They over revved the engine bigtime… Very easy to prove in court it is impossible to cause such damage at an idle.
I think I know how you’re feeling… so close to the finish line, only to be told you have to take another lap. Disheartening for sure. I’ve been there with my car, which required an engine rebuild shortly after everything was buttoned up. Of course, I busted the heater core taking the engine out again, adding to the woes. Don’t throw in the towel - take a break if you need it and then get back on the horse. (Excuse all the mixed metaphors).
The same shop did pull the engine and took it to a machine shop. They of course still have the car and parts. They are trying to charge me for removal. I really don’t think I should have to pay but I’m not sure what to do since they still have it.
Hire a good attorney, get your car out of there. Get the local police to go with you to get it and if you have to use a credit card to pay what they think you owe them. It sounds like you did not authorize them to take the engine out of your car. So that charge is not something “usual and customary” to Detailing a car.
I’ve had work done at this shop for years. I did ask them to get the engine out because I don’t have the tools or facility to do it and they do.
Yes, you’re in a tough situation between a rock and a hard place on this one. I would confront them first. Take your phone in with you and show them your question you posted here and all the responses and see what they have to say. I think everybody on here has come to the same conclusion what happened.
If they get real combative about the situation then get a police officer there and get your car and parts out of there pronto. Otherwise they’ll put a garage lien against your car and parts saying you owe money towards the work and you can’t have your stuff until the bill is paid. They can’t stop you from taking your stuff until they get a garage lien which takes a little time.
I could always forward them a link to this thread.
I would go in person and confront them. Don’t give them too much time to think on it or they’ll slap a garage lien on there before you can get your stuff out if it comes to that.
I don’t think that would be helpful. You can mention you have spoken to several experts (its ok to drop names) and tell them it is impossible for that to happen at an idle or even at 3000 rpm. Stand your ground.
Well I can’t really get anything out of there right now. Wondering if I should go ahead and pay them for the removal?
You should pay them and have the car towed home. Or to a storage building. Or maybe to your favorite mechanic’s shop. But do not let it sit there. They can start to charge for storage.
Well, they blew the motor up. If they wouldn’t have blown it up the motor wouldn’t had to been removed. So why would you pay them to remove it?
They pulled the engine and took it down to a machine shop. Nothings really in limbo right now other than the machine shop is checking if the engine can be rebuilt or not. I would think it would be pretty understandable for them to let the vehicle sit there while we’re waiting and not charge for storage since they are still in the process of working on it.
Unfortunately I’m my own favorite mechanic but I don’t have the lifts and hoists and man power they do and there is no one else close that I know of or trust. They have asked for payment for the removal my issue is do I pay them for that or really anything else or not?
The facts are the car was running well, I drove it to the shop under its own power. A couple days later I get a call that it was pulled out to warm up to full operating temperature. It was idling fine and then they heard a loud sound, there was a hole in the oil pan and oil, debris and antifreeze on the ground. I understand accidents happen and I wasn’t there so I’m trying to be open minded and look to others/experts and people more familiar with all this to help me make the best decision how to properly deal with and handle this difficult situation.
It’s taken them a while to get the engine out and you can’t really tell what happened until you do so and get the pan off. I’ve done some engine work over the years, but most everything was just because it was worn out, nothing was ever broken. I’ve never had anything that looked like this and I’ve never blown a motor. I baby all my vehicles. I’m not an expert in anyway on motors, but once I saw it my first instinct was that it was very hard to believe that amount of damage would happen at such low RPMs. The car idled between 750 and maybe 1200 RPMs at most on initial crank up.
Flat out impossible for the rod to have enough momentum at idle to do that… Maybe someone here has an experience other than that but I have been doing this for sometime now and as a younger man purposely blew up a couple motors.
Get an attorney now.
They know how to do things like get a “lien” on your title superior to a garage lien and then get law enforcement to remove the car from the detailers premises.
Maybe they simple reved the crap out of it in the bay trying to impress everyone else in the shop? Kinda doubt it would still come apart like that under that condition, It really does appear to have been driven under load and high rpm to come apart in that manner. One thing is for sure is no way it happened at idle “warming up” unless maybe someones foot was holding it on the floor…
I would work on proving what happened before paying anything, but you may also have to settle up to get the car and parts in your position to avoid a mechanics lien. Then work on proving fault.
Proving fault. Not sure, but the car ran and drove fine. I drove it there for final detail and touch up. Now it doesn’t run or drive at all. The place has security cameras that may have caught footage of whatever may have happened. I could ask to see footage.
I’ll wager that the film either has been erased or destroyed by now. Man, I feel so sorry for you.
Why the heck did they need to “warm it up” for final detail and touch up?! That stinks of complete BS. If they were actually just doing detail and touchup, they wouldn’t want the engine compartment and hood hot anyway. That shop is full of crap.
I’m in a bad place. Lots of opinions and advice here and I appreciate every bit of it.
Ultimately how should I handle this difficult, painful and expensive situation?
If I get an attorney what type of attorney would I look for?