Advice on legal recourse for lapse of care of distributor servicing

[Hamburger]

My question is whether you were oblivious to the low coolant warning light on the dashboard that might have led to the crack at engine block. 

If that's the case, then AD is not under any obligation to honour anything. 

[Sdf4786k]

1 hour ago, Hamburger said:

My question is whether you were oblivious to the low coolant warning light on the dashboard that might have led to the crack at engine block. 

If that's the case, then AD is not under any obligation to honour anything. 

Ignorant is never a bliss when it comes to cars.. and hence every single time it has a problem, I take a picture and send it to their mail box., AD can refuse to do anything., but as there is a paper trail, the dispute of not attempting to fixed it is on the onus of the AD.

[mersaylee]

8 hours ago, Mustank said:

I Google bang hard 

hmmmmmm

Why you need to Google something you do all night long every night? 😁

[mersaylee]

8 hours ago, BanCoe said:

What car make is this ?? ...... looks like putting good money after already bad money.....looks like slim chance , anyways filing in CASE is cheap so its fine also ... but remember for you its just a one off case....... the (mfg) will have more experience to counter your case back ..... most likely  

Ditto...on the car make and model too

just in case I buy it in the future...penchant for cheap conti never die...till I...😁

[Wind]

thanks again for all to chime in.  indeed, i think its still better to resolve this amicably with the AD.  that is definitely the more rationale route given that the circumstances are more to the advantage of AD than me. after all ,  the AD has also given the help to pursue further with factory,  so will continue the work in this constructive manner. 

[ER-3682]

5 hours ago, Toeknee_33 said:

I hazard a guess - its a European-made Ford. 

I guess VW.

[RogerNg_185295]

51 minutes ago, Wind said:

thanks again for all to chime in.  indeed, i think its still better to resolve this amicably with the AD.  that is definitely the more rationale route given that the circumstances are more to the advantage of AD than me. after all ,  the AD has also given the help to pursue further with factory,  so will continue the work in this constructive manner. 

What brand n model?

[ToyotaShuttle]

On 12/23/2020 at 8:56 AM, Wind said:

try to cut long story short-  car had coolant leak,  and end up is due to a crack in the engine block.  however its just out of warranty by 6 mths, though mileage is still well within 100k.  

As servicing has always been with distributor,  they agree to bring this up to the factory for an extension of warranty in order to replace the engine. but factory rejected.  While they are still seeking escalation to factory,  i counting my ways to seek a legal recourse because. 

1. the crack in block is on the lower end, not at the side or anything. hence not due to impact. hence i thought this is something that might have been in the running for a long time.

2. as the servicing has always been done with them,  i take it that they owe the responsibility to thoroughly check.  even if they were topping up coolant,  they should have done more comprehensive tests to confirm what is wrong.  (in real life, i know its not done like that. just saying this as a way to defend my case) . for that, they failed.  and leading up to the total loss which they are liable for. 

its a cheap conti car, so i was thinking to just seek up to close to market value (~10k above scrap) which i can then bring to Small Claims Tribunal. (i meant to seek claim on the additional 10k above scrap)

any thoughts?

You need to suck it up and negotiate the best outcome you can with the AD.

Reading your story, I don't see any possibility of AD being legally liable. Maybe they give you something out of goodwill and to avoid bad publicity - take it and run.

[Sdf4786k]

15 hours ago, Wind said:

thanks again for all to chime in.  indeed, i think its still better to resolve this amicably with the AD.  that is definitely the more rationale route given that the circumstances are more to the advantage of AD than me. after all ,  the AD has also given the help to pursue further with factory,  so will continue the work in this constructive manner. 

Please make sure to email and document it as a email to summarise what has been agree or disagree on. Its important to put a time stamp in case like your 6 months after waranty discussion.

Please note that in most case factory only warranty 2 years. 3rd year is by AD.

