Did the garage act reasonably?
Discussion
Hi Guys. I hope that someone with more knowledge about cars than me can give me a bit of advice.
My car is a Vauxhall Astra Life 2007 1.4 petrol with 96000 miles on the clock.
I have had it about four years as a local runabout and do about 2000 miles a year.
As far as I was concerned, it was a reliable little car and has never given me any major issues. It did start to drip oil slightly last year. The mechanic who looked at it said it was the main oil seal and would be expensive to repair.
I bought a can of Wynn's Engine Stop Leak, and it has not lost any oil since. Last year the car passed its MOT with some advisories. On Monday this week, I took it to be MOT'd, and the garage told me it had failed on a broken coil spring and emissions test. They said the mechanic had taken it for a two mile drive to see if it would clear the emissions, and the oil warning light had come on.
They asked me if the light had come on before, which it hadn't. I was told the car had no oil pressure and would need a new oil pump. The costs, before fixing the exhaust emissions would be over £1000, which is more than the car's value. They said they could arrange to have it scrapped.
I did manage to speak to the young mechanic who took the car for a test drive and possibly did the MOT. Apart from telling me the car needed a new oil pump, he wasn't very forthcoming or particularly helpful. I tried to talk to another couple of mechanics, but they soon made a hasty retreat. I decided to drive it the short distance back to my home.
When I got in the car, I noticed a plastic cover was missing underneath the handbrake. There were some small electrical wires visible in this area. The cover was on the front passenger seat. I drove the car home slowly, and couldn't believe I was driving the same car I had dropped off a few hours earlier. The oil pressure light was on, so I know enough to realise that this will damage an engine. The car was horrible to drive, and I was relieved to make it home.
Should I feel aggrieved at the garage for destroying my car, and should the mechanic have driven it with the oil light on?
Would this have caused engine damage before I drove it home?
My initial thought was to complain to the Motor Ombudsman, but then I would have to admit to driving the car home without an MOT. I now have a car sat on my drive that is only suitable for the scrapyard, which up until Monday was a reliable car that I have enjoyed owning. I am not that car savvy and have probably included a lot of unnecessary details. If there is anyone who is willing to offer me some advice, I would be very grateful. Thanks.
My car is a Vauxhall Astra Life 2007 1.4 petrol with 96000 miles on the clock.
I have had it about four years as a local runabout and do about 2000 miles a year.
As far as I was concerned, it was a reliable little car and has never given me any major issues. It did start to drip oil slightly last year. The mechanic who looked at it said it was the main oil seal and would be expensive to repair.
I bought a can of Wynn's Engine Stop Leak, and it has not lost any oil since. Last year the car passed its MOT with some advisories. On Monday this week, I took it to be MOT'd, and the garage told me it had failed on a broken coil spring and emissions test. They said the mechanic had taken it for a two mile drive to see if it would clear the emissions, and the oil warning light had come on.
They asked me if the light had come on before, which it hadn't. I was told the car had no oil pressure and would need a new oil pump. The costs, before fixing the exhaust emissions would be over £1000, which is more than the car's value. They said they could arrange to have it scrapped.
I did manage to speak to the young mechanic who took the car for a test drive and possibly did the MOT. Apart from telling me the car needed a new oil pump, he wasn't very forthcoming or particularly helpful. I tried to talk to another couple of mechanics, but they soon made a hasty retreat. I decided to drive it the short distance back to my home.
When I got in the car, I noticed a plastic cover was missing underneath the handbrake. There were some small electrical wires visible in this area. The cover was on the front passenger seat. I drove the car home slowly, and couldn't believe I was driving the same car I had dropped off a few hours earlier. The oil pressure light was on, so I know enough to realise that this will damage an engine. The car was horrible to drive, and I was relieved to make it home.
Should I feel aggrieved at the garage for destroying my car, and should the mechanic have driven it with the oil light on?
Would this have caused engine damage before I drove it home?
My initial thought was to complain to the Motor Ombudsman, but then I would have to admit to driving the car home without an MOT. I now have a car sat on my drive that is only suitable for the scrapyard, which up until Monday was a reliable car that I have enjoyed owning. I am not that car savvy and have probably included a lot of unnecessary details. If there is anyone who is willing to offer me some advice, I would be very grateful. Thanks.
I found it easy enough to read and understand.
From what you said, the car was ok til you took it for it's not except broken spring and emissions.
An MOT tester taking a car for a drive to clear the emissions is highly irregular.
Had you been checking and topping up the oil regularly?
The emissions could have been (among other things) spark plugs or O2 sensor.
