Help / Advice regarding legal claim against AA breakdown please!

Ellie007

Hi all,

Last May my car overheated on a busy road and the AA came out to recover it. They examined the car, noted that the expansion tank cap was missing, and then ran a test to see if the head gasket had blown.

The test results were fine and the AA man said that he thought the problem was that I had failed to replace the cap when topping up the fluid (which I did about 2 weeks prior to this). I was sure that I had replaced it. Anyway, he then wrapped several plastic gloves around the opening, secured with elastic bands and told me to drive home and ensure that I got a new cap. He followed me home, declared all was well and went on his way.

I bought a new cap and the car then sat on the drive for a few weeks as I commute. When I next went to start it up, it wouldn't start. I called AA homestart out, who looked at the car and said that the engine had seized and was full of water. He said that it was likely that the head gasket had failed. I explained that a test had been done and was told all was fine with the head gasket, and that I was told to drive home. This AA person believed that had the car been towed to a garage rather than driven, the damage could have been avoided and the haphazard 'glove' repair and resultant interference with pressure was contributory to the massive engine failure. The car had done no miles between the two incidents.

I have lodged a complaint with the AA who have denied any culpability. Eventually they offered to send an 'independent' mechanic of their choice out to inspect, but only if I took the car to a garage and had the cylinder head removed. I have argued that this should also be done by their mechanic, as I have incurred significant cost since this episode (and can't afford to spend more money on the damn thing!) and also I feel that a third party carrying out works on the car will surely start muddying the issue? It seems to be like stalling tactics on behalf of the AA. The last person to do any work on the car was their AA patrolman.

The AA have not responded further. The cost of repair to the car is c. £1800.

Am I wrong in thinking that I have a case against them? As I am quite prepared to escalate to Small Claims Court if I have, but don't want to waste further time and money.

Thank you for all that have read this far! Advice please!

Hintza

Ellie007 wrote: »

Hi all,

Last May my car overheated on a busy road and the AA came out to recover it. They examined the car, noted that the expansion tank cap was missing, and then ran a test to see if the head gasket had blown.

The test results were fine and the AA man said that he thought the problem was that I had failed to replace the cap when topping up the fluid (which I did about 2 weeks prior to this). I was sure that I had replaced it. Anyway, he then wrapped several plastic gloves around the opening, secured with elastic bands and told me to drive home and ensure that I got a new cap. He followed me home, declared all was well and went on his way.

I bought a new cap and the car then sat on the drive for a few weeks as I commute. When I next went to start it up, it wouldn't start. I called AA homestart out, who looked at the car and said that the engine had seized and was full of water. He said that it was likely that the head gasket had failed. I explained that a test had been done and was told all was fine with the head gasket, and that I was told to drive home. This AA person believed that had the car been towed to a garage rather than driven, the damage could have been avoided and the haphazard 'glove' repair and resultant interference with pressure was contributory to the massive engine failure. The car had done no miles between the two incidents.

I have lodged a complaint with the AA who have denied any culpability. Eventually they offered to send an 'independent' mechanic of their choice out to inspect, but only if I took the car to a garage and had the cylinder head removed. I have argued that this should also be done by their mechanic, as I have incurred significant cost since this episode (and can't afford to spend more money on the damn thing!) and also I feel that a third party carrying out works on the car will surely start muddying the issue? It seems to be like stalling tactics on behalf of the AA. The last person to do any work on the car was their AA patrolman.

The AA have not responded further. The cost of repair to the car is c. £1800.

Am I wrong in thinking that I have a case against them? As I am quite prepared to escalate to Small Claims Court if I have, but don't want to waste further time and money.

Thank you for all that have read this far! Advice please!

I would argue that the damage to the head had already been done before the AA man got a look at it.

The facts as stated by you are:-

The car overheated because there was no water, because you left the cap off. At this time the head warped and the gasket failed.

The AA man came along and tested for that but unfortunately this didn't show up. he filled it with water and put on a temporary cap. But because the head was warped and gasket gone water got in to the cylinders, after the damage was done.

Ellie007

Thank you. I didn't leave the cap off though. I agree that something was clearly wrong if the cap blew off for whatever reason, but surely that is the point to get it on the back of a tow-truck and take it to the garage to inspect it? At this point the car was still starting up and running 'normally'. After the 'repair' and the advice to carry on driving it, the engine seized.

Appreciate the viewpoint, thanks!

Hintza

Ellie007 wrote: »

I didn't leave the cap off though.

Well that supports my theory even more. It would suggest that the heat built up even more in the engine so the damage would be huge by that point.

My ex wife carried on driving a car until the plastic components on the engine melted, that was quite scary.

Splott

Agree with the above. The damage had already been done before the AA man got to you.

