A garage has damaged our tailgate but won't admit liability - what do we do?

My wife took her Volkswagen Polo back to the main dealers for a service, where she has always had it serviced since she bought it there. When she collected the car she noticed that the tailgate had a huge dent in it. She complained to the service manager who said it was already dented and had been marked on the walk round sheet. She argued that on Tuesday morning, when she took it for the service, it wasn't dented because she put her laptop bag in the boot and didn't see any damage. The service manager said he would get a quote for the damage and, as a goodwill gesture, he would pay half. He came back to us and said the car needs a complete new tailgate at a cost of £1200. I asked to look at the CCTV footage but he said they don't have any. We can't afford £600 to pay half the repair cost, especially as it isn't our fault. Where do we stand?

Asked on 18 February 2017 by Steve Marshall

Answered by Honest John
Tell the garage, okay, you will make a Small Claim and, if necessary, settle the matter in court. See: www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/overview
Similar questions
I bought a secondhand Volkswagen Golf for £5000 from a dealer. It developed serious power issue after two months. Dealer refuses to accept liability but offered to pay half the cost of repairs in his affiliated...
I brought a Skoda Yeti from a Skoda main dealer four months ago for £7000. I've been on maternity leave and only drove the car small journeys (only done 1500 miles). I recently went back to work via the...
The heater resistor pack on my Nissan Note failed and was replaced by my local Nissan garage for £172. The part supplied consists of two parts, the resistor and heat sink, and the wires and plug that go...
Related models
Neatly styled and easy to drive. Room for five. Most come with full size spare. High quality interior. Double folding rear seats give flat load area. Frugal 1.2 TDI BlueMotion.
 

Value my car

Save £75 on Warranty using code HJ75

with MotorEasy

Get a warranty quote

Save 12% on GAP Insurance

Use HJ21 to save on an ALA policy

See offer