The garage blew my engine up.....

AdrianC

arcon5 wrote: »

Engines don't just blow up - especially not because of a cooling system fault !!

Oooh, "Blow up"! Sounds so dramatic, doesn't it?

Engines certainly DO suffer problems after overheating, yes - head gasket failure, warped heads, partial seizures are all possibilities. And that can happen VERY quickly if a hose lets go, even if the engine is stopped immediately - heat continues to build up locally, without the coolant taking it away. Never stopped an engine, restarted it a few minutes later, and noticed how much higher the temp gauge sits until the coolant circulates? Now remove the coolant.

Silver-Surfer_2

BobCliffy wrote: »

.....hmmmmm when I take them to court I can see invoices etc. and will find out what REALLY happened?

You'll only see evidence they submit.

AdrianC

BobCliffy wrote: »

.....hmmmmm when I take them to court I can see invoices etc. and will find out what REALLY happened?

Don't you already have the invoices for the work?

It is for you to PROVE that they've been negligent. Not for them to prove they haven't, or give some kind of running narrative. You need to go to court with evidence of what they've done wrong, and quantified losses.

If you turn up saying "Look, I feel wronged here, but I don't really know how.", it will be thrown straight out.

BobCliffy

arcon5 wrote: »

Don't forget if you lose they can ask the court to award them their costs such as travel etc.

You need to demonstrate the a) the damage was caused by them; b) they was negligent.

You've not even explained properly here what exactly they have caused and why so how you plan on persuading a judge they are the ones responsible for the fact your car is a lemon is beyond me.

The car failed on wipers, break light and ABS light......none of which constitutes driving the car 370 miles. I was told the car had passed its MOT but the engine had blown up? Obviously then the car had passed the MOT PRIOR to the engine fault....why then did they not ring me to collect it when it passed as that was all the car was in for..... I think that someone took the car out for the weekend and was negligent in not stopping when it 'lost' water.....just my assumption?

BeenThroughItAll

BobCliffy wrote: »

The car failed on wipers, break light and ABS light......none of which constitutes driving the car 370 miles. I was told the car had passed its MOT but the engine had blown up? Obviously then the car had passed the MOT PRIOR to the engine fault....why then did they not ring me to collect it when it passed as that was all the car was in for..... I think that someone took the car out for the weekend and was negligent in not stopping when it 'lost' water.....just my assumption?

And right there is why you won't win in court. Save your money and buy a replacement car with it instead.

bigjl

BobCliffy wrote: »

The car failed on wipers, break light and ABS light......none of which constitutes driving the car 370 miles. I was told the car had passed its MOT but the engine had blown up? Obviously then the car had passed the MOT PRIOR to the engine fault....why then did they not ring me to collect it when it passed as that was all the car was in for..... I think that someone took the car out for the weekend and was negligent in not stopping when it 'lost' water.....just my assumption?

I thought you took really good care of it?

Sounds like it had loads of problems ignored till MOT time.

To be honest a hose coming off would not do any damage to a car unless the person drove on for several miles without water.

What is more likely is the head gasket went, pressurised the cooling system and that blew the hose off.

And £1500 at a Jag dealer doesn't get you a lot.

Take any old S Type to Jag and you will get a similiar or bigger quote for work.

AdrianC

bigjl wrote: »

And £1500 at a Jag dealer doesn't get you a lot.

Especially when a third of that is for one part.

So about a grand, less the VAT - £800 of labour.

What d'you reckon that gets at Jag dealer rates - 5-6hrs?

arcon5

BobCliffy wrote: »

The car failed on wipers, break light and ABS light......none of which constitutes driving the car 370 miles. I was told the car had passed its MOT but the engine had blown up? Obviously then the car had passed the MOT PRIOR to the engine fault....why then did they not ring me to collect it when it passed as that was all the car was in for..... I think that someone took the car out for the weekend and was negligent in not stopping when it 'lost' water.....just my assumption?

The fact they took advantage by using it is moot really. So at the moment all you have is an assumption? No factual information...

Like:
What was the damage?
What was the cause of the damage?
In what way are all the subsequent problems their fault?

It would seem by the fact they tried to charge you for the work that they haven't admitted liability.:

Them driving the car 'normally' doesn't mean they caused the damage sadly. Especially since the work they did do wasn't even engine based work.

bigjl

AdrianC wrote: »

Especially when a third of that is for one part.

So about a grand, less the VAT - £800 of labour.

What d'you reckon that gets at Jag dealer rates - 5-6hrs?

Maybe even less if it's a London dealer.

I saved £400 on a cambelt on my Jag by going to Chelmsford instead of Brentwood.

arcon5

AdrianC wrote: »

Oooh, "Blow up"! Sounds so dramatic, doesn't it?

Engines certainly DO suffer problems after overheating, yes - head gasket failure, warped heads, partial seizures are all possibilities. And that can happen VERY quickly if a hose lets go, even if the engine is stopped immediately - heat continues to build up locally, without the coolant taking it away. Never stopped an engine, restarted it a few minutes later, and noticed how much higher the temp gauge sits until the coolant circulates? Now remove the coolant.

Yes head gasket... So a skim and gasket set. Job done.

It doesn't typically cause any further damage unless driven on