MG4 calibration advice

[hearingthing]

Hi, I've had my MG4 for a year and a half, and love driving it. However, I live in quite a rural area, and have sadly hit a couple of wildlife (firstly a pigeon who snapped a tiny bit of the grill but no other damage, calibration worked fine afterwards), but then a young deer who luckily got away. After hitting the deer, my cruise control stopped working, which I find useful on long journeys. I took it into a local garage, and they said it just needed recalibrating but they didn't have the equipment to do this. I then rang the nearest MG dealer an hour away, and got a specific quote over the phone to get this work done, explaining what I'd been told (nothing in writing unfortunately). On the day of the appointment, I waited around for 3 hours, and walked into the local town. When I got back, they charged me nearly the same price that I was quoted, but nothing was fixed. I needed to get home, so thought the only thing I could do was to pay anyway if I wanted my car back. However, I now feel pretty miffed that I was quoted for a particular job, and they failed to carry out this job. The invoice said:
Front detection radar misaligned, tried to recalibrate radar but code won't clear. Bumper will need to be removed and check radar positioning (why didn't they do this)?

They haven't offered me any discount towards getting the work done, and to be honest I don't particularly want to use up the whole day (2 hours of driving altogether) then hanging around to get the work done, when I'm sure someone nearer to me can actually do the work that it was booked in for. I know they probably spent two hours on it, but I explained to them when I booked the work to be done, that I already had a diagnosis. So they booked in and quoted me specifically for the recalibration, which I told the receptionist at the car dealership when I dropped it off. Surely an MG garage should be able to do this work, and do what they quoted me to do in the first place? Can anyone advise if I shouldn't have paid under the circumstances, as I'm not covered by my insurance (small print says my excess is £850 I have discovered)! More fool me - I'll just have to pay all over again by the sound of it. Any advice out there; I would be really grateful?

 

[Bam Bam]

Any advice out there; I would be really grateful?

No advice unfortunately. But can understand by you paid and wanted to acknowledge that it was a very annoying/frustrating situation for you. They haven't fixed the problem you paid to have fixed, but from their perspective they did what you requested them to do and it didn't fix it. Too often garages don't seem to be taking the responsibility you would expect. At least if it was a bigger job to fix it they should have contacted you to let you know and come up with a plan to get it sorted.
I really like the cruise control feature as well so would want it fixed as well.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

All sounds correct to me.
You have paid for radar calibration which has not cured your issue.
Apols if I've read it wrongly

It sounds like the radar unit itself must be broken which is indeed behind the bumper which does need removing to get to the unit.

It is a couple of hours work to remove and refit the bumper, time they didn't seem to build into your original quote?

I think the dealer assuming it was just a recalibration problem is the main issue?

It's probably best to be "nice" about it all and at least get a discount for the follow up work.

Just get the quote in writing with a guaranteed fix at that price to get your ACC working again.

Then, if for some reason that don't complete the work to your comple satisfaction they won't have a leg to stand on.

If they need to replace the unit (which they probably will) I reckon you will be looking at anything up to £500.
Might be a lot more if the price of boggo brake pads is anything to go by!

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[fnegroni]

Some work is more expensive than originally estimated, which is why we have insurance. Why didn’t you go through your insurance? Is it because the quote for the recalibration was much cheaper?
If so that’s a risk you are willing to take: I understand this doesn’t help at this point and you are absolutely right, the garage would have been a much nicer one if they came up with a plan of action with you.
That’s unfortunately another risk that we all take every time we bring the car to a garage.

My son works as a mechanic at an independent.

He is young and learning the trade, but because he is young and knows full well what it feels like when the customer is in trouble and understands customer service, has the motivation to go further.

But many people who work at garages do not have that, and because some feel that moving to EVs means less work for them, rather than working on what really matters they are ‘quiet quitting’

 

[andyvee]

Unless I am misreading this, you booked in for a recalibration based on what an independent garage told you was the issue. The dealer attempted to recalibrate, but it won't, because the radar unit is either broken or misaligned due to accident damage. It seems that they have fulfilled the work you requested.

So it needs the front bumper to come off to find out what the state of the radar unit is and if that needs replacing or just reattaching - that is all additional work to a recalibration. I'm not sure why there should be a discount.

 

[Bam Bam]

To a layperson like me a 'recalibration' sounds like it would involve checking the physical unit as well, to make sure it was properly - well - calibrated.

