Repair gone wrong - seized engine
 

Hello
I am looking for advice on what to do in my situation.
I took my 4 year old car to a reputable Vancouver independant garage for an oil leak repair.
I picked this garage because it is approved by my 3rd party warranty company.
The garage called me back saying they need to replace the engine valve cover (as expected) and that the warranty covers the repair. So far so good.
I asked the shop to go ahead with the repair.
The day I was supposed to pick up the car I received a call from the owner.
He explained he took the car for a test drive to confirm there was no more leak or engine light. During the test car, he explained that the oil pump died causing the engine to seize. He implied that the issue was not related to his repair and purely a coincidence.
He explained that he sourced a new engine already and is installing it in the car. He apologized for the situation and will handle all cost.

I am a bit lost on what to do here.
Should I pull the car from the shop? ask for a warranty on the engine repair?
involve a lawyer? seek compensation for the car resale value?

They're replacing the engine at their own cost... what more do you want? Sounds like they're already doing as much as anyone would expect of them and probably deserve their reputation.

I'd want some good info on this engine they found. Where did they got it? How many km? Has it been maintained properly??? Will it be covered by your 3rd party warranty? Since it's not the original engine they agreed to cover.

So many questions

ask to see the old engine, maybe they are just charging warranty for an engine when it was just a gasket

The shop is not going through warranty for the engine replacement. They are paying for it out of their own pocket. I feel they are pretty honest.
The replacement engine is used with 3K less than the original engine.

I am just pissed because of the overall situation. I don't know how my car will drive after this.

Honestly I don't really want to go after the garage. I just want to ask the right questions as much as I can.

What will show on the ICBC car history?
When an engine is replaced like this, is the title still clean?
Would you ask the garage to warranty their work for 1 year?

Uhhh..what kind of car is this? No it won't show on your icbc car history. A car with a replaced engine might actually fetch a higher value since the replacement engine has lower KMs. The garage would probably warrant their work with the new engine as well. Only thoughts are...make sure its the right engine? IE: not taking your v8 and putting in a v6. Your car will be fine after the swap..

It's not going through ICBC, so how would it show up on their history or change the title?

If the story is as you say, be glad the shop is going over and above what they're required to do. It'd be easy for them to say changing the VC gasket has no relation to the oil pump failing (which it actually doesn't).

Most likely the guy forgot to put oil in and went for a drive than the oil pump failing coincidentally LOL.

I'd like to know the name of this shop. Sounds like a business I'd like to deal with over all those crappy "BMW" shops I've dealt with in the past

^^^ this was my immediate thought. (@levonoturbo)

The new engine has only 3k kms less than the original which for a 4 year old car means nothing. Would you really pay more for a car with 70k kms vs 67k kms? Nope.

For sure this will decrease your re-sale value as this just brings up a whole lot more WTFs for potential buyers.

I'd hate to put out a negative vibe towards a shop that may be doing a very honourable thing. But i'm skepticle. Not a whole lot you can do without complete teardown of the old engine though.

It went in for a valve cover gasket...don't think they would have drained the oil for that

I would reject the deal and make them rebuild the current motor that came with the car. Nice they are tossing in a new motor but you don't know the history of it and like others have said putting in a different motor with vin will lower the resale value in the future.

Involve a lawyer? To get compensated for the resale value? WTF?

Then don't get a lawyer involved. I think the shop is doing what they're supposed to do.
Evenone makes a mistake, the problem is, if they don't do anything to fix their mistake. Which doesn't seem to be the case here.

Or I don't know if you're gonna get a lawyer and seek for a compensation for emotional distress and win $10,000-$20,000 or so.

The main thing I'd be asking is where the replacement engine was sourced, what checks have been done to it and how this affects your warranty. Beyond that and depending on the mileage and what car this is I'd consider having them do some additional work to the motor before it goes in, things that are easy to do while the motor is out buy a lot of work if it's in the car.

How would a buyer even know though?

I'd want the oil drained any time you're opening up that much of the oil system and removing chunks of gasket.

This is the key: it's highly unlikely that anything related to a valve cover swap would cause the oil pump to fail; ergo, it was a coincidence, and NOT THE SHOP'S FAULT. That means they ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE for the engine's demise and aren't required, legally or ethically, to do anything about it.

Now if they wanted to be nice, they could have offered you a good price on a new engine... as it stands, they're doing it FOR FREE. Something they didn't break and have no obligation to repair, and they're going to fix it for you anyway FOR FREE.

And you wonder if you should get a lawyer involved?? :fulloffuck:

Now it is possible, if unlikely, that they did fuck up royally and they ARE responsible for killing the engine, and they know this, and their method of ass-covering is to say they're innocent but they'll fix it anyway... however, if you did take it to court, the onus would be on YOU to prove your case, not on them. They should have no problem finding independent experts to say the same thing most people here are telling you: that it really is probably just a coincidence.

Like what others have mentioned, get as much details as possible on the new engine. Ask to see your old engine and failed pump.

The only thing I'd be worried about if whether the replacement engine would be covered under warranty, or if it becomes void after the engine swap. Something to ask your warranty company.

Regarding draining the oil, it's possible. I usually don't drain my oil when doing a simple VC gasket replacement, but some shops might do it out of caution. However, low/no oil shouldn't cause a pump failure, especially immediately after a repair and during a test drive. An engine should start making more obvious noises first that should cause a mechanic to stop the car right then and there.

That said, I'm curious what car this is on. An oil pump failure should usually trigger a flashing CEL (or similar warning, depending on the make/model) and any mechanic worth their scar-marked hands should know to shut the car off immediately during a test drive. An engine should still have enough oil in the system to let it coast at least a block or two before any real damage starts occurring.

I dunno. Something just sounds off to me, is all.