Halfords lied in writing about investigating damage to car - cap left off expansion tank

Jam03

21st September I attend Halfords to top up my coolant as I had taken one week off work and going to do longer journeys. It required approx 1cm topped up. The store did it as I couldn't open the bottle due to plate in wrist
23rd September - next time I drive the car the temp light comes on (wasn't on before), pull over to side of road with my brother, steam, coolant boiling everywhere and the cap neatly upside down next to expansion tank. Let car cool, topped up coolant to move to safe place away from side of road. Car shudders and wont start. Get towed by insurance to local garage.
24th Sep - speak to local garage who advise contacting Halfords as they caused damage. Speak to the Store Manager (who left the cap off) and he tells me the THREADED cap must've blown off as he definitely put it back on.  Ahem. See photo below for the perfectly intact cap and tank) Spoke to customer services they advised they would need my garage to provide a report. My garage reluctant at getting any blame from Halfords so Halfords arrange for it to be towed to a Vauxhall garage for assessment. They state this needed to be done so that they can determine exactly how the damage was caused. 

After being left for a week with no car they agreed to provide a hire car. It is now three weeks on and yesterday I received an email from Halfords saying they cannot determine the cause of the damage and further investigation is required but that they will not pay for this investigation but that if I do (at either the Vauxhall dealership or a reputable garage) they will once again consider the case. Obviously I doubt this is the case as they have already lied about investigating the car to find out why the damage occurred. 

They also provided this report from Atticus (who arranged the car going to Vauxhall on Halfords behalf)
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So I again went back and asked that this is escalated and for an explanation to be provided as to why they have retracted their earlier statement that they would fully investigate how the damage was caused and received the email below. So I contacted Atticus and spoke to Peter Finn who advised that there are multiple possibilities as to why the head gasket has failed, if that is indeed what has happened (he couldn't confirm), but without this investigation he could confirm that leaving the cap off the expansion tank could not have caused this damage. How can he confirm this without it being investigated and when he can't even tell me what it is that is wrong with the car? 


Background on the car - it is a run around town car so has been steadily in use but only has just over 44,000 miles on it despite it being 10 years old. It has been well cared for and I put it through its MOT in March (month early due to to lock down). I have had no major issues with the car. I did take pictures of engine and expansion tank at the garage before it went to Vauxhall and there was still coolant in the bottom of it so there was no leak in the tank. 


Seems to me Halfords lied when they said it 'needed' to go to a Vauxhall dealership as they are now saying they will take a report from a reputable garage. They lied when they said they would fully investigate the damage and their accident management Company claim they know the damage is definitely not caused by the cap being left off the expansion tank but they can't tell me what damage has been done to the car or what the cause if said damage is. Seems my car has been sat for three weeks no further forward except if I want it to go back to my garage for inspection and repair I am going to be further out of pocket as I will need to pay for it to be towed there.
Can anyone help? 

JJ_Egan

Picture with cap that is unusual and in my view cap would have fallen off that position within a few miles .

Dont see as how they lied as makers garage would know more .

So why have you not taken the car to the garage ?? a report on the damage would have indicated responsibility .

How far did you drive the car on 23rd Sept ?

Jam03

The picture with the cap in that position is from when it was in the garage thats not how it was sat when I opened the bonnet. Its to show that the cap has clearly not 'blown off'
They have lied about getting the damage investigated and then gone back on their word as now they are stating I need to pay for the investigation. If you read the post you will see I had the car towed to my local garage and Halfords spoke with them and then told me it needed to go to a vauxhall dealer. My garage told Halfords verbally that the damage was consistent with the cap being left off the expansion tank. Drove approx 20 miles but this was in shorter journeys (stopped to collect brother for example).

custardy

The reason they confirm the cap hasnt caused HG failure is because a healthy cooling system wont collapse due to the cap being missing/open.
The car will run hotter without it but the HG failure/root cause will be elsewhere 

Jam03

So if the car runs hotter and overheats (as in this case) that won't cause a HG failure?custardy said:

The reason they confirm the cap hasnt caused HG failure is because a healthy cooling system wont collapse due to the cap being missing/open.
The car will run hotter without it but the HG failure/root cause will be elsewhere 

custardy

Jam03 said:

So if the car runs hotter and overheats (as in this case) that won't cause a HG failure?custardy said:

The reason they confirm the cap hasnt caused HG failure is because a healthy cooling system wont collapse due to the cap being missing/open.
The car will run hotter without it but the HG failure/root cause will be elsewhere 

The cap being off on a healthy cooling system wont.
A cooling system with existing weaknesses/issues will. Likely a corroded radiator or (as the tech mentioned) poorly functioning water pump

custardy

Gonig forward. If you want the car.
You need to fix the HG. You would get the cambelt done at the same time and replace the water pump.
So this would give you 'evidence' if found in good condition but I feel you wont find what you want.

Jam03

custardy said:

Gonig forward. If you want the car.
You need to fix the HG. You would get the cambelt done at the same time and replace the water pump.
So this would give you 'evidence' if found in good condition but I feel you wont find what you want.

I've just spoken to Vauxhall and they have told me that they did not state that it was anything to do with the water pump or that it is a common issue with this make and model of car. In fact he has stated that the car is in the exact same condition as when it came in. More lies being told it seems.

custardy

Jam03 said:

custardy said:

Gonig forward. If you want the car.
You need to fix the HG. You would get the cambelt done at the same time and replace the water pump.
So this would give you 'evidence' if found in good condition but I feel you wont find what you want.

I've just spoken to Vauxhall and they have told me that they did not state that it was anything to do with the water pump or that it is a common issue with this make and model of car. In fact he has stated that the car is in the exact same condition as when it came in. More lies being told it seems.

They are a common fault. VX tech likely talked to Halfords not expecting it to go in a report you would see.
My point stands. You need evidence if you want Halfords to pay. They have made their position clear

JJ_Egan

20 miles and blown head gasket etc .

Ditzy_Mitzy

Head gasket failure is, unfortunately, just one of those things.  The poor old gasket has to withstand all of the heat related expansion and contraction of the block and head, high temperatures and various other mechanical and gas pressures.  Sometimes they just go.  In fact the loss of coolant that caused you to go to Halfords in the first place could have been a symptom of gasket failure.  If coolant gets into the cylinders it tends to boil and get ejected as steam from the exhaust pipe, leading to a loss of coolant volume in the tank.  I've had a gasket go and the symptoms, initially, were excessive white smoke from the exhaust and failure of the heater.  Has your exhaust been steamy or smoky and have you noticed anything else such as the heater not working and funny smells?
The expansion cap is there to regulate the pressure in the cooling system and allow it to work properly.  If it's not working the engine might overheat, but the majority of engines will take the odd overheat without blowing the head gasket, as long as the engine is switched off as soon as it happens and allowed to cool down.  I once had a Citroen that blew out all its coolant through a hole in a radiator hose.  I managed to limp off the A road I was on and have the car recovered.  It ran fine once repaired and refilled.   Gasket failure is more likely to be allied to repeated running with a faulty cooling system.    
Maybe Halfords did leave the cap off, but doing just that to an otherwise healthy engine isn't likely to damage it unduly.  It's possible, anything is, but can't be proved.  I understand why Halfords has rejected the claim.