[zombiedriver]

This is about my previous car which i sold to a close friend of mine. I sold my Skoda Fabia Tdi 2011 a year ago to a close friend. Last week he had the misfortune of going over one of the many gigantic speed breakers of Bangalore and as a result the oil sump got damaged. He didn't realize the extent of the damage as there was no warning light and the car drove fine. He was able to drive for about a kilometer before the engine stalled and refused to start up. He had to call the road side assistance to have the car towed.

Fast forward a few days and he gets a quote of almost 6.6 lakhs for the repair. i went along with him to the service center ( TAFE ACCESS ) today and the engine has been completely ripped apart. We are told that the engine seized because the car was driven till all the oil drained out and this has damaged the engine completely. When i asked the service advisor why the car didn't show an indication when the oil level was low i was told the Fabia doesn't have an Oil level sensor unlike the Rapid or the Octavia

The service advisor said that there is no point in claiming insurance because 1. The car was driven after impact and the insurance company will use that as an excuse not to pay out
2. Even if they do payout it would only be to the extent of replacing the oil sump and not for the rest of it.
3. As the engine was already ripped apart they will not entertain the claim at all

After a short discussion with the Skoda mechanic the service advisor cut down the list of parts to be replaced and quoted 4.97 lakhs. Now my friend is in a Dilemma as it makes no sense whatsoever to repair it at that cost. The IDV on it is 3.77 lakhs and it would be ok if the insurance company honor's his claim and treats it as a total loss and pays out but i don't think they would. He has registered a claim on the phone and the surveyor is expected to visit the service center soon.

The other option would be to dispose the car as is. Neither of us knows how that works. Does he sell this as scrap metal? Will anyone buy it as is and transfer ownership? If it is sold as scrap metal then how does one cancel the registration? If there is a procedure to cancel the registration of the car is there a way for him to claim a refund on the road tax paid?

Any advice or suggestions are welcome. He's a very dear friend and i feel for his loss.

MOD's please post in the appropriate section. This is my first thread on this forum and i didn't know which section to post it on.

[rajeev k]

Why the low oil pressure warning lamp did not function or was it ignored by your friend is the moot point here.
btb, is it Petrol or Diesel fired? Try to source an engine of an accident involved and total loss declared vehicle.
It would be definitely feasible to buy another used car at a much lower price than the cost of repairs.

[aswin ajith]

Sad.
Wrong place to go my friend. I strongly feel you should have gone to a reliable and good independent garage presuming warranty has expired since you mentioned its 2011 make. So I d suggest you get this car on a flat bed along with the engine and go to an independent garage. Have them take a look. Should work IMO. And cars without oil pressure warning ? That's news to me.

[drmohitg]

How can the service adviser change the quote later from 6.6L to 4.9L? This is absurd. Did the dealership decide to bear some of the cost or they were changing stuff without any need in the first place?

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by aswin ajith

Sad.
Wrong place to go my friend. I strongly feel you should have gone to a reliable and good independent garage presuming warranty has expired since you mentioned its 2011 make. So I d suggest you get this car on a flat bed along with the engine and go to an independent garage. Have them take a look. Should work IMO. And cars without oil pressure warning ? That's news to me.

The mechanics suggested they could use something called a short engine hence reducing costs. From what I understood a short engine is half the engine block

[humyum]

I find the quote of 4.97 lakhs INSANE to say the least. What is he rebuilding, A PSLV Engine ?

Please list down the parts they have asked for replacement along with their prices as I don't think a Skoda Fabia engine rebuild should COST this much.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

When i asked the service advisor why the car didn't show an indication when the oil level was low i was told the Fabia doesn't have an Oil level sensor unlike the Rapid or the Octavia

No oil level sensor?? Are you absolutely sure about this? I was under the impression that every car had an oil level sensor/warning light. Even the Nano has one.

A friend of mine had a similar experience with his Eeco a few weeks ago. Lost all the oil (for no apparent reason) and engine seized. Maruti quoted 70K for half engine. He got it done outside at a FNG for 45K.

Regards,
SS

[a4anurag]

One more customer on the verge of succumbing into their net!

Two things:

1) No oil pressure switch / indicator in car manufactured in 20th century is something to be rendered great. Doesn't it speak of confidence Skoda has on their engines?!

2) Cost of repair - 6.6L to 5L! Which is almost around the new car price itself.

Was just surfing for the price, the Average ex-showroom price ranges between 5.03 to 7.51L so according to the price quoted of 6.6L 'only' for the engine, does it mean the rest components (Transmission, body, ECU etc) are free when the car is bought new?

According to the service guy the On- Road price is only for the engine!

As someone suggested already, get the car on the tow truck along with the seized engine and go to an FNG.

Things will be simpler, easier, faster, cheaper and mainly honest! This is an indication given to you to just run away from that ASC.

