Should interior panels be held together with cable ties?

Question

I think I know the answer to my question, but I just wanted to be 100% sure.

I recently left my car in to a well known, certified Vauxhall servicing and repairs garage to get a new pedal box. I'll spare you the details, but if you're interested here's the link to my original question.

I received the car back today after them having it for a week (5 working days). They told me that there had been a problem with a "switch" in the pedal and they needed to order a new one, hence the delay. Fine - they gave us a courtesy car.

My wife picked our car up from the garage today and told me it drives perfectly and the pedal wasn't wobbly any more - "Brilliant", I thought, "Lets go give it a good ol' wiggle". There was no wiggle but this is what I was greeted with:

Not a good sign, so I decided to investigate further:

I then moved down to the panel beneath the steering wheel and noticed that there was something off about it too. I got the torch and camera out and saw this:

Now I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure this isn't right. It seems to me that the mechanic broke a few clips and even the bracket behind this panel. Can anyone tell me how this is even achieved? Was the mechanic using brute force where he shouldn't have been? Does it look like the mechanic has tried to cover up his mistake by drilling a hole through the bracket, and using the cable tie to hold it all together? Most importantly - is this dangerous? Could the panel etc fall off while driving and possibly cause an accident?

I know I'm asking lots of questions, but I'm trying to get a mechanics perspective on this before I write a strongly worded complaint to the dealership, and possibly on to the Ombudsman if they don't resolve.

This is a 2014 car that I bought 3 weeks ago - not very happy as you can imagine.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. To add to my woes, my wife is heavily pregnant (due next Wednesday) so we really need this car so we can fit 3 baby seats along the back row. The added stress doesn't help matters. (Sorry - I'm just venting now)

Answer 1

Any vehicle worked on by a professional mechanic should be re-assembled properly

You have a real mess with the zip tie. Obviously that damage cannot be undone, you can't undrill a hole. It looks as if the panel that was broken is due to incorrect procedures used to remove them.

Interior panels can be difficult to remove if you do not follow the correct procedure. Unfortunately I have broken a couple of interior components due to lack of knowledge in the past.

The other panels appear to be installed incorrectly and are not snapped into their retaining clips properly. You may be able to simply apply some pressure to them and have them snap in proper.

Most of these panels are very cheap and can be replaced with very little cost.

Perhaps this is a great inexpensive lesson that your current mechanic has failed the test of quality and knowledge.

Answer 2

As I stated in my comments: They did the damage; they need to fix it (or pay for it to be fixed). This is worse than shoddy craftsmanship. Any reputable shop would not look like this. Their mechanic did this; they need to fix it.

Take it back to the shop and point all of this stuff out to the Service Manager. Tell them you are not happy with the outcome of the repair work. Your car didn't look like this when you brought it in, so have no clue why it looks like this going out.