Please note the cross-post because it involves both technical and legal aspects of a bad car repair.
Is there a statutory minimum guarantee period for workmanship in the same way as most new goods have to be covered for at least a year?
My sister had her Volvo 740's exhaust repaired in December with a new back silencer. We all thought it looked low compared to the old one but thought it must be OK because it passed its MoT - at a different garage. But it's got lower and lower and now makes clunking noises when going over bumps.
The garage proprietor that did the repair said his labour is only guaranteed for 3 months so he'll charge again to put it right unless the silencer is faulty - he even sounded disbelieving that he'd actually fitted a new one, because he specialises in welding. I only had time for a very quick look underneath, but AFAICT there's a band welded to the silencer which attaches to a bracket and the band has snapped; it looks older (rustier) than the silencer. Would it be standard practice to reuse an old band on a new silencer even though it appears welded on? I suspect the mechanic broke the band when he did the original repair and just left it because it didn't look drastically saggy at first.
We don't know what would be the best course of action. Get the same garage to fix it and try to persuade them not to charge again or go to a Kwik Fit and either cut her losses or see if they can help prove the original job was botched?