Auto box failed during oil change at garage
Discussion
Hi all, - hypothetical question, asking for a friend etc etc.
Say you had a car of reasonable mileage - 80-100K with an auto gearbox which the manufacturer claims is "sealed for life" - (but anecdotally many owners opt to service the box around the 100K mark)
You take said car to a specialist to have the oil changed for preventative purposes, gearbox has had no issues.
The garage then phones you up to say that following the oil change, they could not get the car to start and say that the gearbox has failed.
The reason they give is that it is possible that some auto gearboxes, rarely, during an oil change will just fail. They state that the exact same thing would have happened at any other garage and therefore couldnt possibly be accountable for it.
What would be your thoughts/approach to it?
Say you had a car of reasonable mileage - 80-100K with an auto gearbox which the manufacturer claims is "sealed for life" - (but anecdotally many owners opt to service the box around the 100K mark)
You take said car to a specialist to have the oil changed for preventative purposes, gearbox has had no issues.
The garage then phones you up to say that following the oil change, they could not get the car to start and say that the gearbox has failed.
The reason they give is that it is possible that some auto gearboxes, rarely, during an oil change will just fail. They state that the exact same thing would have happened at any other garage and therefore couldnt possibly be accountable for it.
What would be your thoughts/approach to it?
Edited by devonknows on Friday 4th November 20:10
ABC 123 said:
They're being a bit obscure about it. I also question why they've felt the need to involve 'other' garages and say it would happen with them too. 
It's probably me being a bit obscure about it, as theres a potential £2000 bill at stake so just trying to be cautious about what I say, but still being really appreciative of your views.The garage is a well respected, recommended and long standing specialist.
What they stated was that my car could have had a ZF or GM gearbox, mine as an early model had a GM gearbox. They state they did everything in the correct way with the oil change, but having spoke to contacts at other garages, they say that something in the process of dropping the oil, or putting the new oil in, has caused the mechatronics of the gearbox to catastrophically fail.
I have arranged to go in and speak to the owner regarding apportionment of cost for next steps. Understandably I'm not really keen to agree to pay any percentage of the cost of rectifying this because I don't really see how the cost could sit with me.
Meanwhile I have no car which is obviously very inconvenient.
carl_w said:
Did they tell you this before you approved the work? Did you sign anything to the effect that you acknowledge that this is a "sealed for life" gearbox and not designed to have its oil changed? If not, it sounds like their work has caused the gearbox to fail whilst it was in their care.
They said to me "Why do you want the oil changing, as we don't have many people asking for this" - I stated that as it was approaching 100K i thought it would be a good preventative step. I asked them if it was a job they were capable of performing, or whether I should take it to a gearbox specialist and they said it was well within their capability.They did not at any point tell me that they considered it possible that the gearbox could fail as a result, because I wouldn't have gone ahead with it if they had.
Ozzie Osmond said:
Exactly what kind of "specialist" do you have in mind? They come in so many flavours...
I reckon auto boxes are one of the least understood major components of a modern car. Which is why they are "sealed for life". To prevent muppets screwing them up.
It was a marque specialist, rather than a gearbox specialist. That's the reason why I asked them if an auto gearbox oil change was something that they were familiar with, or whether they would recommend taking it to a transmission specialist. The car was also having some other work done, a rocker cover gasket.I reckon auto boxes are one of the least understood major components of a modern car. Which is why they are "sealed for life". To prevent muppets screwing them up.
I'm just trying to think of a different analogy: i.e. you take a car in for a spark plug change, and that model is known to very rarely, strip out the thread for the spark plugs requiring a new block (if helicoils couldnt be used for whatever reason). I feel like the if the owner isnt made aware of the risk up front they shouldnt be responsible for the cost to rectify.
I just wanted to get a feel from the community whether my expectations were unreasonable or not.
Car has now been taken to a transmission specialist who has conducted some diagnostic tests.
He has confirmed the mechatronic unit has failed, with a replacement cost close to £2000 (for the mechatronic unit only).
Apparently the dealer has known many of these units to fail as a result of voltage spikes.
I've had time to digest all of the comments on the thread - some stating that the specialist was at fault and should cover the cost, some stating that I should have been aware of the risks beforehand and therefore should cover the cost myself.
Having spoken to the garage previously they have stated they would be prepared to cover between 1/3 and 1/2 of the cost dependant on what the costs are.
I now need to consider how I'm going to approach the matter - so thanks for all of your advice!
He has confirmed the mechatronic unit has failed, with a replacement cost close to £2000 (for the mechatronic unit only).
Apparently the dealer has known many of these units to fail as a result of voltage spikes.
I've had time to digest all of the comments on the thread - some stating that the specialist was at fault and should cover the cost, some stating that I should have been aware of the risks beforehand and therefore should cover the cost myself.
Having spoken to the garage previously they have stated they would be prepared to cover between 1/3 and 1/2 of the cost dependant on what the costs are.
I now need to consider how I'm going to approach the matter - so thanks for all of your advice!
I have only just got my car back today.
It's a BMW e92 by the way
The specialist sent it to a main dealer, who replaced the mechatronics and the shifter unit at a combined cost of over £3000 with labour. This did not solve the issue.
It has been a big ball ache not having my car for three months but I'm fortunate the garage picked up the tab rather than me having to start litigation and be faced with a large repair bill myself.
I won't be getting any more preventative maintenance done on any gearboxes again!!!
In the end it was the gearshift selector rod - a £200 part.
Took over 3 months to get my car back. The specialist picked up the tab and didn't want any money for the £400 worth of work it went in for.
It's a BMW e92 by the way
The specialist sent it to a main dealer, who replaced the mechatronics and the shifter unit at a combined cost of over £3000 with labour. This did not solve the issue.
It has been a big ball ache not having my car for three months but I'm fortunate the garage picked up the tab rather than me having to start litigation and be faced with a large repair bill myself.
I won't be getting any more preventative maintenance done on any gearboxes again!!!
In the end it was the gearshift selector rod - a £200 part.
Took over 3 months to get my car back. The specialist picked up the tab and didn't want any money for the £400 worth of work it went in for.
Edited by devonknows on Thursday 23 February 15:32
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