How to prove engine abuse ( long )

[Fast One]

Our daily driver ( GM V6 ) was rear ended in a collision & was away for a week getting the damage fixed, however while being driven back to the insurance for me to pick the car up it is claimed that the engine seized.

The engine has done 150,000 miles & was as quite as a mouse & running fine, no funny noises or signs of a problem before the accident, oil / water etc full, always regular service with oil changes / filter, I rarely drive the car my wife uses it to go to work, hardly what you would call a road racer.

The car was sent to a mechanical repair shop to be checked out, they pulled the engine apart & said it wasn't accident related & was due to wear & tear.

I think someone somewhere is lying & the engine has been abused & thrashed for some fun, probably by someone at the crash repair.

The engine mechanical repair shop said they would install a recond change over engine ( at my expense ),I said "NO WAY", tow the car home & I wll inspect the engine in pieces myself.

I will inspect every single part in the engine, measurements with micrometer, crack testing etc etc

I have my own check list ready to prove beyond a doubt the abuse was done in that week but am open to ideas from you guys to prove without dispute that the damage was done while away from my care

The insurance is quite sympathetic & very keen to know what information I can find & will take legal action to recover my expenses if it can be proven that it occured at the crash shop

Sorry for the long rant.

[72Challenger]

I can certainly sympathize with you but you're facing an uphill battle. Even if you find signs of abuse, you still have to prove that it was caused by the repair shop. You can bet they will say that any abnormal wear or damage to any parts already existed at the time they got the car, that they treated it carefully, etc. It's going to be pretty hard for you to prove that they did it, it's going to be your word against theirs.

The only time I'm personally aware of a repair shop being liable for engine damages was when a friend got a truck engine rebuilt and it threw a rod after only about 150 miles. They claimed he must have been abusing it, but when he had a different shop look at it, one of the bolts on the broken rod had never been installed!

In your case, since they didn't work on the engine, they can say they never touched it, and with the mileage it's not too unreasonable to conclude that it was just unfortunate coincidence. Now if you can find a witness who saw the shop employee doing burnouts in a parking lot it's a whole different story.

Good luck!

[Fast One]

Thanks for the reply 72 Challenger, yes I know it's going to be very hard to prove it happened at the crash repair, however since this event happened I've been making some enquiries between others associated in this area of industry & a client that uses one of the mechanical workshops that I use said his car had a similar incident, his car had a minor accident & was sent in for repair, 2 days after picking it up when finished the trans & diff called it a day, of course the crash repair denied any mischief by it's employees

However he didn't leave it at that & had a private investigator watch & follow these fellows in their daily activities, yes sure enough they were caught out on film doing wild burnouts & drag racing clients cars on the back streets, it was taken to court & costs recovered.

If I have to go this far I will.

As a matter of interest, down the road where I work a mechanical repair workshop operates, on a regular basis they test drive clients cars & give them a pretty hard time.

[aDjUSTER]

This is going to be one battle which is going to have to be very methodical in order to prove. Hope that you can prove your case. Some things that come to mind right off the bat are:

1) What was the odometer reading at the time of the accident and when the repair shop received the vehicle? If you can prove that there is an abnormal amount of mileage on the vehicle while it was not in your possesion then you have a better chance of proving your theory.

2) Did you service the vehicle yourself or did you have a reputable service centre service your vehicle on a regular basis? If it was done by a service agency on a regular basis you can obtain a copy of their records proving that the vehicle was well looked after and that it was not just fatigue that caused the damage. If it was yourself then did you keep records? Note: This will be harder to pass as creditable as its your word , one of the disputing parties.

3)As you stated if you can find someone whom may have witnessed the vehicle being driven without your knowledge or without your consent then you have a case which has more merit.

4)Without some substantial proof that the vehicle was in good working order when left with them and that the vehicle was used without your consent you are going to have an impossible time proving that the damaged was caused by them. This even if you find something wrong whith the engine. You still have to prove that the damage was a result of their neglect or abuse. A very difficlut task without some substantial proof.

5) Have you checked that the shop which checked out your engine does associated work with the repair shop? Could be a scam. Again another hard to prove scenario.

6) Have you or can you verify that the engine you are looking at is the actual engine that was in you vehicle? There is a possability that a switch could hae been made.

There is more but I think that you can see that this will be a hard battle to prove without some documentation to prove your claim. Get as much unbiased information and proof as possible. All the best of luck in your endeavour and if there was foul play I hope that you succeed in proving your case and bringing another dishonest business to justice. Again good luck.