DPF Clean fail, car stopped working!

Kopman

Hi All.

First time poster, so please bear with me.

I recently had a mobile DPF cleaning service come out to my house to clean my DPF filter. The technician confirmed there were no prior fault codes on the vehicle other than the expected DPF filter fault codes you would normally see.

During the clean, the car had a massive over revving event. The technician shut the car off and then it would not restart. The technician immediately told me that he had spoken to his boss who said that they were insured and to have the car towed to my local garage. He also told me that he thought the car had bent some rods. Within 10 minutes of him leaving his boss called to say the same thing about being insured.

I had the vehicle recovered to my local garage and they said that as they couldn't get the car started, they would likely have to look at working on the engine until they found the fault which would cost hundreds of pounds.

I have asked the DPF cleaning company to refer me to their insurer to get an independent inspection carried out but they have refused, saying that there is no evidence the clean caused the car to completely stop working. The car was running fine prior to their arrival and has sat dormant for the last five weeks since it was recovered to the garage. They are expecting me to pay for the inspection to be carried out but I have refused as there is a clear link to the car stopping working during their service.

Can anyone please advise what to do as I have been without a car for the last five weeks. I have written correspondence showing I am willing to work with them. They have not provided me with a visit report after requesting it.

I am still paying for the finance left on the car and insurance so this is not an ideal situation.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

UnsureAboutthis

Wow.

A few years back I read something similar on some car forum in the UK, can't recall where.

IIRC it talked about the dpf being clogged and the technician over-revving it, raising the oil pressure or something, which totally wiped out the engine.

I hope you get it sorted but it's not going to be easy to prove.

However, I'm sure some mechanic here may help.

Apart from what you have asked here, ie your rights, action plan options. Later on, consider asking on a dedicated car forum about why this could happen and how you could go about proving it was the fault of the company.

Aylesbury_Duck

Pragmatism has to come into play here, surely? Why not pay to have the investigative work done, establish the extent of the damage and the likely cause, then go back to the DPF company. I know it doesn't sound fair, but you're currently five weeks into a deadlock and have made no progress. If you're completely confident that their negligence caused the failure, that will come out in the report. You'll then have a claim for the damage and the cost of the investigation to pass to their insurer, or the evidence to sue them if it comes to it.

How did you pay for the DPF service, and how much was it?

Markdavid1962

Agree with Aylesbury Duck, get the investigation report done. Most modern cars store diagnostic codes when events are run, I would make sure your local dealer has the equipment to read and make sure you get a copy as they are timestamped.

I had a DPF issue on my Mercedes and the filter needed cleaning, it turned out the sensor had gone and when the regeneration of the filter took place messed things up even had a negative reading (which is impossible).

It took 6 weeks to sort but they only charged me for the original work, they showed me the timestamped activity.

Hopefully you can get the timestamp activity and codes printed from your clean etc, to show when the damage occurred

Kopman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994864#Comment_81994864

I was reluctant as the garage is telling me there were no codes as the vehicle wouldn't start and it would cost me hundreds of pounds to investigate.

I paid £150 deposit. The total was £350 but I havent' paid the rest. Paid by credit card

MattMattMattUK

When you say no codes because the vehicle will not start, codes should show even without the engine running unless they were previously cleared. Will the vehicle turn on?

Apart from that you need to prove on the balance of probability that they caused the damage, that has to be evidenced. What would the car be worth if it was working?

Kopman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994906#Comment_81994906

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994917#Comment_81994917

Just going by what the garage is telling me. Vehicle won't start.

Car would be worth around 9k

MattMattMattUK

Ask them if they can check for stored codes, or buy a dongle for £50 and do it yourself. Unfortunately if the person who did the DPF work had any sense he would have cleared any stored codee before he left to partially hide his tracks. You are currently in a deadlock, that suits them, so you need to force their hand, which requires evidence.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994911#Comment_81994911

That may be helpful since the credit card company is jointly liable if you are able to demonstrate negligence by the provider.

As for the investigation costs, I can see why you're reluctant but presumably it's costing you to not have access to the car - public transport, taxis, etc. - and while the DPF company is being uncooperative, that situation will drag on and on.

Kopman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994925#Comment_81994925

I have asked them to provide a report but they won't provide it. I reckon he did clear the codes because the recovery guy who collected it put his diagnostic in and it showed no faults other than the dpf fault. I appreciate your advice and think I may have to suck it up and pay for an inspection.

Kopman

Thank you, much appreciated. Will take a look.