Evans Halshaw review: Car service

I am Norman Farr, I have been the point of contact for Mrs. Pam Griffiths with concern to her car which recently broke down. I am the partner of her daughter and am dealing with this as Pam is 79 and lost her husband two months ago.

• The car is a Ford B Max MA63ACV.
• The break down happened on Tuesday, 20th August, in Pattingham, at a junction in a 30MPH zone, walking distance from her home.
• She called the RAC, they recorder the time as 8.36 am
• Pam asked them to call Evans Halshaw, Wolverhampton, the main Ford dealers, and the garage where the car had been serviced last.
• The RAC mechanic suspected that the break down was due to a snapped cambelt and took the car away, Pam thought that it had been taken as instructed, to Evans Halshaw
• Pam was later told that after investigation, that the car would need a new engine, this would cost £6000, more than the car is worth, so after discussion with me, we decided to have it collected and organize a less expensive route for repair. This made it necessary to arrange to have to car towed from the garage, which we believed to be Evans Halshaw in Wolverhampton.
• I arranged for the collection and paid for this service. Pam later called me to say that she had spoken to Evans Halshaw and they did not have the car at the main dealership, it must be at their body centre, Unit 4, Shaw Road. I changed the collection arrangement for the car, incurring extra cost for this. This was arranged for Tuesday 27th August. Pam just needed to pay the bill before it would be released.
• On the morning of Tuesday 27th August, I had a call from Pam to let me know that car was not at the body shop in Wolverhampton but had been taken to T. Wall garage in Dudley. No one had told her this, not the RAC man nor staff at Evans Halshaw who both Pam and I had spoken to about the car. I re arranged to have the car collected from this location, incurring yet more cost.
• T. Wall had looked at the engine, confirming the RAC man’s diagnosis of a snapped cam belt. They found a metal object inside the cam belt case which had caused this. I have sent them a picture of this: I, and my local mechanic believe that this is a dowl from the engine mount, which was removed during the cam belt change in October 2023, done by Evans Halshaw, Wolverhampton. There is no way any object could have entered this part of the car from outside.
• When she looked at her records, Pam found that the cam belt is still under warranty, as it was changed within a year of fitting.
• Evans Halshaw, Wolverhampton have refused to investigate this or take any responsibility for what we believe is their human error. They say that this is because the engine was not stripped down by them, but by T. Wall. T. Wall is a dealership, who were a ford dealer as recently as 2023, so reputable, and with fully trained and experienced Ford mechanics.

We believe that the reason the car did not come to Evans Halshaw is either because they did not answer the phone, due to the early time of the break down, or they refused to take the car due to its’ age. The RAC did not let Pam know about this. I have been in contact with them to get their drivers’ version of events and am waiting for a response.
None of this is Pam’s fault: the break down happened because a part fitted by Evans Halshaw, which is within warranty. So far, this has cost her almost £1000 (not including the original cost of the cam belt change), she is without a car and no conclusion to her problem.
We have sent copies of documents and photos to Evans Halshaw to back up our claim.

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