I had a similar experience. I took my Santro for a regular service at 30K kms and the Kothari A.S.S. told me that my engine had to be overhauled because "oil was coming up from the dip stick". They said that it would have to be done immediately or else the engine would seize. Cost quoted was 35 K.
The explanation sounded strange and coupled with the fact that the car had never given me any problems and was very smooth, I suspected something was not right. On questioning the Service advisor in more detail, I realized that he couldn't really explain what the problem was or show me how he found that there was some problem with oil leakage.
Finally he said that there had to be a problem because I had not serviced my vehicle in 2 years. He had looked at the service record in the car manual and did not find an entry after Dec 2003 (and so assumed that that car was not serviced). Actually I had been servicing my car every 5-6 months but had not got the book updated.
Well to cut a long story short, I didn't get the engine overhauled. Took it home and checked the oil level every week or so for the last 6 months. So far the car is still running perfectly fine with absolutely no signs of any oil leakage / reduction in the engine sump.
So my advice is definitely go for a second opinion - the car may have a problem but it may not need an engine overhaul. |