Help / Advice regarding legal claim against AA breakdown please!

Ellie007

vikingaero wrote: »

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.

Thank you. I didn't take it to a garage because I was told that the car was fine. I was also told that the gasket was fine. I was not told to get it checked out, otherwise I would have taken it to a garage. Which is my point really - if there was suspicion that it needed to go to the garage then either a) tow it to the garage or b) advise me to take it to a garage at my own leisure. Neither happened. I was told the car was fine. It clearly was not.

Once again, many thanks for the opinions.

vikingaero

The pressure cap may have been lost or loose. I've forgotten to replace the oil cap on my Mums car once and had to drive up to London to rescue her with oil and a temporary cap.

Ellie007

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

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.

It's a Landrover Freelander.

vikingaero

Ellie007 wrote: »

It's a Landrover Freelander.

Maybe others can help but isn't the head gasket on some Freelanders its Achilles heel?

Hackman_2

vikingaero wrote: »

Maybe others can help but isn't the head gasket on some Freelanders its Achilles heel?

On Rovers petrol engines, yes.

steve-L

Ellie007 wrote: »

Thank you. I didn't take it to a garage because I was told that the car was fine. I was also told that the gasket was fine. I was not told to get it checked out, otherwise I would have taken it to a garage. Which is my point really - if there was suspicion that it needed to go to the garage then either a) tow it to the garage or b) advise me to take it to a garage at my own leisure. Neither happened. I was told the car was fine. It clearly was not.

Once again, many thanks for the opinions.

OK so I guess that gives you one path forwards with the AA.
I'm speculating but if you filled the radiator with tap water and drove 8 miles carefully (even without the cap or gloves) and then took it to a garage next day they would have drained the radiator and oil and replaced the head gasket. Even running the engine would have stopped is seizing.

More speculation but as everyone else agrees the CHG was probably (almost certainly) already gone when AA man 1 arrived.

However: This being the case AA man 1 should have towed you to a garage. I'm guessing the test he did was checking the dipstick for emulsion and you had no water left to leak.

So what he should have done is tow it back and tell you to get it to a garage. You would then have needed a new CHG (and labour) and that would probably have set of back best part of 400-500 so in essence you are 1400 or so down???

You might get a positive response by putting it this way to the AA.

Hope this helps.....

Lomast

Unfortunatly i think regardless of what happened i think the AA may have a get out, i cant find my copy now but when i had my car recovered a few weeks back after the cambelt failed (57 miles after being replaced:mad:) there is a box on the recovery paperwork that says something along the lines of:

Any repairs/work done by them at the roadside should be considered temporary and designed to get you home and that you are responsible for then making sure that it is checked/ repaired properly afterwards.

If i can find the paperwork i will add the actual wording but i suspect its probably also in the T&Cs of membership

plane_boy2000

In fairness they are a roadside rescue / recovery team, not a fully fledged mobile mechanic (although I'm sure the guys are very skilled)

Its unfortunate that the guy didn't establish that the head gasket had gone, but to be fair, your car had already overheated and that's why you called them out, so the damage had already been done.

Somerset

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

Its unfortunate that the guy didn't establish that the head gasket had gone, but to be fair, your car had already overheated and that's why you called them out, so the damage had already been done.

Not really. If the head gasket had gone, that was the level of damage when the OP called them out. Because the AA guy said the car was fine, the OP drove it, left it sitting for a few weeks, and now has a seized engine as well as a knackered head gasket.

OP, I have absolutely no vehicle knowledge. The reason I'm posting is because I have a freelander which also had a head gasket go. I got the steam thing, and no water as well. The car was in the garage several times trying the solve the problem. The head gasket seemed fine. The thermostat was replaced a couple of times, water pump checked etc. Eventually all that was left as a possibility was the head gasket. Once replaced, problem solved.

My point is, the garage didn't diagnose a dodgy head gasket. I've no idea what test the AA chap ran or how reliable/definitive it is. My personal experience is, the 'problem' could be caused by things other than the head gasket. So I guess it's how 'certain' the test performed by the AA is ??

waynedance

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

In fairness they are a roadside rescue / recovery team, not a fully fledged mobile mechanic (although I'm sure the guys are very skilled)

Its unfortunate that the guy didn't establish that the head gasket had gone, but to be fair, your car had already overheated and that's why you called them out, so the damage had already been done.

as said they are road side recovery, for the love of god leave the AA alone and I hope you get nowhere with your claim.

It is i guess a K series Rover engine which are prone to head gasket failure, live and learn.