Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 10:47

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

Daughter moves Manchester 2 months ago with her Suzuki Swift, but returns for MOT at friendly local Sheffield garage where the car just before she left had new clutch and gearbox. Car drives smooth no issues... a couple of hundred miles between visits. Passes MOT, much to her relief as the last bill was over 1k. As I go to pay for the MOT (for her) chap asks 'did I know the oil was on low?' 'No'... he says 'Not to worry we have popped a litre in, we did spill a bit but cleaned it up best we can'..... I thought this an odd comment but fair enough. I tell him I'll be back to get the car after the weekend, as we are off away. So come to get car off the forecourt and the engine warning light is on, car is shaking. Things are not good. I see the chap to ask whats happened... he's no longer Mr friendly. Shrugs his shoulders and says, that will be to do with the low oil (which he's now saying no oil), possible engine damage. I'm like WTF but politely. He doesn't want to know.

Daughter is now back on train to Manchester and car is still on forecourt.

Any thoughts?

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 12:06

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - badbusdriver

Even if this was caused by the garage (which I'm not convinced of) I'm not sure how you could prove it.

How old is the car?, and is the oil level checked on a regular basis (should be at least monthly on an older car)?.

Admittedly I'm no kind of mechanic, but whatever the problem is doesn't sound like it was caused by the car being at the garage for an MOT.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 12:33

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - John F

Admittedly I'm no kind of mechanic, but whatever the problem is doesn't sound like it was caused by the car being at the garage for an MOT.

Well, it does to me. If a car drives smoothly with no warning lights on arrival at a garage, then it's rough with warning light on departure, I smell a rat.

The oil capacity of this car is apparently 3.7 litres. If it only needed one litre to top up I do not believe the engine would have suffered much, especially having watched the video where three cars are tested to destruction by seeing how long the engine would run with no oil at all. I recently had to put 1.5 litres of oil into our son's Focus to restore the level to the minimum mark - it seems none the worse for it.

Anyway, far more information is needed to offer any suggestion as to what might have gone wrong. But it does remind me of an occasion when my son was offered a lift back to uni in a girl's almost new small Citroen with only about 7,000 miles on the clock. I checked her oil (she hadn't a clue how to) - just touching the bottom of the dipstick, nowhere near the minimum mark. I don't think her generous daddy ever realised I probably saved him a four figure bill.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 16:50

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - Engineer Andy

Admittedly I'm no kind of mechanic, but whatever the problem is doesn't sound like it was caused by the car being at the garage for an MOT.

Well, it does to me. If a car drives smoothly with no warning lights on arrival at a garage, then it's rough with warning light on departure, I smell a rat.

The oil capacity of this car is apparently 3.7 litres. If it only needed one litre to top up I do not believe the engine would have suffered much, especially having watched the video where three cars are tested to destruction by seeing how long the engine would run with no oil at all. I recently had to put 1.5 litres of oil into our son's Focus to restore the level to the minimum mark - it seems none the worse for it.

Anyway, far more information is needed to offer any suggestion as to what might have gone wrong. But it does remind me of an occasion when my son was offered a lift back to uni in a girl's almost new small Citroen with only about 7,000 miles on the clock. I checked her oil (she hadn't a clue how to) - just touching the bottom of the dipstick, nowhere near the minimum mark. I don't think her generous daddy ever realised I probably saved him a four figure bill.

If the garage topped up by a litre, surely there would've been a BIG pool of oil below the car in the workshop / MOT test area had the entire contents of the oil in the engine leaked out during the MOT?

I agree that something doesn't smell right here - perhaps the garage has done something to get some repair work - it's not as though it would be the first time garages have deliberately broken something on a car (including draining the oil out) to invent work for themselves, especially when factoring in the amount of trade they may have lost over the last 18 months...

Would the oil light only come on for 'low oil', as opposed to 'overfilled'? Or perhaps they 'topped up' with completely the wrong grade or some other fluid 'by mistake'?

