Garage ruined engine when car took in for MOT

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  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 22,157
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    angrycrow wrote: »
    No the correct response to a run away engine is jump in the car, clutch in brakes on engage a high gear and dump the clutch to stall it. Any garage letting it deliberately run to destruction is being negligent.
    Wouldn't somebody already be in the car carrying out the high revs test by pressing on the accelerator?? If there is no one in the car, could that be considered negligence?
  • Whatever the technicalities and provisos for MoT testing; if the garage won't help with the repairs then it could be worth taking it to court. The law can be unpredictable and it makes quite a good case to say you dropped a perfectly good car into the garage and when you went to collect it, the engine had been wrecked. From a consumer law standpoint the customer would win hands down. Of course the garage will defend with technical arguments but they might not be enough to win the magistrate over to the garage's side. Who knows, if enough of these go to court then eventually the smoke test might be changed for something else that doesn't risk destroying the engine.

    Hope the OP comes back with the garage's story on this.
  • Mercdriver
    Mercdriver Posts: 3,898
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    Le_Kirk wrote: »
    Wouldn't somebody already be in the car carrying out the high revs test by pressing on the accelerator?? If there is no one in the car, could that be considered negligence?

    Some use a device to hold the accelerator down when the car is on the ramp...
  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 13,874
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    Whatever the technicalities and provisos for MoT testing; if the garage won't help with the repairs then it could be worth taking it to court. The law can be unpredictable and it makes quite a good case to say you dropped a perfectly good car into the garage and when you went to collect it, the engine had been wrecked. From a consumer law standpoint the customer would win hands down. Of course the garage will defend with technical arguments but they might not be enough to win the magistrate over to the garage's side. Who knows, if enough of these go to court then eventually the smoke test might be changed for something else that doesn't risk destroying the engine.

    Hope the OP comes back with the garage's story on this.
    I really don't think it's as clear as you're suggesting.

    As for your last point, I suspect the numbers of cars suffering serious damage during MOT testing would be so small as to be statistically completely insignificant, and nowhere near a level to consider changing the test.
  • onomatopoeia99
    onomatopoeia99 Posts: 6,950
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    Mercdriver wrote: »
    Some use a device to hold the accelerator down when the car is on the ramp...
    I've seen this when my own (petrol) car has been tested, they use an adjustable rod to hold it at 2500rpm to warm everything through for the emissions test.

    Never watched my diesel being tested, my response to a runaway situation would probably be to try to get it to a wall and dump the clutch to stall it, then hope it doesn't burn the clutch out!
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • sartois
    sartois Posts: 162 Forumite
    Ok so we haven't been to the garage yet (meeting them at midday) but it appears I didn't have the full story. A few more facts that she has just revealed before we go down there:

    1. The low engine warning light was on when she took the car in and she didn't check the oil when the light came on, instead waiting to take the car to the garage for MOT.
    2. She told the mechanic the oil light was on and said the oil needed changing when she dropped the car in.
    3. The low engine light was on for 2 weeks prior to going for MOT.
    4. Another light was on - the Particulate Filter Cleaning Light.
    5. She actually does less than 1000 miles a year so didn't think it necessary to get the car serviced annually. The last oil change was 3 years ago!

    Also when the garage phoned her up to tell her the engine had blown, they said there was 'excessive oil' and they drained 5 litres rather than the expected 3 litres of oil. There is currently ambiguity about when they did this (before or after the engine blew). They actually accused her of putting 'excessive oil' in.
    As mentioned previously she never opens her bonnet and didn't even do so to check the oil when the warning light came on so she definitely hasn't been putting excessive oil in.

    Not sure any of this helps but my previous assumption the car was in excellent working order is probably incorrect!
  • Ok so maybe, maybe they did the oil change and just emptied a 5l container of oil in there? What is key is did they blow the engine up after the service!

    Not good that she didn't maintain the car well and drove it with warning lights on is it?
  • sartois
    sartois Posts: 162 Forumite
    Ok so maybe, maybe they did the oil change and just emptied a 5l container of oil in there? What is key is did they blow the engine up after the service!

    Not good that she didn't maintain the car well and drove it with warning lights on is it?

    Yes, still don't know the order of events yet and whether they carried out the testing before or after changing the oil. Also don't know why a low oil warning light would come on if a car has excessive oil?

    Completely agree about driving with warning lights on and the lack of servicing though...
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    Is it a low oil LEVEL warning light... or the far more common low oil PRESSURE light? (Which, if it's down to low level, means the level is so low the pump is sucking in air...)

    I wonder if the excessive level is actually due to diesel leaking (turbo seals?) and diluting the oil?
  • verityboo
    verityboo Posts: 1,017 Forumite
    The short journeys mean that the DPF regeneration process will not have been able to complete dumping excess unburnt fuel in the sump. That is what causes the oil level to rise as here

    http://www.fiatforum.com/500/234789-rising-oil-level.html
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