I am posting yet again after my engine/gearbox/fan belt fiasco.
When the garage looked at my belt problem today they first checked all the pulleys and noticed the air con one was loose. On closer inspection the top bolt was missing and the bottom right bolt had snapped off. When a new fanbelt was fitted it came straight off due to a unstable air con unit. I was informed the engine would need to come out and the bolt would have to be drilled thru or we can just ignore air con and put a normal fan belt on and have no air con.
When I mentioned that I\'d had a recon engine fitted the garage looked shocked and claimed there was no way the engine in question was a recon as it was too dirty and oil round the bottom. Apparently lots of these so called recon places just fit 2nd hand engines. Also they noticed the sump had a dent in it.
Now when I enquired around for a second hand engine the only available one had a dent in the sump. Adding 2 2 I get the sum these thieving pink fluffy dice in Great Leighs have ball hitted me somewhat.
So on my return home I rang them and said that I\'d had a problem with the belts and that it was down to the air con unit. They said they would have to investigate what caused it. When I explained that it had not been fitted properly as the top bolt was missing they said they would need to know what caused it again.
I then went on too mention the dent in the sump which they said would have been caused by the bolt snapping off. Now even I know this is complete pink fluffy dice. When I suggested to them the engine was not actually a re-con she said that recons do not come in new cases - obviously! SHe claimed u could only tell by stripping it down and looking inside. Well the guy in the garage took the oil cap off and looked in it and said it was too dirty to be a recon.
I am taking the car back to the recon place on Monday and I know they will not accept responsibility let alone recompensate the £30 for my fan belt, lost time, fit an undented sump and for the labour that they didn\'t actually use.
Any suggestions on my next step forward please guys?
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Trading standards - first, they may have had more than complaint about the pink fluffy dice and may investigate on your behalf.
From personal experience you have to push hard with these guys but if there's a case they do investigate eventually.
If this doesn't work - get an independent inspection and verify the engine is second hand and not a recon - present the report
to them, are they affiliated to any good practice association?
Best of luck
P.S. I'd get the engine checked anyway - if it ain't a recon
what state is it in?
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Thanks mate.
Well get on TS first thing tomorrow.
Ironic thing is everyone here said get a second hand engine!! Now I find out I have, due to the laziness of not putting in a couple of bolts they have been found out.
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In my experience there are not many 'genuine' re-con engines about - they are mostly s'hand engines given a wipe over with an oily rag.
Couple of points:
1. Was it sold to you as a re-con with any specified replacement parts listed (i.e. pistons, bearings etc.)?
2. In their ads., or on their invoice, is there a 'get out clause' - eg 'in some cases servicable used engines may be supplied'
3. Could the garage that inspected your engine give you an engineer's report? It may cost a couple of hours labour, but then you could take out a small claims action (which, by the sounds of things you would almost certainly win). Claim for inconvenience and any other out of pocket costs too. Take compression and oil pressure readings (to compare against factory spec) to bolster your case.
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Annoying thing is I've misplaced their receipt.
I have no doubt the garage could and would do an engineers report for a small fee.
Thanks for the advice, will keep u updated.
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Re: Aprilia - your point 2.
If there is a get out clause, it's likely to be wholly ineffective. Clauses limiting liability are only effective if they are reasonable. A clause that allows a product to be other than as it is described (an implied term under the Sale of Goods Act) will never be reasonable, especially not in a consumer contract like this one.
However, the lack of receipt or other supporting documentation does complicate things somewhat.
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Daz, watch the language. This time I've edited, but next time I might not be so generous and just delete. DD.
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Apologies but I am sooooooooo frustrated right now!
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Daz Do you belong to any motoring org if so you could perhaps get some legal advice as well as contacting the T.S.
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Daz,
Absolutely gutting and good luck in getting something resolved.
As a matter of interest here are two posts I made in January on a Pug 306 exchange engine query....
Regardless of labour costs the point I was making was that I don't think you can get the correct parts and machining with fitting included for £1000....not to warrant the word reconditioned as we understand it.
For that price there would be many old parts left untouched that should be replaced.
I'm afraid there is rather a lot of second hand stuff cleaned or minimum repaired and then fitted as a "full" recon unit.
I was asked to examine a "reconditioned" transmission on a French car the other day. Drained off the oil and it was dirty with bits of metal in it. Asked around locally and found the suppliers are known for buying up damaged units, repairing just the obvious fault, cleaning/spraying the casing and fitting as recon units with 12mths warranty....but you try and get them to change a dodgy one!!
As a matter of interest they undercut the main dealers by £500...only charging £1300 for effectively a used transmission worth perhaps £250.
Nice work if you have no concience!
And here is the second post
It's just that I'm *very* anti the guys who pass off the used or repaired gear as reconditioned. Sometimes they even put it in tiny small print on their ads that "checked used units may be substituted where appropriate". Then the reality is that 99% of the stuff they supply is to that low standard and the heading "Reconditioned Engines" was never really justified.
M.M
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