Any advice for garage charging more than car is worth for repairs please?

ScoobySnacks79_2

£400 for a hg and engine mount isn't too bad, though you don't say what engine it has in it.

Most of the Peugeot lumps you have to take one or more engine mounts off to remove the head, so there is no extra labour in replacing an engine mount, only the parts cost. An engine mount is pretty simple and shouldn't be very expensive.

As for the piston rings, how do they know they've gone? People trust garages, but I've seen a few things in the last couple of days that have ruined my faith in them, most of them seem to be out to rip you off!

£525 for 15 hours labour is £35 an hour, which is very cheap actually. However, 15 hours for an engine rebuild is steep, and it's not a total rebuild anyway. There could be all sorts of parts required, depending on how much damage you've done. If the rings have gone then you may well have scored the inside of the cylinder, which effectively writes the engine off without going in to honing and oversize pistons.

A replacement engine may also have issues. An engine from a car that has been involved in a rear end collission is your best bet. Anything that has been front ended is a no no, as all sorts of hidden damage can be done. Putting another engine in is always a risk, the cheapest option isn't always the best!

bifold

You could do all this work and still find you have a blocked rad or/and a heater matrix or need a fan ,expensive when a HG fails but knowing why is inportant,

diamondwhiter

My car is a 1868cc LX Diesel from the year 2000. Had a look on Ebay but so far can only find a couple of engines that size but they are quite expensive. Not heard from the garage if they have found one yet. Had only been using my car a couple of times a week for a while until recently because of being very ill. When it broke down I'd used it several times over a few days. Maybe the change in pace had something to do with it? It was just about to go in for an MOT as well!

diamondwhiter

Update: found an engine on Ebay from what looks like a good seller, they are a breakers yard and have a 100% positive feedback score of over 500. To get it as cheap as possible I asked for the bare engine, but when it arrived at the garage the timing belt had been completely removed which has made the garage concerned for the worthiness of the engine, and worried about possible valve damage which wouldn't become apparent until the engine is fitted. The breakers yard said the reason they removed the timing belt was because they removed the diesel pump as it was brand new and they had a buyer for it and as I had explained that I only needed the bare engine they figured they'd make up their profits by selling the two separately. The breakers yard have offered a full refund if I send the engine back or if it turns out to be bad and are completely confident about it working as they road tested the car before breaking it. (It was an MOT failure due to a twisted rear axle and slightly loose gearbox) but the garage have pointed out I'd still have to pay labour costs of fixing it on and taking it off again if that was the case so I have another difficult decision to make now whether to go ahead and get the engine fitted and trust it, or play it safe and return it and try and find another one. Any more advice would be most welcome!

Gordon_Hose

They could say that for any internal part of the engine though, not just the valves.

I'd risk it and fit it personally, but ultimately it's up to you.

pendulum

I've only just been reading this thread and was going to say that sourcing your own engine isn't the best of ideas. Again, you may find to save a few quid you've cost yourself hundreds. Leave it to the garage to find another engine as if they supply a duff one the buck stops with them.

I think it was reasonable to quote you for a headgasket job as that is what it looked like, as they began work they saw another problem which they couldn't have foreseen and advised you of this. So far all is good and you do have to pay for the work they've done so far even if you scrap the car. The only possible point I'd make is that if the damage to the engine that they found was uneconomical to fix, and a new engine was the best way, why did they fit the new engine mount, also, you probably shouldn't have to pay the full amount for the headgasket job, as they won't yet have fitted the headgasket set without fixing the piston problem, and they won't have spent chargeable time reassembling the engine afterwards.

Perhaps talk to them and ask if they can take money off the headgasket job for the reasons above, and if they can, then you'll leave the sourcing of the replacement engine to them?

diamondwhiter

I know what you're saying Pendulum, and I agree that I shouldn't have to pay the full amount for the head gasket work. And I realised it was a risk getting the engine myself but they were taking so long to sort one out I just figured it would be the best way! They did eventually quote me for an engine but I'd already found the one I bought by then and the garage were quoting twice the price anyway.

Have to say it was obvious from the start with the car that it was a more serious and deeper problem than just the head gasket. The AA man who towed me in said it might need a new engine and even one of the mechanics who took it off me said he thought it was more than the head gasket. The head mechanic and owner is the person who liases with customers over technical details and he had said he would call me the next day once they'd looked it over to let me know what the score was, but he didn't phone, they just went straight ahead with the head gasket repair job and when I called them a couple of days later, didn't even quote me, just gave me vague reassurances that it would be alright. I did question if they were sure it was just the head gasket and nothing else more serious, but again I was reassured it would be fine, the engine had already been 'sent to the shop' for the work to be done. So I had to trust them, but I felt uneasy at that point and I didn't actually agree anything with them, I wasn't given that choice, so I can't help wondering if they have given me and my car a lower standard of attention because I am a fairly young and blonde mild mannered female, who they may think wouldn't know the difference.

When they called with the news that the piston rings were gone the head mechanic was away so the receptionist put the mechanic who had been working on my car on (not the same one who initially said he thought it was more than the head gasket) and with very broken English he anxiously explained that because it was 'the bottom engine' they hadn't seen the extent of the problem until after doing the head gasket work. The receptionist was quite (overly) insistent that this late discovery was one of those things and couldn't be helped and was anxious to assert lack of blame on their part but I have my doubts which is one of the reasons why I came here asking for advice. I don't want to be taken for a ride and pay any more than I have to. And it wasn't even the garage that alerted me to the lesser-labour option of getting a new engine, it was Hammyman on this thread! The garage only gave me the options of either paying an arm and a leg for the further repairs to the engine or scrap it, but stated they would still want paying for the work so far, so the exclusion of the engine replacement option has again undermined the trust I had in them.

Dippypud

When you get your car back, whether it has re-built engine or a 2nd hand lump.
Please remember to check your oil and water levels each week. If your going on a longer journey than you would normally do, check again. Also make sure that the anti-freeze that is used during the winter and the coolent mix used during the summer are of the correct strength.
Happy motoring, nag over...;)