Replacement Engine rip off and dodgy garages??

milbro007

Hi all,
I wonder if you can give me some advice please?
After looking on Ebay.
I bought a VW Transporter T5 last july from Swansea Van Centre and within a few months we had big problems with it.
Eventually just a few days before Xmas my partner was driving it and it broke down after a load of smoke and loss of power just before a roundabout.
Swansea Van Centre wanted me to drive it hundreds of miles to their place at my expense and offered to pay a few quid towards the repair but obviously they didn't really want to know as they had my £8000 from me and that was it.
They promised to sort me out with an extended warranty to cover the massive garage bill etc but that never happened and in the end the bloke just stopped returning my calls.
I ended up taking it to a local garage in Camborne callled Treverbyn Motors to let them try and fix it and they had it for nearly 2 months and basically replaced the turbo and charged me £1060 for my troubles.
The chap there said that he thought my engine could go at anytime so i would probably need a new one.
Within 200 miles of driving it the turbo went again and when i asked him to look at it he said he would but he wanted to charge me to take a look at it to which i was very surprised and quite annoyed.
He then tried saying that he told me NOT to drive the van which was totally untrue and told me to ring Midland Turbo's direct and deal with them as i was rude to his receptionist but to be honest that's another story again.
Then he said that if Midland turbos rang him he would tell them that he told me not to drive the van hence invalidating my 12 month warranty i got with the turbo.
Suprisingly enough Midland Turbo's collected the turbo and when i rang them to enquire about the repair they said they wanted £240 from me as the repair wasn't covered by the warranty.
What a surprise!!!
I had no choice so i paid the money.
Then i registered with find-a-part Used Car Parts | Find a Part[/url] to find a replacement engine for my van.
I was contacted by a company called Green Engines in Birmingham and they said they had the perfect engine for me from a damaged 2007 T5 with only 47k on the clock.
I thought this was the answer to my problems so i paid the £915 directly into their account and after nearly two months of chasing them my engine arrived upside down at my designated garage.
After further inspection my mechanic discovered many more problems like the turbo was no good and there were bolts missing from the sump and the main crankshaft was very loose.
I tried ringing Green Engines and kept getting their answerphone so i left around 20 messages and now when i ring them all their phone does is carry on ringing.
I am REALLY worried i may have lost my money and my work van and soon my livelihood as i am a plumber and need my van for my work.
Could you please advise me on what i can do to find these robbers who have taken money i didn't really have?
I have written a long letter to the managing director of find a part as im holding them responsible as if i didnt go through them i wouldnt be in this mess.
Ive reported all this to trading Standards but im not sure what they can do if they cant find these people.
Please help me if you can??????

thanks

Simon.

Hammyman

You need to get an independent engineers report on the engine then take everyone in the entire chain in this sorry story to court.

bigjl

Personally my £8k would have gone on a Transit. Even the Renault Master is a fairly reliable van, a Merc Sprinter is also a better bet than a Transporter in my mind anyway.

Funny thing is I have heard a lot of people have big issues after buying used ones.

Is the problem the vehicle itself or people just not looking after them and then clocking them back and getting rid after not changing the oil for 2 yrs.

The only common problem with the Master was clutches.

Surely the OP needs to involve Trading Standards, though we only have one side of the story, but a new turbo shouldn't go bang for no reason.

bifold

bigjl wrote: »

Personally my £8k would have gone on a Transit. Even the Renault Master is a fairly reliable van, a Merc Sprinter is also a better bet than a Transporter in my mind anyway.

Funny thing is I have heard a lot of people have big issues after buying used ones.

Is the problem the vehicle itself or people just not looking after them and then clocking them back and getting rid after not changing the oil for 2 yrs.

The only common problem with the Master was clutches.

Surely the OP needs to involve Trading Standards, though we only have one side of the story, but a new turbo shouldn't go bang for no reason.

