Alleged car fuel leak ends up in Small Claims Court

A fuel leak in a car ended up as a case in the Small Claims Court in Navan when the car owner allegedly he was dissatisfied with the service he got from the repairer.

Ben Selimovic, Crossnamaragh, Carlingford took a case against Zilvinas Bikelis, St Finian’s Terrace, Navan. Mr Selimovic said that he left the car into the garage to be fixed and when he brought it home it still leaked. He brought it back because he wanted it fixed. It was leaking a lot of fuel. He paid €700 for the job.

The garage man said it would take two weeks because he had to order the parts. “It was still leaking fuel so it was dangerous for me to drive it”.

He said he had asked for a partial refund and he would go somewhere else.

Mr Bikelis said Mr Selimovic had not come in to get the fuel fixed. He had come in to have a very different repair. “He came in to replace rubber gaskets and get a service as far as I remember so it was nothing to do with that”.

“He brought his own parts and the labour for a full day cost €700 and that’s what he paid me. He didn’t come in for any fuel leaks at all”.

Judge Eirinn McKiernan said to Mr Selimovic “You just told me – and you’re on oath – that you went in because the car was leaking fuel. You didn’t mention anything about any other issue or any other part. Why did you go into the garage?”

He replied that the car was leaking fuel and that’s why he had to go back in. The judge said “But it was a different issue, it wasn’t just leaking fuel”.

Mr Bikelis said that there was no leaking fuel when the man had come into the garage. “The fuel leak occurred because we had to remove the injectors. There are plastic pipes on the injectors and they do crack when you take them out, that’s normal. I’m not denying that they broke. He came in to me not the next day as he claimed but after three days and I inspected it and I could clearly see it was leaking, I’m not denying that. And while he was waiting I replaced the rubber seals on the injectors. I replaced it and it was still leaking”.

He said parts needed to be replaced and needed to be ordered and in front of the other man had phoned three motor factors. None of them had the parts. Asked by the judge what work he had done on the car Mr Bikelis replied that he had replaced the front and back discs, two rubber covers, and the full day’s labour, gaskets and service. The car was not leaking fuel when it came in. He said he would have fixed it but the other man didn’t want to wait because the parts would have to be ordered. He claimed that two relatives of Mr Selimovic had come into the garage “screaming and threatening me, I had to call the guards”.

Judge McKiernan said she wasn’t satisfied to give Mr Selimovic a decree. It wouldn’t be fair in the circumstances. Mr Bikelis said he had honestly offered to fix the car but how can I physically fix the car if I don’t have the parts? I was on the speaker to Audi and they said it would be 7-9 days for delivery”. Mr Selimovic said he had to bring the car to a different garage. “You chose to bring it to a different garage, I didn’t refuse to repair the car.” The judge dismissed Mr Selimovic’s claim.