[zombiedriver]

That's the initial quote that was given. I don't have the soft copy of the revised quote,i'll upload it tomorrow. The problem with rebuilding the engine at a garage outside is that i'm not very sure of availability of parts. For one Skoda does not sell parts over the counter and also the Fabia has been out of production for a while now.

If anyone can suggest a good garage then i can pass that information on to my friend.

And yes i found it weird and insane that it doesn't come with an oil level sensor. I even tried arguing with the service advisor but he was adamant. I mean even the erstwhile Maruti 800 comes with one to my knowledge. My friend insists that it did not show any indication about oil at all.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

And yes i found it weird and insane that it doesn't come with an oil level sensor. I even tried arguing with the service advisor but he was adamant. I mean even the erstwhile Maruti 800 comes with one to my knowledge. My friend insists that it did not show any indication about oil at all.

Originally Posted by suzuki san

No oil level sensor?? Are you absolutely sure about this? I was under the impression that every car had an oil level sensor/warning light. Even the Nano has one.

Don't get confused between oil level and the oil pressure.

Maruti 800 never ever had any oil level sensor. And for that matter none of the cars in the Maruti range had it. None of the cars in the Tata, Ford and Hyundai range has one.
Are you talking about the Low Engine Oil Pressure warning lamp which is provided in all cars? Let it be clear Oil level indicator and Oil pressure Low warning is entirely different. The low oil pressure is sensed by a switch and the oil level is to be ascertained by the dip stick..
Even if there is oil in the sump, if the oil pump fails due to any reason, the engine is liable to have very serious damage if the warning lamp is ignored or if it doesn't function.

[bhardwhu]

Originally Posted by humyum

I find the quote of 4.97 lakhs INSANE to say the least. What is he rebuilding, A PSLV Engine ?

I was seriously following all the comments here and this pslv mention broke the monotony and made me laugh.

It is agreed that a third party evaluation for a engine swap or sale as a scrap or otherwise must be considered.

Regards

Himanshu

[hillsnrains]

Skoda and their dealers are not at all concerned about customers and these ASS guys take customers for ride and loot as much as they can. This may be because they are not going to get that customer back again (of course those who read his ordeal also never go for Skoda).

According to me there is no point in paying anything more than 1L for engine alone, that to when insurance guys are not ready/accept to pay. For that matter even >50K for a phased out 3 cylinder engine from ones pocket is too much, that to for a 3+yr old vehicle with a question mark on spares availability in near future. 2011 Fabia TDI should have 3 pot engine, which is same as the one in old Polo's. So you can consider swapping engine from old vehicles (Fabia or Polo). There may be scrapped vehicles (read met with accidents) without any damage to the core of engine i.e crank case, crank shaft, pistons, cylinder head etc. These are the components which will generally get effected by engine seizure. Your friend has to put extra effort to make these things happen. I am not really sure where one can get this kind of vehicles, but I am sure fellow BHPian's can help in this regard.

[govigov]

Can you take the car outside to an independent garage and ask them to assess it? Get the car repaired from there and even try to get a used engine/parts. Once repaired, sell of the car.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Don't get confused between oil level and the oil pressure.

Maruti 800 never ever had any oil level sensor. And for that matter none of the cars in the Maruti range had it. None of the cars in the Tata, Ford and Hyundai range has one.
Are you talking about the Low Engine Oil Pressure warning lamp which is provided in all cars? Let it be clear Oil level indicator and Oil pressure Low warning is entirely different. The low oil pressure is sensed by a switch and the oil level is to be ascertained by the dip stick..
Even if there is oil in the sump, if the oil pump fails due to any reason, the engine is liable to have very serious damage if the warning lamp is ignored or if it doesn't function.

I meant the check engine oil warning light. Sensor or not isn't it supposed to light up when there are oil related issues? The gist is that warning light didn't come on, hence he continued driving the car albeit was only about a kilometer before it stalled.

[aswin ajith]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

That's the initial quote that was given. I don't have the soft copy of the revised quote,i'll upload it tomorrow. The problem with rebuilding the engine at a garage outside is that i'm not very sure of availability of parts. For one Skoda does not sell parts over the counter and also the Fabia has been out of production for a while now.

If anyone can suggest a good garage then i can pass that information on to my friend.

And yes i found it weird and insane that it doesn't come with an oil level sensor. I even tried arguing with the service advisor but he was adamant. I mean even the erstwhile Maruti 800 comes with one to my knowledge. My friend insists that it did not show any indication about oil at all.

You could use our directory for FNGs in your place. You can visit them and brief them about the situation. Enquire whether parts for the Fabia are available or not and may be then take decision. The quote given is funny. They want to take you for a ride. I mean 5L for a half engine block is plain ridiculous.