MOT centre set my car on fire
Discussion
sorry for the long post!
my clio 172 went in for its MOT on wednesday. i received a phone call from them saying when warming the engine up prior to the emissions test, it caught on fire. sound deadening from the bulkhead supposedly touched the exhaust manifold. they said they ran a hose over it to put the fire out, but obviously cut the test short and it didnt pass!
i went to pick up the car this morning and inspected the damage. it looked minimal, just a bit of missing sound deadening. he said there should be a heat shield across the entire bulkhead, and that i should sort one out then bring it back for a retest
i went to drive the car away and found my brakes didnt work particularly well. turned out the vacuum feed for the servo was melted, meaning i had no servo. i replaced that pipe, hoping that was the only damage and all would be okay
turns out, its not okay. the car idles far higher than it should and the revs fluctuate a lot. it also makes a very loud, high pitched squealing sound when the engine runs. this started half a mile from home, and so i cautiously drove home. the car still drives fine, pulls well and smoothly. just sounds horrible and no longer idles properly.
given that my car has not set itself on fire for the approx. 7k miles i have owned it, and it was working perfectly fine when i dropped it off, do i have a case against the mot centre? what are my chances of getting them to fix it? i assume i should be contacting the garage first, or should i head straight for VOSA? as a guess, its some melted wiring on the bulkhead, but im not sure and im not going to investigate further for the moment. not that i trust them for the repair!
my clio 172 went in for its MOT on wednesday. i received a phone call from them saying when warming the engine up prior to the emissions test, it caught on fire. sound deadening from the bulkhead supposedly touched the exhaust manifold. they said they ran a hose over it to put the fire out, but obviously cut the test short and it didnt pass!
i went to pick up the car this morning and inspected the damage. it looked minimal, just a bit of missing sound deadening. he said there should be a heat shield across the entire bulkhead, and that i should sort one out then bring it back for a retest
i went to drive the car away and found my brakes didnt work particularly well. turned out the vacuum feed for the servo was melted, meaning i had no servo. i replaced that pipe, hoping that was the only damage and all would be okay
turns out, its not okay. the car idles far higher than it should and the revs fluctuate a lot. it also makes a very loud, high pitched squealing sound when the engine runs. this started half a mile from home, and so i cautiously drove home. the car still drives fine, pulls well and smoothly. just sounds horrible and no longer idles properly.
given that my car has not set itself on fire for the approx. 7k miles i have owned it, and it was working perfectly fine when i dropped it off, do i have a case against the mot centre? what are my chances of getting them to fix it? i assume i should be contacting the garage first, or should i head straight for VOSA? as a guess, its some melted wiring on the bulkhead, but im not sure and im not going to investigate further for the moment. not that i trust them for the repair!
Seriously? I assume you think they deliberately set it on fire as the only other reason is that it just caught fire.
No car catches fire until it catches fire, so the fact it hasn't burst into flames whilst in your ownership is neither proof, or even a guide, to it's propensity to spontaneously combust.
But thanks for the giggle.
No car catches fire until it catches fire, so the fact it hasn't burst into flames whilst in your ownership is neither proof, or even a guide, to it's propensity to spontaneously combust.
But thanks for the giggle.
RCBRG said:
sorry for the long post!
my clio 172 went in for its MOT on wednesday. i received a phone call from them saying when warming the engine up prior to the emissions test, it caught on fire. sound deadening from the bulkhead supposedly touched the exhaust manifold. they said they ran a hose over it to put the fire out, but obviously cut the test short and it didnt pass!
i went to pick up the car this morning and inspected the damage. it looked minimal, just a bit of missing sound deadening. he said there should be a heat shield across the entire bulkhead, and that i should sort one out then bring it back for a retest
i went to drive the car away and found my brakes didnt work particularly well. turned out the vacuum feed for the servo was melted, meaning i had no servo. i replaced that pipe, hoping that was the only damage and all would be okay
turns out, its not okay. the car idles far higher than it should and the revs fluctuate a lot. it also makes a very loud, high pitched squealing sound when the engine runs. this started half a mile from home, and so i cautiously drove home. the car still drives fine, pulls well and smoothly. just sounds horrible and no longer idles properly.
given that my car has not set itself on fire for the approx. 7k miles i have owned it, and it was working perfectly fine when i dropped it off, do i have a case against the mot centre? what are my chances of getting them to fix it? i assume i should be contacting the garage first, or should i head straight for VOSA? as a guess, its some melted wiring on the bulkhead, but im not sure and im not going to investigate further for the moment. not that i trust them for the repair!
Lol@umy clio 172 went in for its MOT on wednesday. i received a phone call from them saying when warming the engine up prior to the emissions test, it caught on fire. sound deadening from the bulkhead supposedly touched the exhaust manifold. they said they ran a hose over it to put the fire out, but obviously cut the test short and it didnt pass!
i went to pick up the car this morning and inspected the damage. it looked minimal, just a bit of missing sound deadening. he said there should be a heat shield across the entire bulkhead, and that i should sort one out then bring it back for a retest
i went to drive the car away and found my brakes didnt work particularly well. turned out the vacuum feed for the servo was melted, meaning i had no servo. i replaced that pipe, hoping that was the only damage and all would be okay
turns out, its not okay. the car idles far higher than it should and the revs fluctuate a lot. it also makes a very loud, high pitched squealing sound when the engine runs. this started half a mile from home, and so i cautiously drove home. the car still drives fine, pulls well and smoothly. just sounds horrible and no longer idles properly.
given that my car has not set itself on fire for the approx. 7k miles i have owned it, and it was working perfectly fine when i dropped it off, do i have a case against the mot centre? what are my chances of getting them to fix it? i assume i should be contacting the garage first, or should i head straight for VOSA? as a guess, its some melted wiring on the bulkhead, but im not sure and im not going to investigate further for the moment. not that i trust them for the repair!
SonicShadow said:
Count yourself lucky that it happened in the (relatively) safe confines of an MOT test station, and not while you were on the Motorway, or sitting in town centre traffic.
Got to agree with this. Consider how close your Clio Inferno Edition was to the MOT centre's hose/extinguisher as opposed to how far it would've been from the fire station if you were on a motorway.
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