Help! My used cars engine has seized 6months after purchase

King_Nothing

*grabs popcorn*

So how long do you have to have a car before it and its subsequent faults become your problem, instead of the person who sold you it? A year, 5 years, 10 years? Give over. You've bought a car and its ran fine for 6 months, and unfortunately has developed a problem, which is, your problem.

My battery has just died on my focus, think I can claim it back from the dealer I bought it from 3.5 years ago? Or maybe I'll cut out the middle man and ask for compensation from the first owner? :S

Dieselman

I could be wrong didn't this engine suffer with blocked oil feed pipes which were replaced under warranty when they were new or in the 3 yrs warranty?

If this is the case your engine may have not been done you could ask at vauxhall giving them your reg number they will be able to check if it's had the modified pipe fitted.

If it has your screwed. You pay.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Ultrasonic wrote: »

I'm not sure from your post whether you are suggesting that the OP should have been regularly checking oil pressure or not? I must admit I have no idea how a typical driver could check oil pressure (short of a warning light not being on)? I've certainly never done it.

That was the point, the average Joe 6 pack cannot check oil pressure unless there's a low oil pressure light. If its only got the red oil light and if the OP kept driving until the engine siezed then I can't see the Specialist Dealer being at fault....the dealer has sold a secondhand car with 70k miles not a new car so can go wrong at any time. Very much doubt the car would of lasted 6 months on a failed oil pump, assuming that is the cause of the fail.

Hence why the OP needs to know how the engine siezed before deciding how to proceed and the most likely outcome.

benje302

Vauxhalls have 2 warning lights.

Yellow one when oil level is low
Red when there is no/low oil pressure.

How do I know?, I have suffered by the side of the road when it decided to spill the oil out when a seal failed.

Ben

AdrianC

bigjl wrote: »

The only thing i can think to make it the dealers responsibility would be if they took the bulb out of the warning light.

Which would have been obvious the instant the key was turned, since the oil pressure light on every car comes on with the ignition, before the engine's started.

It's entirely possible that the pump drive sheared and that could easily lead to an almost instantaneous seizure with very little warning. Equally, there's no way that's any kind of pre-existing or foreseeable fault six months previously.

On the up-side, it shouldn't be prohibitively expensive to get a good used engine sourced and fitted. Certainly a lot cheaper than replacing the car.

bigjl

My feeling is incorrect oil level personally.

The fact oil is correct now means little. Easy to add after siezure

Only Used Oil Analysis will give an idea of what happened unless you strip it.

Definately a time for a secondhand low mileage engine new clutch and flywheel and off you go.

jase1

Why does the OP think that his overpriced, eight year old Vauxhall (really, £3500? it's worth £1500 on a good day -- 2008/9 diesel Astras come in at around the same money) is immune from faults just because it's a diesel?

It's an old car. Some old cars fail. Fact of life.

OddballJamie

jase1 wrote: »

Why does the OP think that his overpriced, eight year old Vauxhall (really, £3500? it's worth £1500 on a good day -- 2008/9 diesel Astras come in at around the same money) is immune from faults just because it's a diesel?

It's an old car. Some old cars fail. Fact of life.

Someone has got out of the wrong side of bed this morning.

Done a countrywide search on Autotrader for the same spec as OPs car with less than 100,000 and there's 4 under £3k.

The cheapest is £2,374 and that's 2 years older with 16k more on the clock

.