Boom!! How unlucky can you get?

[spock500]

Did you see smoke in the rear view mirror after the oil light came on/over revved?

Isn't it a bit unusual to have and overfill warning light?

 

[Dieselman]

Isn't it a bit unusual to have and overfill warning light?

Not on a Merc, it's designed to stop this situation happening.

 

[spock500]

Yup, its probably a good idea to stop the engine running away, lucky it didn't happen to the o/p

 

[Dieselman]

Yup, its probably a good idea to stop the engine running away, lucky it didn't happen to the o/p

It did.

150 yards from home an the car is fine then boom the revs go through the roof and I get a huge amount of smoke from the engine before I switch it off and cry into my steering wheel.

 

[The G.F.P]

driving 50 miles with the oil light on is scarey

after my headgasket problem i now stop as soon as the ornage water light come on, wrap the car in a comfy blanket, feed it lemsip and read it a bed time story so it does not blow up again

 

[petef]

The trader has been very decent so far about the whole thing and I realise that I may have been a factor having chosen to drive on in the car with too much oil in it. I was however on the road from Scotch Corner to Carlisle and any of you who know it will know why pulling over and getting help is not as easy as it sounds. Hopefully I've just got oil in the air intake and it can be repaired quickly and cheaply and if this is possible I won't be chasing the trader for anything. In fairness to myself I know nothing about A Classes or their warning systems and couldn't find any reference in the manual to a Hi warning message. I had only been in the car for and hour having driven over 10 miles on test and about forty on the A1M can't think why if there was too much oil that the message didn't pop up straight away.

You live and learn they say...

You are being very kind to the trader .He is obviously the one comming up with the "oil in the air take" routine. As you stated you knew nothing about the A class warning systems, and it is irrelevant anyway..... Firtly consult your local trading standards office. Check your home insurance policy / AA policy etc... you may be legally covered in terms of legal insurance.

I recently bought a saxo for my son from a trader....a Furio ! the one the hooded youffs all want.....excellent body, full service history etc....15 miles down the road cylinder head gasket goes. AA called out..towed home..AA man gave report on why car stopped running....Next morning wife contacted Trading Standards and logged complaint. She was advised to contact garage and advise them of conversation with trading standards, and also to give garage the reference number of complaint... Garage was given two weeks to fix or we would get alternative garage to repair and then bill them.

Its quite a simple process really...welll I say that but I wasnt involved.!!! My wife studied law, so has a reasonable knowledge of the legal system and how it works, so I let her deal with it...One week later a cheque for £275 from the garage arrives......

I believe its all about "points" of law , so forget the "should I have done this" or "should I have checked this light etc . . " routine ..it doesnt matter......."fit for purpose" ....warranty etc etc..................... so do not be put off by other members of forum telling you otherwise.

If you had bought car private you would have been shafted, and that is where buying private has its problems.

When you consult the trader you need to be assertive and not be taken in by all the technical wizzardry the humble dealer will put your way. Stick to the points of law and you will be fine.



Good luck my friend ...you will be fine and you are right, they are wrong

 

[Uberwagon]

To be fair to the dealer, lets presume that as far as he was concerned the car was fit for sale. In that case the OP has shown neglect by running it when he knew there was a problem.

A headgasket going is one of those things that can go right away, to watch an oil light, which to be fair is better known as the DOOM light, is just neglect.

I hope it gets sorted, if it has over revved though, then you need a full bottom end inspection as when an engine runs away, they generally go sky high. I'm surprised it turned off on the key though so if it did ingest any oil, it was probably only minimal.

Dave!

 

[DC_insider]

I believe its all about "points" of law , so forget the "should I have done this" or "should I have checked this light etc . . " routine ..it doesnt matter......."fit for purpose" ....warranty etc etc..................... so do not be put off by other members of forum telling you otherwise.

Sorry but that is really bad advice.


The Sale of Goods Act places the obligation on the Dealer to prove that any faults occuring in the 6 months after a sale were not there at the point of sale.

In this instance the fault at the point of sale was that the engine had been over filled with oil. The Dealer is obliged to rectify this.

The potential damage to the engine occured when the OP ignored the warning signal and continued with the journey. This is consequential damage and it does not automatically follow that the Dealer is obliged to rectify this.

If the OP were to take it to a county court claim they would have to disclose the fact that they saw the warning light but chose to continue. An Assesor would have to consider this when deciding on damages.

 

[nick mercedes]

15 miles down the road cylinder head gasket goes. AA called out..towed home..AA man gave report on why car stopped running....Next morning wife contacted Trading Standards and logged complaint. She was advised to contact garage and advise them of conversation with trading standards, and also to give garage the reference number of complaint... Garage was given two weeks to fix or we would get alternative garage to repair and then bill them.

Why did you go to trading standards before ringing the garage?

 

[Seamster15]

Why did you go to trading standards before ringing the garage?

I wondered that too, why take an aggressive stance even before talking to him?

 

[petef]

I wondered that too, why take an aggressive stance even before talking to him?

