The Garage 361
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ONKAR CHAHAL<br />
QUALITY<br />
CONTROL<br />
Engine light<br />
comes on...<br />
again and again<br />
So, a friend of mine calls me to ask for my help in repairing<br />
her car. Her garage has had the car back three times for the<br />
same fault, engine light comes on and stays on. She then<br />
tells me they fitted a new EGR valve. Three times. On the same car.<br />
Within three weeks.<br />
Yeah, I know! You can see why she called me now<br />
So, I told her I don’t do repairs anymore but I’ll have a quick look<br />
for her, just to see if there is anything obvious that I could suggest<br />
to her to take back to her garage. And then I looked under the<br />
bonnet...<br />
I’ve got a 2.2 Evoque in front of me and it’s in a shocking state!<br />
Trims missing, wires hanging loose, finger prints everywhere and a<br />
shiny new EGR valve right at the back. I look at the fault code and<br />
it’s an EGR flow fault.<br />
OK, I can see why they changed it, but why does the light come<br />
on? Again? And again? So I poke and prod as I look at the system<br />
and then I see it. <strong>The</strong> spring-loaded flap on the EGR cooler is just a<br />
flap. <strong>The</strong> spring is AWOL! <strong>The</strong> EGR was (probably) working well but<br />
with the spring missing/broken the flap doesn’t open and close as<br />
it should.<br />
Now I’ve spent a big part of my life at JLR and I love the brand,<br />
looking at this Evoque in this state made me angry and upset in<br />
equal measure, and she knew it.<br />
So what did I do, I hear you ask?<br />
Obvious really, I took it in to work with me the next day, ordered<br />
a new cooler and fitted it, tidying the engine bay as I went along.<br />
Carried out the road test from cold, over a distance and at a<br />
speed to make sure the drive cycle is complete and happy. Back in<br />
the workshop I checked for leaks or faults, none found. I gave it a<br />
quick degrease and washed the car before returning it back to the<br />
customer. Fixed.<br />
I then gave her a bill for fixing the car, noting the poor standards<br />
that were also put right and charged her accordingly. She just paid<br />
the bill and passed it on to the other garage, which refunded her<br />
the money, in full!<br />
By Onkar Chahal<br />
It doesn’t take much to put everything back to how it was<br />
before you started. I take pride in customers being unable to tell<br />
if I had been in the engine bay or the back of a dashboard, making<br />
sure everything goes back as it was. I’d always make sure all trims<br />
and fittings went back as they should, leaving a finished product<br />
behind.<br />
So the next time you put something back together, just<br />
slow down and think.<br />
Is this the best it can be? Is this the best I can do?<br />
If it’s not then make sure it is, it doesn’t take a lot of extra effort.<br />
Ironically, I went to the garage in question a couple of weeks later<br />
to offer my services of training and development but specifically<br />
my diagnostic course. However, the owner of the garage told<br />
me that all his staff are trained already and that they don’t need<br />
any further training. I then asked if they ever get come backs<br />
or problem cars or if they ever get to refund customers over<br />
misdiagnosis, to which he replied no. All his tech’s are master<br />
standard. Hmmmm, not too sure about that answer!<br />
Doing the job properly means<br />
doing it right when no-one else<br />
is looking. Quality is everyone’s<br />
responsibility, isn’t it?<br />
12 THE GARAGE<br />
12 Opinion Onkar.indd 1 27/03/2024 12:52
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