help Vauxhall agila engine failure at 4 years 19000 miles

forrest38

Just trying to help out my friends elderly father.

He has a four year old vauxhall agila which has always been serviced ballyrobert vauxhall.
It only has 19000 miles on it but when he went to start it the other day it would not turn over.

The AA came out to recover and they said engine failure

surely a car regularly serviced with such low miles should not behave like this.

We just need to know where he stands as the car is four years old and out of warranty. It just does not seem right that a major failure of this nature should be at his cost

any help greatly appreciated

motorguy

forrest38 wrote: »

Just trying to help out my friends elderly father.

He has a four year old vauxhall agila which has always been serviced ballyrobert vauxhall.
It only has 19000 miles on it but when he went to start it the other day it would not turn over.

The AA came out to recover and they said engine failure

surely a car regularly serviced with such low miles should not behave like this.

We just need to know where he stands as the car is four years old and out of warranty. It just does not seem right that a major failure of this nature should be at his cost

any help greatly appreciated

Has it been diagnosed by the dealer yet?

I would very much doubt its full engine failure.

Artofdookie

By not turning over do you mean it has ceased?

forrest38

It is currently in with ballyrobert at the minute. They have said that there is a terrible Knocking noise from the engine and that they are going to either replace the engine or strip it. They are to contact vauxhall to see if they will offer this as a good will gesture.

His problem is what if they come back and say sorry, it's out of warranty.
I do hope they say they will offer an engine but this is rarely the case.

So where do I go if they come back today with a negative response. Where does he go from there.

forrest38

To follow up. Oil and all was fine. It's just basically s**t itself

seatzie

nothing really to add but also having a 4 year old Agila with 25k on the clock I'll be watching with interest I hope you get sorted ok

ballyblack

As you have full service history Ballyrobert should offer you some 'discount' towards the repair as 'goodwill'

No harm in making a strong case to the garage & Vauxhall Customer Relations in the circumstances

Was the car subject to many cold starts and short journeys?
If the usage was like this the engine oil should be changed more frequently than recommended by the manufacturer, say every six months regardless of mileage

forrest38

Hi
nothing out of the ordinary driving wise. Just to nip to shops and see family but the oil was checked and clean and at normal level. I would understand if it was black but it was still clean. This has really gutted him and a 72 year old does not need this. Still waiting on ballyrobert. Should they have gave him a courtesy car as a good will gesture.

ballyblack

Should they have gave him a courtesy car as a good will gesture.

Don't think so

Ask too much you may get a blunt refusal

Concentrate on getting a goodwill payment towards the costs of repair(they are not legally obliged to do even that if outside the warranty period)

steveymp

If the poor gentleman is made to pay for this it may be worth contacting Citizens advice or even the likes of Age Concern for some free (possibly legal) advice, although the car is out of warranty you could have a claim that is was not sold fit for purpose. With 19,000 miles and a full dealer service history then engine should be expected to last more than 4 years:o

If they make him pay, give Vauxhall and Ballyrobert a bit of free advertising on the Stephen Nolan show :rotfl: may even be worth contacting Watchdog to see if others in the country have had similar problems.

forrest38

Well ballyrobert say vauxhall may come back with a good will gesture. We are waiting on that. But they needed permission to go ahead and look at it at a cost of four hours labour . This is to cover them incase vauxhall say sorry, no goodwill gesture.
I will keep people posted. Hopefully hear something later or tomorrow