Engine Dropped

Naid23

Hi Folks,

Need a bit of assistence please, I bought an 01 Opel Corsa from a Garage in Palmerstown back in October 2010. When I picked the car and took it for a test drive, found it to be over heating and pointed this out to the salesman. I agreed to take the car on the basis that this fault would be fixed and it was-waterpump was replaced.

So I now have the car under 3 months and the engine has dropped. 1 of the bolts on the mount holding the engine in place worked its way loose(without me realising) and the other has snapped under the pressure. I would imagine that the bolts were not tighten correctly when the work was being done on the engine due to the overheating problem.

I've contacted the car sales garage that I got it and there basically saying its nothing to do with them even though it was their mechanic who worked on the car.

Can anyone advise where I stand on this please in regards to getting them to fix it. and if I do need to get it done myself how much Im looking at paying? I should also say that one of the bolts will need to be drilled out and the mount itself is not damaged.

Thanks in advance

Anan1

You need to talk to a solicitor.

colm_mcm

I don't think they would be taking engine mountings off to replace a water pump, may be wrong though.

Was it a large motor company in Palmerstown, or just some lad selling cars from his house?

Any crowd who let overheating cars out for test drives would seem to be either cowboys or numpties, couple that with their attitude now regarding the latest issue and I'd be leaning towards cowboys, looks like solicitor time but that's not going to get the car sorted for you now though.

Mr.Boots

I cant see the mounts being removed for a water pump
Maybe there is more to the story...was it ever crashed?

AL 555

First of all they have to give you at least a full 3 month warranty unless it was a trade sale this will exclude brakes and clutch, to remove the water pump the enine mounting on the drivers side would have needed to be removed to fit a new one.

shamwari

The front mounting does need to be disturbed to get the waterpump belt off on the 1.2, and probably the 1.0 as well. I agree with RoverJames, it's never a good sign to try and sell a car with such a potentially catastrophic fault present.

Also on those Corsa's, a good overheat is terminal for those engines because they warp so badly, and there's so little spare metal to plane off the head when they do that - unless you like the nice metallic rattle of valves meeting pistons...:eek:

mathepac

Quite a number of FWD cars with transversely mounted engines require that at least one top engine-mount be removed or loosened to access the water-pump. (VW / Skoda / Audi / Seat, etc.) The manufacturers usually recommend that the mounting bolts be replaced when the work is being completed.

mickdw

If outside the warranty, I would just get it fixed. Not worth the hassle of Solicitors etc IMO. Surely this would be hugely expensive.

smokie2008

mickdw wrote: »

If outside the warranty, I would just get it fixed. Not worth the hassle of Solicitors etc IMO. Surely this would be hugely expensive.

I agree, Its really not worth the hassle and sounds like a pretty inexpensive job. Just pay a mechanic to do it, get your car back and be done with it.

Do you really need all the hassle??

manta mad

if you want ,, pm me the number of your car & details and ill check it out for you !!!!

if you want engine mounts ,give me a shout !!

Naid23

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the replies. I have taken your advice and got a mechanic to have a proper look at it and the mounts does have to be taken off to replace the waterpump. The garage is refusing to give me the mechanics worklist of what was done on the car - bunch of cowboys I swear.

I'm just getting it fixed myself to save all the hassle of it as the garage owner said he has no problem fixing it if I pay for it and then adviced that it will be3-4 days( maybe more) so effectively leaving me without a car for about a week.

So thanks again folks, Mechanic will have it fixed for me tomorrow!..

Absurdum

You're being taken for a ride by those chancers. They are obliged to provide you with a minimum 3 month warranty.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/motors/2010/0106/1224261723440.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1113/1224258726462.html

do a search for that garage in this forum, pity you didn't before you bought from them

Naid23

Absurdum wrote: »

You're being taken for a ride by those chancers. They are obliged to provide you with a minimum 3 month warranty.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/motors/2010/0106/1224261723440.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1113/1224258726462.html

do a search for that garage in this forum, pity you didn't before you bought from them

Hi Absurdum,

Ive decided to take a claim against them in the small claims court after reading the articles. I have had nothing but hassle from them since this problem occured and they said they were only willing to fix the car if I paid them and there was no way in hell that I was giving those cowboys anymore money.

I got it fixed myself, cost me a good bit so I def will be claiming against them. I have a mechanics report on the work they did at the time of purchase and it shows 'Waterpump replaced' so based on what your good selves have advised me here and what my own mechanic has said - the bolts were removed and not re-fitted correctly.

Manta,

I sent you a PM with the car reg, is that all you need?