This is a car that had previously been to us for water leaks, and we had fixed the door membranes and sunroof.
Unfortunately, the car is back again with water in the boot. Finding and fixing leaks can be a process of elimination, and we can't always get it right first time. We had carried out our inspection, found several points of ingress, fixed them and then tested the car by placing it under a rain arch for around half an hour. This rain arch sprays the whole car with water, simulating rain. We can then check the car again to make sure there is no sign of water getting in.
However, this test does not always reveal leaks if there is only very small amounts of water getting in, or if most of the ingress is going to be from road splash. It might also be the case that a leak will only reveal it's self if the car is parked a certain way, such as on a slope. Still, we do our best, but it is just the nature of the work that some cars will come back again.
The customer brought the car back and in the first part of this video, you can see us letting him explain his issues. We always record this so we have a record.
The next stage is to check our work and ensure the repairs we have already done were done properly. If not, then we will have to take full responsibility for the leak. In this case, there are no leaks resulting from the previous repairs.
We then investigate the new leak, and in the case of this Lexus, we found that one of the bumper locators was leaking, and the sealant on a weld above the boot had shrunk. The finding and fixing of these leaks is charged at our standard hourly rate.
Because we understand that when you get another leak, it is disappointing. You not only have to pay another bill, but you have to take time to deliver and pick up the car, and of course, you are without your car while we are fixing it... it's all aggravation you don't need. And so to help ease the pain just a little, we will dry the car for free.
That isn't much of a bonus on this car, as there is only a little water in the boot, but on other cars, additional problems might not reveal themselves until the carpets are all soggy again, and the car smells.
If a car does come back, although we charge for the work, we lose money. What with dealing with the seeing the car in, seeing the car out, the drying and decontamination procedure and the car taking up space in the workshop... there's other work we would rather be doing.
So believe us, we really do want to get the job right first time, but it's just the nature of the work that around one in ten cars will need to come back, and occasionally a car will come back a third time -- and we spend an enormous amount of time trying to figure out ways to prevent this.
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