The glove and elastic band trick the AA man did would not have contributed in any way, shape or form to a headgasket failure as long as there was water in the system and the temperature gauge didn't go up into the red. You haven't said that there was no water in the system when you got home nor the temperature went back up again so therefore the glove trick worked, not that there was any reason it wouldn't have done.

steve-L

How far did you drive home?

Overall I am agreeing with everyone else I'm afraid.
Please read the following carefully, I am just stating a fact not implying most people do this!

You car handbook probably says you should check the oil, radiator, bulbs and wiper fluid each time you drive!

OK... I don't!

However, that is partly because I know what to look for,

So when did you last check the oil/radiator?
If you go to court then the AA will show them the book!

Second, if a radiator cap blows off how did you not notice?
Is is possible it was not correctly fitted? When did you last open it?
If the answer is never then again that doesn't stand you in good stead.

Thirdly, did you not notice the temperature start to climb and then drop off? Did no warning lights come on?

The question is really when did the radiator cap come off and how far did you drive.

Everyone else seems to think that it had come off and your radiator boiled dry. As this happened your temp gauge would have risen and then as there was no water left to the thermostat it would have gone down.

In all probability this is when the damage occurred... presuming he waited until the rad cooled and then added water.... and you drove for a small time home....

The damage to the gasket was done but the rad was empty when the AA man arrived thus no appreciable water was in the oil.....

However are you sure they said not to take it to a garage?
The real damage was leaving it on a drive with water in the engine for several weeks....the rest was probably repairable before that.

motorguy

Hintza wrote: »

The AA man came along and tested for that but unfortunately this didn't show up. he filled it with water and put on a temporary cap. But because the head was warped and gasket gone water got in to the cylinders, after the damage was done.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Ellie007

steve-L wrote: »

How far did you drive home?

Overall I am agreeing with everyone else I'm afraid.
Please read the following carefully, I am just stating a fact not implying most people do this!

You car handbook probably says you should check the oil, radiator, bulbs and wiper fluid each time you drive!

OK... I don't!

However, that is partly because I know what to look for,

So when did you last check the oil/radiator?
If you go to court then the AA will show them the book!

Second, if a radiator cap blows off how did you not notice?
Is is possible it was not correctly fitted? When did you last open it?
If the answer is never then again that doesn't stand you in good stead.

Thirdly, did you not notice the temperature start to climb and then drop off? Did no warning lights come on?

The question is really when did the radiator cap come off and how far did you drive.

Everyone else seems to think that it had come off and your radiator boiled dry. As this happened your temp gauge would have risen and then as there was no water left to the thermostat it would have gone down.

In all probability this is when the damage occurred... presuming he waited until the rad cooled and then added water.... and you drove for a small time home....

The damage to the gasket was done but the rad was empty when the AA man arrived thus no appreciable water was in the oil.....

However are you sure they said not to take it to a garage?
The real damage was leaving it on a drive with water in the engine for several weeks....the rest was probably repairable before that.

Thank you, very useful.

I check the oil and water regularly, largely because I do a lot of miles with work. And yes, I do replace the caps afterwards!

No warning light came on, or rise in temperature gauge. Had this occurred, I would have pulled over. The first sign was steam from under the bonnet, at which point I pulled over. The AA took 3 hours to come out, at which point the car had cooled down. AA man number 1 topped up the fluid, ran the car for a few minutes and did the head gasket test. There was no sign of water in the oil. He then said to drive it home, and buy a new cap before I drove it again. No mention of getting it checked out at a garage.

AA man number 2 came out when it wouldn't start, I gave him the history and he was of the opinion that the first chap had exacerbated the issue by allowing me to drive the car home rather than towing it to a garage (which my cover allows for), and effecting a poor repair. Also not disclaiming that there may be a further issue with the car. This is just his opinion of course.

He advised to report to the AA.

I am in a position where AA have advised me that my car is perfectly ok and fine to drive, and then the next time I go to drive, it is pronounced dead (the cost to repair outweighs the value of the car). If it is because it sat on the drive with an issue that needed to be immediately rectified, then the AA should have taken me to a garage and it would have been sorted with far less onerous consequences.

Many thanks for all your opinions, they are very helpful.

Ellie007

I should have said, it was about an eight mile drive home.

vikingaero

I'm not sure where the AA has any liability. They did the best tests they could at the roadside and not in a garage with ramps.

I agree with the others. The damage had been done and the pressure popped off the cap. Filling the car with coolant/plain water would be OK to drive on. I would argue that the problem is that the car was left idle for weeks to allow the coolant/water to enter the engine through the failed gasket. If the car wasn't to be driven for a few weeks why not get it to a garage? The coolant/water that has entered the engine has seized it. If it had been driven regularly with a dodgy gasket it wouldn't have seized.

mattyprice4004

What's the make and model of car?

It takes a LOT of pressure to blow a coolant cap off - it's a million times more likely to blow a coolant hose before this happens.