Newcastle cars and the repairs they bring
Salt and sand underneath
Cars that do the Stockton Beach run, or live a street back from Merewether or Bar Beach, take salt into the underbody. Exhaust hangers, brake lines and suspension mounts are where rust shows first, and a mechanic can spot it on the hoist before it turns into a failed pink slip.
Valley kilometres
The Hunter Expressway and the New England Highway take cars up the valley towards Singleton and Muswellbrook. Highway runs are easy on brakes but pile on kilometres, and they're where a weak cooling system or a worn tyre tends to give out.
Floodwater
East coast lows bring torrential rain here, and the storms of June 2007 flooded thousands of homes across the Hunter and the Central Coast. If a car has sat in floodwater, don't try to start it: get a mechanic to check it first.
Questions to ask before you agree to the work
- Is there a fee for finding the fault, and do I pay it if I don't go ahead?
- Can I have the quote in writing, with parts and labour listed?
- Will any part be reconditioned or exchange rather than new?
- Will you ring me before doing anything the quote doesn't cover?
- What warranty comes with the work, and will it be on the paperwork?
- Which tradesperson certificate does the person doing the job hold?
Your rights on a NSW repair bill
Those questions have the law behind them. Under NSW rules a repairer may only do the work you've authorised, a diagnosis can carry a fee even when you decline the repair, and a price settled before the job begins is generally binding. Reconditioned or exchange units belong on the invoice, and a warranty only holds if it's part of the repair contract. The flip side: until you pay, the repairer can hold the car.
The person under the bonnet needs the right class of certificate. A motor mechanic can work across engines, gearboxes, brakes, steering, cooling and electrics; transmission, exhaust, radiator and underbody work each have their own classes too.
If the repair goes wrong
Go back to the workshop
Bring the invoice, the quote and any job cards, and explain what's still wrong.
Contact NSW Fair Trading
It usually assesses a complaint within 30 days, though it can't order a payment or the car's return.
Take it to the tribunal
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal can make orders both sides must follow.
What we'd do
We'd describe the symptom rather than guess at the fault: when it happens, what it sounds like, which light came on. Before any work, we'd want the diagnosis fee and the repair quote on paper as two separate lines, and we'd look the business up on the NSW licence register.