Without having everything inspected/checked beforehand, I'm not sure whether anything could be definitively proven.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 17:18

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

I dont believe the car had no oil in it as the garage suggested when I went to pay. As I said we drove from Manchester to Sheffield for the MOT, car drove smooth, no warning lights. The garage had the car, as mentioned for replacement gearbox and clutch, two months earlier. Assuming they wouldn't give us the car back without checking the basics ... so where did supposedly all the oil go in the last two months... there is no leak. Something is very a miss. Why did he mention he'd spilt oil and clean it up best they could.... these guys are filling oil up on cars all the time, seems a rookie mistake.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 12:56

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

The car is a 2005 model. 1.0 Petrol.
The oil was checked in May, and since was driven around 200 miles.
Its parked in a secure underground carpark, same place all the time and there is no sign of any oil on the floor.

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Tue 24 Aug 2021 09:26

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - peter moss

Did you actually the oil level ? if it was over filled by some new wave wanna be mech its going to cause problems , if there was no oil in it it would have come up on the dash but without checking any of this you have nothing to go on !

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 12:18

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - SLO76

Is it perchance a 1.3 diesel?

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 12:41

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

No, 1.0 Petrol

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 12:56

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - Andrew-T

No, 1.0 Petrol

With the details we have so far (just noticed date above) this Swift could be up to 30 years old, they have been made that long. My daughter's first car was a 1-litre Swift, probably an F-reg, 1988. So age may have a bit to do with it ?

But if it was running nicely until the MoT, something seems to have happened to it rather coincidentally. The changed attitude of the garage staff could be suspicious too.

Edited by Andrew-T on 28/07/2021 at 12:58

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 13:09

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

Yes a 2005 plate, 68,000 on the clock.

These guys have always been so accommodating... but literally wanted me off their land.
Not easy when the car isn't moving. The change in attitude was bizarre, I wasn't accusing or anything just wanted to find out what happens now... and the guys shouting 'are you saying I've done something wrong' and all defensive from the get go.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 14:07

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - bathtub tom

Perhaps the 'oil spill' was over the HT leads, or somewhere else that can affect running?

If it passed the MOT, then the EML wasn't on and must have occurred after!

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 14:26

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

Perhaps the 'oil spill' was over the HT leads, or somewhere else that can affect running?

If it passed the MOT, then the EML wasn't on and must have occurred after!

Agreed... it wouldn't have passed had the light been on. But it was most certainly on when I went to collect. Could the oil spill have caused some issue that triggered the Engine Warning light?

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Thu 29 Jul 2021 16:18

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

Perhaps the 'oil spill' was over the HT leads, or somewhere else that can affect running?

Its odd you should say this... the garage has taken a look and says the no.4 plug hasn't been sat in right, that there are deposits around it and the thread has worn.

Does this sound odd?

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 14:34

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - SLO76

Must be the last of the older gen cars if it’s a 1.0. There’s not really much can go wrong here so it’s likely to be something silly that’s wrong but the garage aren’t being very helpful. It is however rare to see one of these on the road today, they were to a very low price and are nowhere near the standard of the later post 2005 Swift. I certainly wouldn’t have spent £1,000 on repairs nor would I have advised fitting a gearbox. In fact gearbox problems are unlikely on these, I wonder if said job was actually done. A worn clutch would make gear changes difficult and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard garages suggest fantasy gearbox problems to add ££££’s to the bill. Even if it was the case no decent garage would recommend spending money like this on a car that’s worth £300.

I’d find an honest local garage and ask their opinion. Spend no more than minor money on this car, a newer and much better later gen car can be had for £1500.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 14:47

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

It was the garage that convinced my daughter to spend the £1000+, telling her there was a lot left in the car.... thats she wouldn't get anything better for the money out there. She loves the little car so thought if she gets another year or two from it she'd be happy. 2 months since the job she brings it back for the MOT... it passes, she's happy, goes to pick up and the Engine waring light... not left the forecourt.

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 15:44

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - SLO76

I recently purchased a 2011 Swift 1.3 GL 3dr with 59,000 miles and a full history for £925. It’s needed a few quid spent for minor issues but all in its cost £1300 including a service. It’s pretty much perfect. She needs to find a better garage, they’re giving her flawed advice.

