bit of a long post, im not going to mention any names of businesses good or bad at the minute.
I bought a 2003 wrx in december, my first scooby, drove it home and the turbo had seized.
Got a quote from one garage who wanted £1400 for a turbo fitted,
Next garage quoted me £450 for a secondhand turbo fitted,or £675 for a reconned one fitted.
Now bear in mind i never had a scooby before, i wasnt clued up on prices and i had a bit of money saved, as i was planning on doing things properly with this car, i went for the £675 option.
Got the car back and booked it in for a remap on the rolling road to make sure everything was running good,
The car only made 150bhp, was advised by the mapper that the uppipe was blocked.
so i rang the garage that fitted the turbo, to ask if they could sort it, he said he checked the uppipe and it was ok, but the mapper bet money it was the uppipe.
so i had the cat taken out of the uppipe, and the car performed alot better.
so i booked it in to have the map tweaked on the rollers because of the uppipe being decatted.
The turbo would not boost past 0.9 bar, everything else on the car was fine, the mapper advised it was a crap turbo, he was right on the uppipe, so i rang the garage that fitted the turbo, they told me the turbo was fine, so i said i would ring them back to talk to the mapper, they wouldnt answer the phone.
By this time i felt really annoyed that the car still wasnt right after spending
£3000 on car
£675 for reconned turbo
£410 for remap on rollers
£130 for decat of uppipe
£220 for map tweak on rollers
The mapper said he could fit another turbo for me, it was a good price, and he was addament it was that turbo.
Just had the turbo fitted yesterday, now the car is running brilliantly and making power it should be.
On removal of the reconned turbo, there was severe in and out movement of the turbine, which the mapper reconned was losing boost through.
so i rang the garage today and said ive had the turbo changed and the one they have fitted is obviously not fit for the job, they said i should have bought the car back to them to check, but i was very put off by them not answering the phone after i had just spoke to them.they said to bring the turbo down and they will send it off to their supplier.
Where do i stand with this? Should i expect a bit of money back fom the turbo?

 

Just reading your side of the story, I'd say yes you have a case. But as is on car forums there are two sides so I'll personally hold back judgement and leave that for the usual kangaroo court bandwagon that happens on these threads.

I am however happy you've got the car running well and making good power. At least it was just a duff turbo/uppipe.

Edit to add, Jons advice below is the route I would take to cover all bases

 

Personally I would get the mapper to provide you with a written report detailing his findings and then request a full refund on the 'reconned' turbo, with conned being the key phrase. As you state the garage that fitted the turbo were adamant that it was fine and would not entertain the expert view you had obtained that it was shagged. If they refuse a refund, get in touch with citizens advice, but with what you say I would suggest a the small claims court is a viable route should all else fail

 

Unfit for purpose. You should get a full refund for the chocolate turbo and walk away.

Or, they can send the turbo away, get it reconned properly and then you at least have a good working spare to keep or put on ebay.

Someone on here would have it from you I'm sure.

 

I have actually got a secondhand turbo which i bought for £60, there is only slight play in the shaft compared to the reconned one,so when youve got the 2 together, you can actually see how bad it is.

 

I thought I'd read on here that new age wrx's have 0.9bar of boost as standard (under 1.0 anyway)? What should it be then?

 

Yes but i had it remap and should have been pulling more than 0.9 bar,the turbo couldnt boost anymore than 0.9 bar, even with the pipe off of the actuator