Second Head Gasket failure, garage claim not at fault

[aarron]

Dear all, My first post here I will try and make this as simple as I can.

 

Car in question is a 12 year old vehicle (rover 75) which are prone to head gasket failure the vehicle had done 99000 miles when we had our first failure in August of last year, the vehicle in otherwise excellent condition and maintained regardless of cost. The vehicle did hit high on the temp gauge and was stopped immediately, the vehicle was recovered by the AA to our local garage

 

The garage: the garage in question is a local out of town garage that we have used for servicing and mot work since moving into the area 3 years ago. We had been happy with the work carried out and the cost but not always with their organisation skills or communication but on the whole a good service

 

The garage, initially said they would look at the car within 48 hours, this didn't happen it took close to four days of me calling them to eventually be told it needed further investigation. I asked them to go ahead and strip the head to see what damage was done it then took a further two days to hear the result( I called them) the head was sent to be checked and skimmed and returned I asked that parts such as cambelt, water pump, thermostat etc were replaced at the same time

 

Three to Four days later I was able to pick the car up after paying the almost agreed rice of £1924 (actually £60 higher than expected) The car ran fine up until just before Christmas when it get hot again, it cooled I checked water levels, all seemed OK the following Monday I took it into the garage for them to check (along with an MOT) I was told a small pipe from the radiator had perished and would need replacing (replaced) and I had a pin sized hole in my radiator but it was not urgent and I should keep an eye on the coolant levels.As this was on top of Christmas, and £364 MOT bill i was happy to hear the radiator was not urgent, 4 days later steam high temp gauge and a recovery back to the garage

 

It took almost a week of constant calling before they could tell me they had looked at the vehicle but would need further investigation, I received several rather "scripted" reply's about how I had been told about my radiator and checking my levels, which I found rather suspect. I then started to visit the garage after work in search of the manager, but he always seemed to be out. I eventually caught up with him on a Saturday morning, where he told me it was indeed head gasket failure again but his work or parts were not at fault. He claims the vehicle would not have traveled 6000 miles if there was a problem with his work or parts.

 

I am lucky enough to know a mechanic who works for a main dealer and has 20 years experience who has told me the reasons why it cannot be the fault of the radiator and that water under pressure was merely looking for a weak spot, how there was a possible issue with the block itself or any number of faulty parts, or dodgy work may have caused this.

 

Still the garage owner is adamant that he is not at fault and I have left my vehicle in his yard for close to 6 weeks with no contact from him, after he agreed to find out the price for a recon engine. The garage contacted me this Saturday and asked what I was doing with the car, and I simply reminded them I was waiting on a price for another engine

 

I know this is a lot of information but I needed to tell the full story, Something isn't right here and maybe i'm wrongly suspicious. Communication with the garage is difficult because they do not return calls or give vague answers and I feel i've gone as far as I can speaking direct to the garage.

 

It is part of the autocare group, I have been in contact with a body they are affiliated with but they don't answer the phone!

 

Any suggestions please

[scaniaman]

I know it's not what you want to read but the garage might just be right.

Years ago, we had the same trouble with Mazda 1600 &2000 litre engines and were not alone. Despite skimming head, upgraded gasket and tightening torque far above Mazda figures we could not get a permanent solution to this fault.

In your case, if you want to keep the car, i understand that some 75's were fitted with a BMW engine, which may be the road for you to enquire.

[Andrew-P]

That's a shocking price for a head gasket on a 75 (assuming its the 1.8) and you could have got a replacement 75 for less.

 

 

I suggest you go to www.mg-rover.org and ask for advice there as you will get support on everything to do with the car and give you advice on what was likely to have happened and what is possible.

 

 

I love the 75 (used to have one) and its such a shame the K series was cheapened and overstretched from its original design.

[aarron]

Thank you for your replies,

 

It's not the cost that is my issue, like I say a hell of a lot of work was done included in that price. I could of course buy another rover for that price but still be faced with a head gasket replacement a few thousand miles down the line. I've since bought a brand new vehicle.

 

Does anyone know where I take my grievance whether I am correct to pursue some answers or not?

[Billy's mate]

I agree with Scaniaman. Your car would not have covered 6,000 if the garage had not repaired it correctly. The leaking radiator probably caused the engine to overheat, resulting in the head gasket failing again. All too often we hear stories of " the first garage repaired it and the second garage said it hasn't been done properly ", and yet the second garage will very rarely put their claims in writing. I am a car mechanic of over 40 years standing, and obviously independent in your situation, but sometimes you just have to accept that because you have had something repaired, it is not automatically the repairers fault if that same component fails again.