A few years back I took my car in to a local garage to have the rear wash wipe repaired.
The repair failed a while ago and I've only just managed to find the time to take a look to see what the problem is for myself.
The young lad that fixed it at the time told me he replaced the pump and unblocked the rear jet nozzle.
What he didn't tell me was that he had lost/broken the original part that connects the rear hose to the pump and bodged it by connecting it up with a short length of silicon tubing.
Because that hose bends through 90 degrees it kinks and simply blows the hose off the pump connection when activated.
I've got in touch with the garage asking them to fix it and they said they would be happy to take a look but they would have to charge me 'due to the amount of time that has elapsed since the original repair was made'
Does seem that reasonable? It seems a bit like saying as long as the bodge lasts a reasonable amount of time - tough!
Totally reasonable. It's been years as you said!
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. And how do you know that the 'bodge' hadn't been introduced before they fixed it a few years ago?
Also - why didn't you take it back for it to be looked at again when it first failed if you thought they were responsible?
Bit of semi rigid hose as a conduit and 2 zip ties to stop it blowing off?
Define "a while ago"?
I'm leaning towards the garage on this. A "bodge" that lasts for years is a pretty good fix. Are you certain that's not how it was from new?
A "bodge" that lasts for years is a pretty good fix.
I had this argument recently.
Bodged just means its cobbled together. Could be perfectly acceptable.
Botched means its a poor job.
You could botch a bodge job.
When did bodge become botch?
TBH, those pipes are quite often made of the crappest of crap plastic. No durability Vs cold/heat/chemical attack/vibration and so on.
I've had several VWs BITD that have failed, and the Ford parts were also pretty poor for the most part. Ditto GM.
Not sure if an incorrectly sized piece of silicon tubing wouldn't have even been an upgrade. A correctly sized one with no kink might have lasted forever.
BTW OP - how do you know that the silicon tube is not the correct part? What do you believe the person should have fitted (ie, the 'lost/broken original part')?
TBH, those pipes are quite often made of the crappest of crap plastic. No durability Vs cold/heat/chemical attack/vibration and so on.
That's a point in itself. Maybe that part split during removal and they fixed it free of charge?
The more I think about this, the more I'm failing to see the argument. If you ran a garage, did a repair for someone, then years - years - later they came back complaining that the repair had failed and expecting a free repair, what would you say? Warranties on entire brand new cars don't last that long.
In any case, a repair is surely pocket change. A replacement hose, a small Jubilee clip or a cable tie?
The wife’s Panda had a habit of blowing off the washer hose, a cable tie sorted it.
Pop on ebay for a used part !
Actually, now i come to think of it, the front washer hose on my old VW Transporter split, the corrugated piece that goes across from the body to the bonnet. That was replaced (by me) when we bought it, the repair lasted the 8 years we had it and probably the 6 years it bounced between my neighbour and his mates. It was scrapped after that, having got about 450000km on the clock...
That was about 20 cm of clear silicon hose. (No kinks).
If it's anything like the VAG split in the hose by the tailgate hinge you got off lightly the first time.
Iirc the bit with the hose and connectors goes to a connector somewhere near the A pillar.
The headlining has to be partly removed for an OEM quality fix.
VW did a goodwill gesture against the £400 cost on my 5 year old Passat when it happened to me.
Actually, now i come to think of it, the front washer hose on my old VW Transporter split, the corrugated piece that goes across from the body to the bonnet.
Ha yes, I too have seen this movie. Currently bodged together and working fine
