Help - Vauxhall insignia major problem

Strider590

debtfree1day wrote: »

Jan 13

60400 miles

Therefore out of warrantee:(

Diving today on motorway

Power just goes - felt I heard a clunk

Call recovery at side of road - runs diagnostics and says po340 camshaft something or other

Towed to garage - who opens bonnet and shows me a ripped up pice by engine and says cam pulley snapped - never seen that

I'm not technical so ask what it means - he says he needs a proper look but it may have danaged engine which worse case could be full replacement

Checked online and thinking this could be the end - RIP car as its only worth £7.k ish

Thoughts????thanjs

That's something that would almost certainly give you a warning of failure (in the form of noise) anything up to 10'000 miles before it went.
It could potentially be argued that you failed to heed the warning signs and are therefore responsible.

I've previously changed cam belt kits at half their normal interval because of noises emanating from the cam belt cover.

Johnmcl7

debtfree1day wrote: »

Hi rich thanks

I was told or read that under European laws they couldn't discrimatr from a vauchalls mains dealer and any registered mechanic

Is that right? Would be good to arm me for the conversation
Thanks

That's for warranty, since your car is out of warranty you'd be relying on a goodwill gesture from Vauxhall which they're not legally required to provide. You do have rights under the sale of goods act but that's not straightforward.

John

debtfree1day

That's something that would almost certainly give you a warning of failure (in the form of noise) anything up to 10'000 miles before it went.


strider - it was only 7k miles ago it got serviced! There has been no noise. I am not car mechanical in any way but I have taken care - changed oil, new Tyres Etc - had services etc - if there had been a warning Sign I would have taken action. my wife and my friends have travelled in. The car and none have heard any noise or reported any concerns

debtfree1day

Has anyone got any views on

Likely cost of new engine fitted? Potential to source a second hand engine (some on a famous auction site - but why would a new ish car engine be for sale and is it like buying a lottery ticket) or value without an engine (scrap??)

gilbert_and_sullivan

If we assume for arguments sake that Vauxhall wash their hands of it, we don't know the year of the car so it could be out of time too.

All depends on what the garage you use is like, if they have sensible labour charges then its quite possible your present engine can be repaired, if the belt snapped due to fatigue then you might only have bent valves, so an economic repair would be on the cards.
At the very least someone will have to remove and strip the cylinder head to assess the damage, only then can a sensible decision be made.
If its possible to find a good engine from a write off (the source of most) for the right money then that could be cheaper in the long run, however you are relying on the integrity of the breaker re engine mileage, and sensibly a new cambelt kit should be fitted before the engine is whilst its an easy job.

If your mechanic is someone you trust then his advice is better than anyones here because we can't see whats what.

debtfree1day

Thanks Gilbert

It's jan 13 so within 3 years

The garage it is at is a guy I trust - it's small not mains dealer and he will give me prognosis today on damage / repair etc etc, so will know more

Not sure he could source an engine but main hope is he can repair as you described

I'll find out later

Feeling a bit sick with it all - but not much I can do

gilbert_and_sullivan

Hope it works out well, once your chap has dismantled it Vauxhall won't want to know, but then they'll charge you £100 an hour to strip the thing and only then tell you if goodwill is forthcoming, so you're between a rock and a hard place.

In your shoes i'd probably be doing the same as you in the circumstances, especially as the service history is out of main dealer network, i'd only trust Toyota to do the right thing under the same circs.

Glad you have someone reliable looking at it.

Strider590

debtfree1day wrote: »

strider - it was only 7k miles ago it got serviced!

So?

They change the oil/filter give it a very quick once over, stamp the book and send it on it's way. Highly unlikely to have picked up on anything like this, same goes for the MOT.

The thing is, most drivers seem to ramp up the stereo so often they never notice these things. Every time I get into my GFs car, I make a point of turning off the radio for the first mile or so.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Strider590 wrote: »

So?

They change the oil/filter give it a very quick once over, stamp the book and send it on it's way. Highly unlikely to have picked up on anything like this, same goes for the MOT.

The thing is, most drivers seem to ramp up the stereo so often they never notice these things. Every time I get into my GFs car, I make a point of turning off the radio for the first mile or so.

Quite, i moved my daughters car a few times this week, i know she'd had a new part exhaust fitted recently.
Every time i started it i could hear and feel this 'woomp' sound from underneath, sounded like a mild inner backfire inside the new silencer.
Eventually twigged it was her sub (i know) firing up a millisecond after starting.
I'm the same as you Strider, you can garner a lot of info from listening, even if its wrong..:o

AdrianC

debtfree1day wrote: »

but why would a new ish car engine be for sale

Because the car it was in has been written-off. Maybe rear-ended.

So near to the warranty expiry, I'd be definitely leaning on Vauxhall for some kind of goodwill gesture.