties involved.

You were informed immediately after the accident what had happened. The car was recovered to our own Bodyshop and you were given a Rover 200 loan car. Quite understandably your were not happy with the loan car and this was changed for a new Impreza 2.0 Sport the following day.

Our Bodyshop estimator and insurance company assessor inspected the car.

The car was not that badly damaged. No where near a "write off" you suggest. However the insurance company assessor at our insistence authorised us to replace several components as a precaution despite the fact there was no visible damage. This included the steering rack.

We kept you regularly informed of the progress of the repair, which regrettably took longer than anticipated due to the shortage of several small parts.

Barretts Motorsport were holding a media day prior to the Kent Rally and we invited you to attend as our guest as a gesture of goodwill. I remember talking to you on the day and you seemed to enjoy yourself. We talked about the accident and you appeared to accept the situation.

Your car was duly returned to you fully repaired and professionally valeted. You were perfectly happy with the quality of the repair. In addition we waved the 7500 mile service charge and carried out a 4-wheel alignment set up to our "motorsport" settings at no charge. When you returned our loan car it had suffered minor damage to the front bumper (£120) and we did not ask you to pay for the damage.

In a phone call to our technician after you had been on a long run in the car you commented that the handling was "transformed" and the car felt really good.

A few days later you reported a problem with the turbo timer and a grating noise from the heater. The turbo timer fault was our fault, which we rectified and the grating noise turned out to be a small snail in the motor! (Not our fault but rectified at no charge, at no time during the repairs was the dash assembly removed from the car).

Over one month after you had received your car back you wrote to me demanding compensation for diminution. Our Insurance Company assures me that for this level of accident there is no reduction in value. Indeed I have offered to take the car in part exchange at any time, and we would value the car as if it had not been damaged. Perhaps when the STI version of the new model arrives at the Subaru Dealership in a year’s time you might be interested. I have also offered you preferential terms for future work.

You recent letter to me was quite simply blackmail and I have quoted it word for word below for others to make there own view.

"I will also make sure that I regularly post factual information on the bulletin board about our dispute, in order that other users can judge for themselves what level of commitment Barrett’s have to customer care. I have so far been discreet in my posts and never mentioned who the dealer was that damaged my car. My future posts will name Barrett’s but will in no way be slanderous or libelous - I will merely let people decide from the facts whether they want to entrust their pride and joy to your company. I will further seek out other web-based bulletin boards to inform of any dispute such as the 22b board. I believe there are Jaguar and Land Rover boards of a similar nature. I will tell everybody that a Barrett’s "Test drive" is really a country lane thrash.

I will also take the story to the newspapers, journals car magazines and trading standards"

------ I will require £2000 in compensation"

Barretts want nothing less than you to be a happy customer and I have endeavored to be fair. The fact that you have now told the "whole world" that your car has been more seriously damaged than it was will obviously make selling your car more difficult, but that was your decision not mine. The car does not and will not appear on any insurance company registers.

In my last letter was an offer to have the car independently inspected at our expense in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

I did also say that if you publish defamatory comment or in anyway impugn our reputation earned by a century of trading for honour and integrity in our relations with our customers we would issue proceedings.

As of today I have not had a response from you, instead you have chosen to start the "thread".


Paul Barrett
Managing Director





[This message has been edited by Barretts Motorsport (edited 16 December 2000).]

 

Always two sides to a story. In my opinion accepting the repair was the end of the story.

 

SDB, Please lock this thread. All of us now have the facts from both sides and can make up our own minds. Any future comment from anyone will only serve to inflame the situation and will resolve little except endanger scoobynet 2 in the same was, as what happened a few months back.

A fully factual update would be appreciated, but only after the matter has been resolved to it's appropriate conclusion.

 

Hi All

I have to say Neil, I agree..

It does go to show that there are 2 sides to a story.

It was easy to read RussP's original message and jump to all sorts of conclusions. But it is clear that this is a complex matter which should (quite rightly) be settled through the proper means.

I feel that this thread no longer serves a purpose until there is an end result.

I would like to thank and commend the majority for keeping this thread respectable.

Best regards

Webmaster

[This message has been edited by webmaster (edited 16 December 2000).]