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

Jam03

custardy said:

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

No they haven't made their position clear actually. They stated they would investigate it, then they have gone back on that. They told me I could submit a report from my garage on email this morning yet on the phone they just told me it would need to be from Vauxhall. Vauxhall advised they are refusing to issue a report whether they do further investigation work or not. IF there were  failures then there is a possibility I would have found out about them either through being serviced, MOT'd or warning lights. And not be in a position where I am getting towed at the side of the road with a completely dead car. So if the expansion cap being off highlights these existing failures then thats a contributory factor.

daveyjp

If the coolant level is dropping it is leaking somewhere as its a sealed pressurised system.  Having to top up should be a warning sign and its worth having a pressure test to check the system.

Not putting the cap back on may have exacerbated an existing issue, but proving it was the cause of head gasket failure on a 10 year old vehicle will be difficult.

A friend's Corsa overheated on the hottest day last year, the fan thermostat had failed.  Loss of lots of coolant, but no head gasket problems.

Jam03

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

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.  

No problems with heaters, no smoke was coming from the car or had been, no funny smells. Only bad smell/steam was when we pulled over and that was the coolant burning on the engine. Yes engine was switched off and allowed to cool down. But I am now in a position where my car is at a Vauxhall dealer at their insistence, I'm getting conflicting reports from them that they will/will not accept a report from my own garage, the Vauxhall garage is unwilling to issue any report whether they conduct the investigation or not and my car has been sat at that garage for no reason. They've said they would conduct an investigation and have now gone back on that with no explanation and no clear guide on the next steps as they can't agree!

JJ_Egan

Get your own independent report from VX garage and go down the Small Claims Court route .

Jam03

JJ_Egan said:

Get your own independent report from VX garage and go down the Small Claims Court route .

Thanks but Vauxhall dealer saying they will not give a report either way on whether it did or did not contribute to what happened. Halfords said they'd accept a report from my garage, Atticus (the independent Company contracted by Halfords) are now saying they wont but that was verbally. Honestly don't feel like I can trust them to acknowledge a report by my garage but with Vauxhall refusing I'm at a loss! 

Ditzy_Mitzy

Jam03 said:

JJ_Egan said:

Get your own independent report from VX garage and go down the Small Claims Court route .

Thanks but Vauxhall dealer saying they will not give a report either way on whether it did or did not contribute to what happened. Halfords said they'd accept a report from my garage, Atticus (the independent Company contracted by Halfords) are now saying they wont but that was verbally. Honestly don't feel like I can trust them to acknowledge a report by my garage but with Vauxhall refusing I'm at a loss! 

The problem, perhaps, is that a normal report is going to be inconclusive.  It's possible, probably, to do forensic testing on the engine to ascertain whether the gasket failed as the result of a single instance of overheating.  But what if that is proven?  There's still nothing to prove said overheating was caused by the cooling system failing to pressurise.  To evidence that a complete teardown and test of every component of the cooling system will be required.  Doing those two tests might conclusively prove that removal of the expansion cap caused the failure of the head gasket.  What then?  What evidence is there that you didn't take the cap off again after the Halfords man put it back on?  None.  
Testing is either going to be inconclusive or very expensive.  The Vauxhall dealer probably knows someone who can do it but equally probably doesn't want to take the risk.  What if the test doesn't prove what you want it to?  Will you still pay?  Would you be willing to pay in advance, even?

JJ_Egan

<Thanks but Vauxhall dealer saying they will not give a report either way on whether it did or did not contribute to what happened>

As per post above   no real indication that what happened was caused by Halford's .

20 miles with no cap on difficult to prove that caused a problem .

Dont see as you are going to get the advice you want from random forum users .