Now perhaps that isn't the case, in which case caveat emptor etc, but I can understand why the OP was disappointed.

 

[andyvee]

To a layperson like me a 'recalibration' sounds like it would involve checking the physical unit as well, to make sure it was properly - well - calibrated.

Now perhaps that isn't the case, in which case caveat emptor etc, but I can understand why the OP was disappointed.

A recalibration is plug in to the computer and perform the calibration procedure.

If the car was booked in for 'ACC isn't working after I hit a deer' then no doubt it would have resulted in a diagnostic fee, a calibration fee, then a phone call to say it is going to cost you more as we need to start dismantling the car to investigate why it won't calibrate. So the same end result minus a diagnostic fee really.

 

[hearingthing]

OK many thanks, this is all really helpful. Yes it will cost me more to go through my insurance as checked the smallprint and I'd have to pay a lot more than I thought up front, as well as the cost of it going up. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and advice. I used to have an MG midget many years ago, should have stuck with that ? . Children meant it wasn't very practical, but this is definitely a lot safer/amazing acceleration, so worth spending the money on. As long as it's not dangerous to drive until I get around to getting it fixed. Doesn't seem so straight forward in North Devon....but don't regret my revert move here. It's beautiful! Just not many MG dealerships ?

 

[dsimpkins]

If your location is correct in your profile, then it would only take another 15-30 minutes extra to reach my local dealer (A.E.Wilcox in Wickwar, South Gloucestershire) I can highly recommend them, a family run business who know how to look after customers.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

If your location is correct in your profile, then it would only take another 15-30 minutes extra to reach my local dealer (A.E.Wilcox in Wickwar, South Gloucestershire) I can highly recommend them, a family run business who know how to look after customers.

Are you sure pal?

Looks like Lynton to me?

 

[dsimpkins]

Are you sure pal?

Looks like Lynton to me?

What I meant was that an extra 15-30 minutes on top of the two hours to get to nearest dealer to Lynton would get @hearingthing to my local dealer.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

What I meant was that an extra 15-30 minutes on top of the two hours to get to nearest dealer to Lynton would get @hearingthing to my local dealer.

Yeah read it again and computed 'extra'
??

 

[hearingthing]

Thanks for your help re Wickwar suggestion, but yes I am in fact in Lynton. I'll make sure I get better car insurance next year and check all the smallprint - I was moving house around the same time so foolishly omitted reading the finer details! I can see both sides, so I'll be wiser next time. Thank you all.

 

[Tig170]

All the radar does is to mearsure the distance, the normal procedure to recalibrate is to make sure that its seated in its housing (i.e. pointing straight), and then parking on flat ground and placing the car infront of a wall (its normally 1200mm infront of the radar). You need specific software to access the calibration settings on the obd. Its very rare for the calibration to go completly off . As you have hit something, its very likely that the radar has popped out of its housing and is not receiving a reflected signal as its expecting.

Not sure if this helps but this is what mine looks like (by sticking a phone through the vertical vent)

 

[hearingthing]

Thank you Tig, this is very helpful. If it is as you suggest, hopefully it won't be as expensive as I fear, but at least I will have an idea after trying out your suggestion. I'm not with my car until the weekend, but will take a photo with my phone and have a look; great suggestion.

I guess my indignation with the garage was that neither was it fixed, or were they able to quote for how to correct it. They just presented me with a bill when I thought I was bringing it into their workshop to fix the problem, as I already knew what the problem was (just not the cause). I'm happy to pay more to fix it, but what they presented me with didn't help at all, when I had made it quite clear to them that it was to be fixed! Thanks anyway.

 

[Harric]

If your location is correct in your profile, then it would only take another 15-30 minutes extra to reach my local dealer (A.E.Wilcox in Wickwar, South Gloucestershire) I can highly recommend them, a family run business who know how to look after customers.

I called Wilcox for a 1st service on mine and they declined as they didn't sell me the car so I doubt they would be much help for the OP

 

[dsimpkins]

I called Wilcox for a 1st service on mine and they declined as they didn't sell me the car so I doubt they would be much help for the OP

I didn't buy mine from them, but they were happy to service it. Strange.

 

[Rolfe]

Um. At least this was my 2009 Golf (photo from 2010) so all it needed was a new grille.