It's possible that the garage held the car at high revs to warm the cat etc to get the emissions down. This is normal, but if the engine was low on oil, could cause issues.
I can't honestly say if the garage killed your car or if it was already on it's last legs, but if you want to complain to someone, don't let the fact that you drove home from the MOT stop you as that is allowed.
Best of luck.
From what you said, the car was ok til you took it for it's not except broken spring and emissions.
An MOT tester taking a car for a drive to clear the emissions is highly irregular.
Had you been checking and topping up the oil regularly?
The emissions could have been (among other things) spark plugs or O2 sensor.
It's possible that the garage held the car at high revs to warm the cat etc to get the emissions down. This is normal, but if the engine was low on oil, could cause issues.
I can't honestly say if the garage killed your car or if it was already on it's last legs, but if you want to complain to someone, don't let the fact that you drove home from the MOT stop you as that is allowed.
Best of luck.
It's a bit imponderable, but unless you think for some reason that the garage caused the oil pressure problem, it was just happenstance it happened whilst it was in their care.
They were probably giving it some revs to get it properly hot for the emissions and may or may not have overdone it.
You could go back, see the manager and ask for a detailed account of what happened in what order. However it's unlikely to provide any kind of smoking gun that they have done something wrong.
Hard to see any positive course of action here.
They were probably giving it some revs to get it properly hot for the emissions and may or may not have overdone it.
You could go back, see the manager and ask for a detailed account of what happened in what order. However it's unlikely to provide any kind of smoking gun that they have done something wrong.
Hard to see any positive course of action here.
TonyDSA said:
Hi Guys. I hope that someone with more knowledge about cars than me can give me a bit of advice. My car is a Vauxhall Astra Life 2007 1.4 petrol with 96000 miles on the clock. I have had it about four years as a local runabout and do about 2000 miles a year. As far as I was concerned, it was a reliable little car and has never given me any major issues. It did start to drip oil slightly last year. The mechanic who looked at it said it was the main oil seal and would be expensive to repair. I bought a can of Wynn's Engine Stop Leak, and it has not lost any oil since. Last year the car passed its MOT with some advisories. On Monday this week, I took it to be MOT'd, and the garage told me it had failed on a broken coil spring and emissions test. They said the mechanic had taken it for a two mile drive to see if it would clear the emissions, and the oil warning light had come on. They asked me if the light had come on before, which it hadn't. I was told the car had no oil pressure and would need a new oil pump. The costs, before fixing the exhaust emissions would be over £1000, which is more than the car's value. They said they could arrange to have it scrapped. I did manage to speak to the young mechanic who took the car for a test drive and possibly did the MOT. Apart from telling me the car needed a new oil pump, he wasn't very forthcoming or particularly helpful. I tried to talk to another couple of mechanics, but they soon made a hasty retreat. I decided to drive it the short distance back to my home. When I got in the car, I noticed a plastic cover was missing underneath the handbrake. There were some small electrical wires visible in this area. The cover was on the front passenger seat. I drove the car home slowly, and couldn't believe I was driving the same car I had dropped off a few hours earlier. The oil pressure light was on, so I know enough to realise that this will damage an engine. The car was horrible to drive, and I was relieved to make it home.
Should I feel aggrieved at the garage for destroying my car, and should the mechanic have driven it with the oil light on? Would this have caused engine damage before I drove it home? My initial thought was to complain to the Motor Ombudsman, but then I would have to admit to driving the car home without an MOT. I now have a car sat on my drive that is only suitable for the scrapyard, which up until Monday was a reliable car that I have enjoyed owning. I am not that car savvy and have probably included a lot of unnecessary details. If there is anyone who is willing to offer me some advice, I would be very grateful. Thanks.
What do the garage say?Should I feel aggrieved at the garage for destroying my car, and should the mechanic have driven it with the oil light on? Would this have caused engine damage before I drove it home? My initial thought was to complain to the Motor Ombudsman, but then I would have to admit to driving the car home without an MOT. I now have a car sat on my drive that is only suitable for the scrapyard, which up until Monday was a reliable car that I have enjoyed owning. I am not that car savvy and have probably included a lot of unnecessary details. If there is anyone who is willing to offer me some advice, I would be very grateful. Thanks.
I would have expected the mechanic to stop immediately if the light came on and investigate the cause, and to get the car recovered if oil pressure couldn't be confirmed. Continuing to drive a car even a short distance with no oil pressure is effectively condemning the engine.
