Paying for work that I do not want?

The garage quoted £360 for investigatory work on my Mazda 6 and now want £360 to put the car back together, advising that I cannot safely move the car without the engine being put back in. I have asked if I can have the car picked up by a recovery vehicle or technician. The garage is saying that the car would not be safe to move without work being carried out.

They will not allow anyone into their garage to recover the car, and state that the car cannot be moved outside without them doing the work so that the car can be recovered. The engine has gone due to timing chain failure and was over service time so not covered under warranty, which means I am paying for work for nothing. I just want to get my car back to save up £4000 [per quote] to fix. Can this be right? Would the car be safe to move? The whole engine back in?

Asked on 19 August 2013 by magsb

Answered by Honest John
If the engine has been taken out then it would not be safe to move, but I can't imagine why the engine needed to be taken out to establish that the timing chain had failed. It would have to be to assess the extent of the damage.
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