But if you have paper trail to place on record like within the first 2 years of problem but was dismissed as normal water evaporation, you probably have reasonable doubt tp cliam.

Else ,you really at the mercy of the AD and their goodwill.

Some of the more common ones is AD cliam from factory and AD gives a discounted rate of labour .

But its entirely up to you to decide which reasonable course of action to take that makes good financial numbers.

For myself, i had a camshaft failure and while in other part of the world, its a TSB _ technical service bulletine not to the extend of a recall, it was not for asia even thought it was the same part number.

I had to fork out 700 for labour as it was on year 4.5 but the amount of parts change and 2 weeks downtime and swee swee return of power is most appreciative. 

 

[Jamesc]

If got warning light on dash

Wind better don't say 

in case AD and car maker reading this

then they are not responsible.

Btw cooling system most car mechanics really don't know to maintain.

I went JB and they flush my coolant out and put new coolant in.

They were flushing for like 30 mins and they used a lot of water. 

When I collected my car the old coolant green was still in the reservior tank and the radiator had the new coolant pink.

[Jamesc]

Come to MCF got a lot of good info

on how not to incriminate yourself.

[andrewyewkc]

17 hours ago, Wind said:

thanks again for all to chime in.  indeed, i think its still better to resolve this amicably with the AD.  that is definitely the more rationale route given that the circumstances are more to the advantage of AD than me. after all ,  the AD has also given the help to pursue further with factory,  so will continue the work in this constructive manner. 

You are too nice. You have to threaten them with publicity of your case, otherwise it would be easier for them to do nothing, unless their brand name is worth nothing. When my entire transmission failed just out of warranty, the AD consulted with the principal and they replaced it FOC and I just have to pay labour costs. Your AD is not doing enough to fight your case.

Edited December 24, 2020 by andrewyewkc

[Ho2786]

no more warranty its your fault already.

still want to argue.

 

[Yeobh]

Using tap water pressure to flush the cooling system is not very effective , the best way is to use a  special designed coolant flushing gun powered by compressed air.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Yeobh

[RogerNg_185295]

2 hours ago, andrewyewkc said:

You are too nice. You have to threaten them with publicity of your case, otherwise it would be easier for them to do nothing, unless their brand name is worth nothing. When my entire transmission failed just out of warranty, the AD consulted with the principal and they replaced it FOC and I just have to pay labour costs. Your AD is not doing enough to fight your case.

Threaten? Please....the AD also has their own lawyers if really result in a civil  case

[andrewyewkc]

On 12/24/2020 at 5:01 PM, RogerNg_185295 said:

Threaten? Please....the AD also has their own lawyers if really result in a civil  case

What can their lawyers do if everyone in the forum knows that ABC brand of car will have a cracked engine block after warranty? They will happily replace it as it is just a piece of hardware compared to the loss in sales and damage to reputation.

Edited December 28, 2020 by andrewyewkc

[Lethalstrike]

On 12/23/2020 at 11:24 AM, Turboflat4 said:

Getting a third party eval as someone else suggested is a very good idea. Make sure they don't modify or replace anything otherwise your AD will wash hands easily. But that's how I forced PML to do an engine valve cover replacement that was causing an engine oil leak in a previous car before-a specialist workshop detected it, I got the letter and banged table with PML. Of course, car was only a year old or so, so within warranty. But even then needed a big fight with them, escalation to Germany etc. They're fairly useless in my view. 

Personally, I'm surprised that banging table with PML is required for something such as a valve cover replacement well within warranty. It's not like you're asking for the entire top half of the engine block to be changed. 

Anyway, to the Wind, I would agree with what the rest had stated. U can try getting a 3rd party opinion as an additional step. 

 

[Apple-Tree]

Poor Suckers, open mouth say want to sue wor.  Either is Bad Driving or a French Car lor.

I really like to see Suckers vs Battalion of Loya ...... haha 

Oh ...... internet say Citroen has plenty issues on Engine block failure due to OVERHEAT wor.