The problem with the diesel Transporter is the amount of muck that the EGR valve introduces into the engine,Its a common mod to blank of EGR valve on the T4/5 forum and get better mpg,smother running and starship millages,But your quite right about oil changes:)

milbro007

Don't worry i already have involved Trading standards but it seems now they don't have the powers we all think they have.
I have written to the managing director of Find a part as the customer service manager couldn't seem to do anymore than me so i will make sure his boss does.
I have written to the "Flintstone" garage near me as well but judging by their one sentence reply i had before i may have to simplify things a bit for them so they don't get confused.
I have also written to the lovely place in wales where i bought the van in the first place to the guy who promised to help me out of my problem but just made empty promises and basically didn't even have the decency to get back to me when he kept saying he would but to be honest he has had my money now so that's probably the answer to that one.
The man from Green Engines who seemed to think he could take my money and send me a pile of junk is in for a big shock as he probably thinks he has got away with trying to rip me off but that's certainly not the case.
One thing is for sure that i WILL be taking ALL of these people to court as i work hard for my money and hate the thought of these people thinking they can steal from me and get away with it.
I have also emailed all the details to the following people for the greatest exposure for them all.
Trading Standards.
Consumer Direct.
Devon & Cornwall Police (for green engines)
Matt Alright - BBC Rogue Traders
BBC Watchdog.
Dominic Littlewood. (Dont get done get Dom).

Let the fun begin!!

bigjl

Funnily enough a mate i went to school with needed a gearbox for his rare Audi A4 1.8 Turbo quattro. I think it was a V reg or T reg. But they sent him two gearboxes that where for normal fwd 1.8T's.
He paid a grand for the quattro box and then they went belly up.

They were also in Birmingham.

marlot

I remember buying an engine which was junk - probably 20 years ago. I hired a van to take the engine back in person intending to confront them and get my money back. Arrived to find an empty industrial unit. The letters I'd sent were laying on the floor just inside the letter box. So I'd wasted the van hire and fuel as well as the engine.

For some reason, the second hand engine market seems full of shysters.

milbro007

Ive just had a long email from one of the bosses at find a part as i filled in their "SURVEY" and didn't hold back.
I have now written to the chairman aswell.
Basically if i didn't go through find a part i wouldn't be in this mess.
One of THEIR members is trying to stitch me up and he has apparently done a runner so i will go for find a part instead.
I have obviously made an impact so far so let the fireworks begin.
If they think they can make a mug out of me they have got another thing coming.
Watch this space!!!

vax2002

I take it your "expert mechanic" fitted a new oil feed pipe to this turbo as required by the turbo makers guarantee and he can show you an invoice for this part, or did he just bolt on a new turbo which is around an hours job.
It may be your mechanic that has voided the warranty and trying to pass the buck .
Drop him a visit and ask for a letter head stating his full details, tell him your solicitor wants it as he is taking him to court.
Also say you will require invoices to show exactly what parts where fitted, tell him the solicitor says they will help with obtaining an expert witness opinion.
Another thing, stay clear of VW, buy a transit.

milbro007

Hi Vax
I like where you are coming from mate.

Here are the details of my invoice from Treverbyn Motors.

REPAIR/OPERATIONS - Engine Smoking (Replace Turbo Etc) That's all they put for there?

Description
OIL - £18.00
TURBO - £510
GASKET - £13.19
GASKET - £4.83
OIL PIPE - £33.73
UNION - £23.76

LABOUR - £280
PARTS - £603.51
VAT - £176.70

TOTAL £1060.21


After i paid he said the engine could go at anytime but at no point did he say not to drive the van.
And within 200 miles of driving it the Turbo went again!

I think basically he has had my money and wants nothing more to do with me but he is in for a hell of a shock don't worry!

Get this! Trading Standards said there was nothing they could do about it????????

Unbelievable!!

Hammyman

milbro007 wrote: »

After i paid he said the engine could go at anytime but at no point did he say not to drive the van.
And within 200 miles of driving it the Turbo went again!

OK, here's my take after having a think..

Firstly, any reasonable person who is told "the engine could go at any time" would take that to mean don't drive it or don't drive it very far, preferably home and to a garage to get a new one and certainly not a couple of hundred miles unless you want to take the risk.

Secondly, if the reason that they said this is because it was rattling or showing signs of death, that could be from low oil pressure. Low oil pressure would mean that the turbo wasn't getting the lubrication and cooling it required and therefore went bang both the first time and the second time. An oil pressure test should have been done after the first one went. Maybe it had and that was why the mechanic had said the engine could go at any time. They should have told you but IME, it seems pointless telling customers anything nowadays that has a £ cost to sort as they either aren't interested or choose to ignore the warning.


It could be that all of this has originally been caused by a high mileage or worn engine or a defective oil pump or pressure valve resulting in low pressure to the turbo as said in which case you have no case against either the garage that fitted the turbo or the company that supplied the replacement turbo and I suspect that they might have found that upon inspection the turbo bearings had gone.