Mechanic legal advice needed

SNes73

Mine was 2.4 petrol engine. 2.2 was the import model.

i don't get the car is only worth x amount... i wanted the car fixed i was happy with the price he said he had worked on previa's before now i've got a car with the engine in bits and he's refusing to (A) fix it as agreed or (b) give me the car back as it was or (c) he pays someone else to fix it or (d) give me my money back

atrixblue.-MFR-.

So back to the main issue. I think your mate had best intentions to fix the issue as it seemed a HG issue he could claim warranty on, that's not going to happen now as the head has a crack and nothing to do with the headgasket kit he bought from the factors.


depending on how he put the head backtogether and where the crack is he/his mechanic may have overtightened the headbolts or used the wrong tightening sequence or it may just be that the head cracked under overheating.


this mechanic should have atleast forwarned you that he was soon to move property and gave you the opportunity to book it in later at his new property, or put your engine backtogether so he could atleast tow it over to his new shop.


on the balance of probabilities he never requested a crack test on the cylinder head the first time he did the gasket, theres probably now more damage than before to the engine a s whole as it was being driven with the fault undetected you probably require a new engine, he doesn't want to be liable for this cost so wants to wash his hands.


unfortunately for him he has to put the engine back to the condition he got it in he knew he was about to move and being a mechanic should have known the time scale a job like this takes and decided if he had time to do the job before he packed up and moved he obviously didn't have time.


in court your going to have to prove his negligence there will be no doubt youd be entitled to recover recovery costs no one expects to have to pay for recovery of your own vehicle stripped into bits mechanically when you took in as a whole mechanically propelled vehicle.


I would seek a solicitor in any case, perhaps you could look into house hold insurance to see if you have legal cover for such things.


whats going to back you up now is mechanical reports, so you need to get another garage to inspect it and give you detailed report on what they see has happened.

Prothet_of_Doom

SNes73 wrote: »

Toyota previa 1998

:rotfl: I'd have weighed it in.

I have replaced head gaskets on various cars I've owned, and have taken the risk that it's not the gasket, but usually when you get the head off, you can see the problem. I've only once even bothered to get a head skimmed, and the trade price locally is £40, including delivery, as they do a daily run around the area to pick up work (and that includes main dealers too).

Luckily all my fixes, worked, but then I've never let the failure of a head gasket result in any overheating. Did once fail to change the oil, which was mixed with coolant, and a couple of weeks later a conrod went through the block. But you learn from those mistakes:eek:

SNes73

The recovery truck is picking up the car tomorrow so will finally see what state the car is in