5K Engine trouble.. options??

Dan_

Hi all

just before i start i did read the sticky and i'm not looking for '' free legal advice'' i'm just here to find out if its worth doing or if i even have a case.

in September 07 i had some bad engine trouble,, turned out to be a melted piston which destroyed the block and crank. It was recommended to me by a car club member to call this company and enquire about having it repaired. i called him and he seemed very nice and professional (still to this day is very nice person to talk to). we agreed a price of 3k with other things i wanted for the engine it turned out being near 5k. weeks went by while the work was being done. finally i got the call saying it was ready and come and collect. paid up and drove home nice and steady letting it break in! 15 min after i got home i went for a drive to a friends house, driving along the head gasket went!!:eek:

called him and he said '' don't worry i'll collect the car tomorrow'' which he did. sorted that problem and i collected it again. when i was driving it home this time it was over fueling. called him again and he said drop it down. this time he removed an aux ECU + larger injectors that were installed in the car from the last owner. this time it started leaking oil from the new turbo i bought from at the time of the rebuild. brought it back again and he changed my €1200 turbo for a second hand standard turbo, telling me he will send it back and get a new one.

time past and every time he worked on it something els would go wrong. i never got mad or anything like that as he is a nice person and i get on well with him. but in the jan this year it broke a con-rod, which i cannot understand! and he wants me to pay for the work this time again!!

all in all i have left out a lot of problems and i'm forgetting a lot of stuff there, but since the work was finished in 07 the engine has done 2.5k miles! and i'v paid over 5k! still no working car and still no replacement turbo.

i an just wondering what are my options. can i get a solicitor to try get my money back? even if i get the car back with no engine?? which i dont mind! or has it gone on too long at this stage! another thing is he never once gave me a receipt and i always paid him cash! i'm sure i have done myself no favours there, but if i ask i'm sure i can still get a receipt.

if anybody can give me an idea of my options it would be very helpful indeed! sorry for such a long post ..but i was only remembering some stuff while i was typing!

Thanks Dan:)

maidhc

What a mess.

Not giving legal advice here, but my general reaction to these things is to start proceedings first (in the district court in your case) and start talking later.

You will need the engine assessed by a motor assessor (I could be defamatory if I mentioned the actual level of technical knowledge posessed by some of these individuals, but unfortunately they are a necessary evil)

Try and get a solicitor who understands cars too, it will make things less painful!