Car Warranty Claim Denied

colino

They are saying that the big ends show evidence of being run dry for some time, the oil pump was working as there is evidence that it has been pumping garbage filled, insufficient volume of lubricant and this has been disguised by someone, post-event, topping up the oil. You would have heard a noise that would have quickly got worse and has led to the demise of the engine. Their answer is quite direct and compelling, so it will end up as an expensive battle of their expert opinion against yours.

03jatkin

forgotmyname wrote: »

It would have made a bit more than a funny noise if the crank had snapped.

Where was the evidence of having too little oil in the engine?

Have the garage drained all the oil? How much was there? Oil stain on the road where it broke down?

It was pretty loud when it first turned over thats why i turned it off straight away, and as soon as the engineer heard it he said he knew straight away it was the crank. (this was the bloke at my local garage).

I don't know where the evidence was i'm just wondering in what way to reply to the company to be able to get the best response and result.

I'm not sure about them draining the oil but at the last service they did do an oil change.

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

whats the opnion of the garage its at now?

seems to me they have no evidence that the oil levels were so low it caused the problem.

they also say there appears to be no substantial oil leak.

so theyre basing the refusal on theory.

you have a recent service sheet that shows a replenishment of new oil (unless the dealership or garage you took it to didnt fill it up correctly).

when did you buy this car?

The engineer at the garage (local fellow) seemed to think it was a genuine engine failure, he checked the oil and it wasn't low etc.

Do you think i should confront them and say where is your evidence that the oil levels are low? And your right there didn't appear to be any oil leaks. And im confident the garage filled the car with oil correctly both myself and my dad have been serviced through them for years (with my old motor to) and i bought the car in early 2011.

03jatkin

colino wrote: »

They are saying that the big ends show evidence of being run dry for some time, the oil pump was working as there is evidence that it has been pumping garbage filled, insufficient volume of lubricant and this has been disguised by someone, post-event, topping up the oil. You would have heard a noise that would have quickly got worse and has led to the demise of the engine. Their answer is quite direct and compelling, so it will end up as an expensive battle of their expert opinion against yours.

Can you think of any tip to confront them?

colino

Frankly no. They have set out their stall, including the important inclusion of, "in the absence of any long standing external oil leak" to point at operator error.
You have to consider carefully, depending on the overall value of the car, the cost of refurbishing or replacing the engine, the cost of commissioning an independent engineer and the likelihood of a successful counterclaim, how much time and energy you want to throw at this problem.

londonTiger

Just out of curiosity, if you do the service yourself with car make spec fluiods (not cheap generic ones used by garages), and have that purchase receipts for them. Is that acceptable as proof of service? Or do you actually need a garage to invoice you for the work carried out?

vaio

londonTiger wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, if you do the service yourself with car make spec fluiods (not cheap generic ones used by garages), and have that purchase receipts for them. Is that acceptable as proof of service? Or do you actually need a garage to invoice you for the work carried out?

Depends on the T&C, I think most say VAT registered garage and OEM standard parts

03jatkin

colino wrote: »

Frankly no. They have set out their stall, including the important inclusion of, "in the absence of any long standing external oil leak" to point at operator error.
You have to consider carefully, depending on the overall value of the car, the cost of refurbishing or replacing the engine, the cost of commissioning an independent engineer and the likelihood of a successful counterclaim, how much time and energy you want to throw at this problem.

So i'm screwed basically, not a whole lot i was hoping just to have a working car again.

Really frustrating to have spent so much money on a warranty though that is effectively useless.

red_eye

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I'm sorry.

I think they are trying to wriggle out of it by saying that you hadn't kept the oil in the engine topped up to the correct level.

+1 and how can the engineeer say the oil level was allowed to drop to a low state when the engine was in a "partly dismantled state" he didt state how much oil was in the engine.

Another case of a few A4 pages of expensive toilet paper, you should of got andrex or even cushell. alot softer and 0 risk of anal paper cuts

red_eye

03jatkin wrote: »

So i'm screwed basically, not a whole lot i was hoping just to have a working car again.

Really frustrating to have spent so much money on a warranty though that is effectively useless.

when was the car serviced last? a written letter from the mechanic with a copy of the invoice help

Gloomendoom

If the oil pump had been sucking air, the oil pressure warning lamp should have been on, or at least flickering.

IIRC WW require the car to be serviced by a VAT registered garage.