I did contact the garage ...when I was on the hard shoulder of the motorway waiting for the AA..his attitude was that he had driven the car 100 miles that day and it was fine........!!!! He also advised me that car was sold as seen. I have yet to meet a trader who puts his hand in his pocket when something goes wrong " wear and tear mate "..."not covered by warranty sir".

I hope this guy gets his car sorted

 

[prprandall51]

I did contact the garage ...when I was on the hard shoulder of the motorway waiting for the AA..his attitude was that he had driven the car 100 miles that day and it was fine........!!!!

In your circumstances, I think you were right to contact Trading Standards as soon as the dealer tried to fob you off. However, your experience appears to have clouded your judgement with regard to the car trade in general. The first course of action should always be to speak to the trader first. You never know, they might be very reasonable. At least the trader should have the opportunity to rectify a fault.

Furthermore, I suspect Trading Standards will be somewhat surprised and more than a little uninterested if they are contacted before the trader has even been informed that there is a problem.

To the OP: Sorry, I can't help writing this:
Your defence of claiming to not be familiar with the warning systems of A-Class Mercedes is absurd. A warning light is a warning light. All cars have them to warn you of a problem, they are not unique to the A-Class.
You as much admit this by then claiming that you would have stopped had the road conditions permitted it, which is another absurd argument given that you travelled 80-odd miles with the light on.

 

[Moylesey]

To the OP: Sorry, I can't help writing this:
Your defence of claiming to not be familiar with the warning systems of A-Class Mercedes is absurd. A warning light is a warning light. All cars have them to warn you of a problem, they are not unique to the A-Class.
You as much admit this by then claiming that you would have stopped had the road conditions permitted it, which is another absurd argument given that you travelled 80-odd miles with the light on.

I'm not defending myself against anything. No one could fell more foolish than me at the moment and it really doesn't help to be reminded how 'absurd' my actions were, but it seems that there are a number of people out there who seem to derive pleasure from rubbing peoples noses in it - what on earth did I expect from posting my woes on a MB forum...

I'm not blaming the trader for anything other letting me drive off in a car with too much oil in it. Everything else, misunderstanding the oil warning, driving on, the car going pop is my fault and i'm sure that I'm going to learn an expensive lesson as a consequence - Happy now?

 

[prprandall51]

I'm not defending myself against anything. No one could fell more foolish than me at the moment and it really doesn't help to be reminded how 'absurd' my actions were, but it seems that there are a number of people out there who seem to derive pleasure from rubbing peoples noses in it - what on earth did I expect from posting my woes on a MB forum...

I'm not blaming the trader for anything other letting me drive off in a car with too much oil in it. Everything else, misunderstanding the oil warning, driving on, the car going pop is my fault and i'm sure that I'm going to learn an expensive lesson as a consequence - Happy now?

If that is how you look on the situation, then please accept my apologies. It didn't come across that way, so I have clearly misinterpreted the postings.

If you are taking repsonsibility for what happened then I admire you - I can see there a lot of people here encouraging you to dump this problem back on the trader. As someone who runs their own small business (and recently paid out £16,000 for an error that was the fault of another party) nothing annoys me more than seeing people trying to shove their own problems (and associated costs) onto somebody else.

 

[Moylesey]

My initial reactions were that it must be 'someone elses' fault as I felt sick to the stomach that I'd wrecked my 'new' car and still do. I will still have a conversataion with the trader when I know what the score is with the damage as he did let me drive off in a car that shouldn't have been driven.

Have to take my share of the responsibility though. If my indy says that the car would have been alright if I'd stopped then I have to take the lions share of the blame. The trader was a decent young lad and he knows my position and I've been honest with him about my actions since leaving his yard - with a bit of luck he'll do the same - if he doesn't then it's lesson learnt and move on - and hopefully enjoy the car.

 

[ibrar]

Best of luck, however I wouldn't place too much honesty with the trader. He has already been dishonest about the car itself, how can you expect someone to be honest the second time around?

 

[MSG2004]

Please be aware that you should have stopped& caled for help when your info syste read 'HI'!

But udo not need to tell the dealer that a he sounds like one of those that ells ..and prob is yours

God luck!

 

[jonm]

When I bought my C200K, I also had a 'oil level HI' warning light every time I drove it, I was advised by the dealer, MB main dealer, that 'its probably just a bit overfilled, just keep driving it, it'll soon burn off and the warning will go away'.

Which I didn't I took it back and had some oil removed.. but certainly not within 30miles, i did give it a few days. Not entirely sure where I would have stood should it have of gone pear shaped..

 

[Moylesey]

Boom! Update

New engine required. The injectors had been blown out and it was worse the further south we got.

'Low' mileage engine from a breakers on it's way which hopefully will be okay.

Costs to date:

Engine £900
Labour to date £300
Labour estimate for swapping out engine £550

Cost of mistake £1,750

Which is nice.

Just hope the catalytic converter is okay...

 

[Smatt]

Labour estimate for swapping out engine £550

Cost of mistake £1,750

Which is nice.

Just hope the catalytic converter is okay...

Sounds like the labour quote could be a lot worse for a whole engine swap. I presume it does not include vat?
Good luck with this & hope no more surprises, including CAT