Edited by SLO76 on 28/07/2021 at 15:48

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Wed 28 Jul 2021 17:34

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - John F

It was the garage that convinced my daughter to spend the £1000+, telling her there was a lot left in the car.... thats she wouldn't get anything better for the money out there.

I really do smell a rat. Was the gearbox actually broken? Seems unlikely after so few miles unless daughter was unduly mechanically unsympathetic, which I suppose she might have been if it needed a new clutch.

She loves the little car so thought if she gets another year or two from it she'd be happy. 2 months since the job she brings it back for the MOT... it passes, she's happy, goes to pick up and the Engine waring light... not left the forecourt.

As said, it would/should never have passed the MoT if the MIL/EML was on. Check the MoT mileage on the gov website....

www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

....and check the mileage on the car to see if it's been driven since passing the MoT - which does not involve a road test. Do keep us posted re the outcome, please.

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Thu 29 Jul 2021 00:19

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - up north

If it was fine and passed mot and you haven't driven it, then check mileage as advised. Tell garage you are having an inspection and don't want it touched until, get the RAC to examine and write a report. Tell the RAC exactly what you have said here. Inform garage you want them to comply with any RAC questions and get RAC to ask the right questions. At the very least you will find the cause.

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Thu 29 Jul 2021 01:33

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - edlithgow

If it was fine and passed mot and you haven't driven it, then check mileage as advised. Tell garage you are having an inspection and don't want it touched until, get the RAC to examine and write a report. Tell the RAC exactly what you have said here. Inform garage you want them to comply with any RAC questions and get RAC to ask the right questions. At the very least you will find the cause.

Sounds a bit optimistic to me, though perhaps worth a try.

There is certainly a big question mark here, but I didn't notice any specific hypotheses, A garage doing a bit of job creation would be expected to be more plausible and less dramatic, plus no-oil running is likely to be either terminal or do non-fatal damage which you can't realistically do anything about,

Neither outcome generates any income.

Best guess - they mixed up this car with another one, gave it an oil change by mistake, and damaged the sump port so it leaks. Is this a softee softee aluminium sump?

Not very likely but the only story I can think of. .

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Thu 29 Jul 2021 01:44

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - Terry W

You need to understand what the problem is.

Checking the mileage to ensure it has not been driven since MoT is good advice - perhaps the car was "borrowed" and thrashed.

Spilt oil comment could create a misfire simply by coating the ignition leads and/or ECU. Normally this can be cleaned off unless some got into the ECU or coil packs etc.

It could even be something simple like a spark plug lead dislodged, or sensor disconnected - assuming the car has a diagnostic socket this should provide a fault code.

It may have been reasonable to spend £1000 on clutch etc as this kept a good car going for another couple of years. But don't get sucked into sending a lot of money without a decent chance of success.

My daughter had a similar problem with an elderly Renault Clio a few years ago. Garage MoT'd car - said it needed £1200 repairs. I thought this excessive and she drove the car home for trusted garage to look at - £70 for minor repairs and passed MoT.

I suspect the original garage simply wanted my daughter to "scrap" the car - then give it a quick fix and sell it

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Thu 29 Jul 2021 16:23

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - BobMary

It could even be something simple like a spark plug lead dislodged, or sensor disconnected - assuming the car has a diagnostic socket this should provide a fault code.

Looks to be something akin to this, although garage saying actually no thread holding the plug in. That its worn and there are deposits around the lead.... Hmmmm.... Did he not tell me he'd spilt oil in the engine.

Of course if I ask, he will say no where near.

I've got footage of the engine when I started it on the forecourt, smoke coming from some spillage.

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Fri 30 Jul 2021 04:13

Suzuki Swift - Car passes MOT but breaks before leaving forecourt - edlithgow

So the "no oil in it" thing is not currently true, and probably never was?

I misunderstood that it had no oil in it when you came to collect it. Apologies for the irrelevance.

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