Car engine ruined

AlisonLow

My car was showing a warning light for the oil. I took it to my local garage and they said it was nothing to worry about, these faults can show and disabled it. The following week my car broke down so I had it towed to them by the AA. The garage has now told me that there was no oil in the engine and running it like this has ruined the engine. I'm looking at £3000+ for a new engine. Do I have any complaint against the garage? The car is a 208 hdi 2021 53000 miles

Ayr_Rage

Did either you or the garage mechanic open the bonnet and check the oil level on the dipstick when the warning light came on?

born_again

AlisonLow said:

My car was showing a warning light for the oil. I took it to my local garage and they said it was nothing to worry about, these faults can show and disabled it. The following week my car broke down so I had it towed to them by the AA. The garage has now told me that there was no oil in the engine and running it like this has ruined the engine. I'm looking at £3000+ for a new engine. Do I have any complaint against the garage?

What checks did they do?

How often do you check things like oil, tyres etc?

AlisonLow

I'm a driving instructor and this is my business vehicle. The oil level was showing full even after the breakdown. When they disabled the warning light they did not check anything

AlisonLow

This garage also replaced the flywheel and clutch about a month ago and the engine hasnt sounded right since then

Ayr_Rage

AlisonLow said:

I'm a driving instructor and this is my business vehicle. The oil level was showing full even after the breakdown. When they disabled the warning light they did not check anything

Showing full on what indicator?

AlisonLow

The dipstick showed full, the AA man checked it he also said that the oil warning light was still showing on his tablet

paul_c123

Whoa, steady on...........first obvious question........does the car HAVE a dipstick?

Ayr_Rage

In that case it was probably a LOW OIL PRESSURE warning rather than a level, so there was either a blockage or the oil pump has failed.

A reputable garage would not DISABLE a warning light, it would be reset and if the fault remained then the light would come straight back on.

There's more to this story than first meets the eye.

Ectophile

My guess would be oil pump failed, or something's clogged the pipework..  Lots of oil in the sump, but it isn't going anywhere.  Which would be why the oil pressure light was on.

AlisonLow

They told the car that it had been serviced to get the warning light to go off. The AA man said that they should not have done this. They now want me to pay for the replacement engine, do I have any claim against them