Please help if you can,
Firstly sorry for the length of this but wanted to make sure I gave as much detail as possible.
I bought a 96P Vectra 2.0 16v gls in July in very good condition full service history 77k genuine mileage rac inspected etc.
All is well, until in October it starts guzzling coolant and overheating and I am told the headgasket or head is probably knackered. I take it in to an independant garage and they carryout the work part warranty (£400) and the rest (£500)I paid. It turns out there was a problem with the head and they had it repaired (welded I think)changed all the timing belt mechanism, did an oil change and coolant change and I am told it would be a long term fix.
Anyway all work done, no overheating, coolant levels fine and all was dandy.
I got in the car this morning and set off to work and got half way and the car just cuts out. The oil light kept flicking on and off just before it went. Anyway I get recovered from the brow of a hill on the busiest road into town and get a called later to be told that their initial assesment is that the engine has seized up, something to do with no oil getting to the top of the engine, however the oil level. They also said there was no anti-freeze in the system....mmmm I start to think back to the work that the original garage carried out.
I am now in a dilema, do I take the garages word that the engine has seized up?
Is there anyway this may be related to the work that the original garage carried out, which is guarenteed?
How much will it cost me and who do I get to check if it was anything to do with the original garage?
I am skint since paying out the £500 quid last time and the warranty has now expired. I know little about cars and am worried I'll just get fobbed off.
Please can anyone shed any light on the whole situation and point me in the right direction?
By the way this is the garages inital assesment they have not taken anything apart that I am aware of as they said they would have needed my authorisation to carry out a full diagnostic and that would cost me dearly, and if it turned out the engine was seized then it would cost best part of £2k to get sorted new engine and all.
{Garage name removed as it *could* have been thought of that you were naming/shaming them. DD, BR Moderator.
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I know I am a little out of touch with garage prices but £900 for a head gasket and head job seams very high. When a head gasket goes, and the car has a alloy head, the head should be skimmed at an engineering shop.This is because the head distorts and may blow the new gasket if not skimmed. This is probably the work that was done on the head. It is unlikely work done in July would cause a problem now. Most likely oil pump has failed. Just unlucky. Should check out price for re-con engines in Exchange and Mart etc.
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