Has the garage connected an external pressure gauge and confirmed that it actually has no oil pressure? The lights are not infallible, and the switches can fail closed circuit, or its wiring can short to earth causing the light to come on when it shouldn't. It happened on my TVR a few months ago. Is there oil in the sump?
Most engines will sound very obviously distressed within a minute or so of running with no oil pressure, particularly engines with hydraulic tappets as your has which will depressurise and clatter loudly. How does the engine sound?
Has the garage connected an external pressure gauge and confirmed that it actually has no oil pressure? The lights are not infallible, and the switches can fail closed circuit, or its wiring can short to earth causing the light to come on when it shouldn't. It happened on my TVR a few months ago. Is there oil in the sump?
Most engines will sound very obviously distressed within a minute or so of running with no oil pressure, particularly engines with hydraulic tappets as your has which will depressurise and clatter loudly. How does the engine sound?
Just check it's not a faulty oil pressure switch, they are a common failure point on these engines. However oil pumps can fail on them as well but it's less common.
The plastic cover will be the obd port cover, they've plugged it in to see if there's any faults present on the pcm that would cause it to fail emissions basically.
Which leads onto the question of is the engine light on? Car could be in limp mode due to a fault which would cause your emissions issue.
The plastic cover will be the obd port cover, they've plugged it in to see if there's any faults present on the pcm that would cause it to fail emissions basically.
Which leads onto the question of is the engine light on? Car could be in limp mode due to a fault which would cause your emissions issue.
As above check the oil pressure switch, however I suspect the stop leak hasn't helped. Depending on how far out the emissions is, sometimes an additive and quick blast is usually enough but there are also other reasons why it would fail the emissions. I presume the cambelt history is up to date ?
Thanks to everyone for the prompt responses. Apologies for the long-winded post. The car was topped up with oil, and I checked it again before driving home after the MOT. I didn't realise Wynns could cause problems, so if you think this might have caused it then it would be my fault. The lady who deals with customers told me they don't have a recovery truck, so the mechanic must have driven it back with the oil pressure light on. I only used the car locally and rarely went over 50 mph. If the mechanic was revving it hard could this have caused an issue? I don't know if they checked the pressure with a gauge, but the mechanic told me it had no oil pressure. Sorry to be vague but my car knowledge is fairly limited. I appreciate the advice.
Cars will break down at your house, whilst you are driving it, whilst it is in the care of a garage etc. That doesn't mean anyone has been negligent. There are often posts on PH where a car has failed to start after being refuelled at petrol stations. That doesn't mean the fuel was bad. The car just decided at that moment in universal time to bork itself.
Is the engine making ominous noises, because without any oil pressure it will seize in very short order, i too would be wondering if the oil pressure switch has gorn west or a connection has disconnected itself or gone direct to earth somehow.
I'd be inclined to get someone else, maybe get some recommends for a mobile mechanic, to come and take a look at it, something doesn't sound quite right here.
I'd be inclined to get someone else, maybe get some recommends for a mobile mechanic, to come and take a look at it, something doesn't sound quite right here.
I'm not 100% sure but I think those oil additives are supposed to be followed by an oil change after the leak stops to make sure any extra additive doesn't clog the pick up strainer. It's possible that was your problem and it did come to a head while in the garage. As far as the other faults go, you really need to chat to the garage. There will be signs of work on the vehicle that another garage could confirm if you want to take it further. Going for a "he said, she said" scenario is going to go nowhere.
There are some things that I think the garage needs to explain.
Why they continued to drive it after the oil pressure warning came on?
How they determined it had no oil pressure? They should have measured something.
What fault codes (if any) were logged.
The fact the tech was young and hesitant to discuss plus the other mechanics not wanting to engage with you does raise a concern in my eyes that you are not getting the full picture.
As things stand the car is broken, as you say it doesn't have huge value so easiest solution if possible is just to replace it, anything else is going to be hassle and time consuming.
I would suggest a conversation with the service manager to get the full picture as you haven't got this from the Tech/Service advisor and the car went from working to broken in their care and see where that goes.
Why they continued to drive it after the oil pressure warning came on?
How they determined it had no oil pressure? They should have measured something.
What fault codes (if any) were logged.
The fact the tech was young and hesitant to discuss plus the other mechanics not wanting to engage with you does raise a concern in my eyes that you are not getting the full picture.
As things stand the car is broken, as you say it doesn't have huge value so easiest solution if possible is just to replace it, anything else is going to be hassle and time consuming.
I would suggest a conversation with the service manager to get the full picture as you haven't got this from the Tech/Service advisor and the car went from working to broken in their care and see where that goes.
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