kaput in Deutschland

mossypossy said:
Spoke to insurance

If I opt to have it repaired in France...(cheaper labour maybe and euro weakness), I can have £500 travel expenses to go collect.

Holiday part two perhaps?
Click to expand...

The drawback to a repair in France is that you will have no easy comeback on the repair if it proves problematic some time later.

At least in the UK you can take it back to the repairer fairly easily.
 
Tough one

Who is to say the cam belt replacement I had done earlier this year was not directly related to latest failure?
 
mossypossy said:
my French is non existent

Would I get a fixed price quote for a repair job from a French garage, after an RAC paid for diagnosis....... is it a Devis?
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Yes, it's a devis. I'd offer my linguistic assistance but won't have reliable Internet for the next month.

Tom
 
Timescales

Aug 06 Breakdown and recover to German garage
Aug 12 Move to a French garage for diagnosis
Aug 18 Initial diagnosis "We need to take the head off"
Aug 25 "We will take the head off and give a fixed price quote"

:sleep-027:
 
mossypossy said:
Aug 06 Breakdown and recover to German garage
Aug 12 Move to a French garage for diagnosis
Aug 18 Initial diagnosis "We need to take the head off"
Aug 25 "We will take the head off and give a fixed price quote"

:sleep-027:
Click to expand...

I am fussy with things like this. If I have an engine failure which needs taken the head off, I want to replace the whole engine with another one or FULLY rebuild the broken one. Depending on what has gone boom you never know the condition of the crucial components.
 
I had a Fiat 2.0 JTD Van 85K miles and when it was 3 yrs and one month old it blow, was only running on three cylinders. Recovered to Fiat they said it was out of warranty, by a month,(but had full service history). When I asked what was wrong with it they said 'it needs a new engine' !
I said aren't you going to look at it, take the head off, and the reply was we could but it's a new engine job so if we took it apart then it would cost you more - and then we fit a new engine. So I had a new engine around £3K fitted.
 
it's a simple spreadsheet exercise.

Old engine taking apart, plus parts, repairs and all assembling versus taking engine out and fit 2nd hand engine. (or even a "new" reconditioned engine).

With the labour cost of garages these days , rebuilding a complete engine is a very costly exercise.

I just don't feel at ease with an engine only "half" repaired. (mean top half or bottom half). I am not saying it can't be done with success but you have to evaluate every case and make a decision based on facts.
If somebody (mechanic) assumes that the crank is ok, I wouldn't feel happy.

Don't get me wrong, plenty of engines have been repaired with good results. I am only concerned about the long term reliability. A slighty damaged big end bearing will last for quite a while. But it won't as long as it should.

But like I said before, I am fussy with these things :)
 
mossypossy said:
my French is non existent

Would I get a fixed price quote for a repair job from a French garage, after an RAC paid for diagnosis....... is it a Devis?
Click to expand...

My partner is a fluent French speaker, and a technical translator in French and German by profession. If you need any help just send me a PM.
 
I suspect that might equally be attributed to the amount of rock salt strewn onto UK roads during winter gritting 😀
Dave
 
If the repairs are being done at a French Fiat main dealer surely any problems after could be corrected at a UK main dealer. You don't have to go back to the supplying dealer for warranty work with a new vehicle
 
I realize repatriation will cost the RAC a lot with a 6 wheel 4.5 ton vehicle and they would prefer to give me £500 to go back and fetch

Depends what the quote is

I still have that option open to me
 
Take the blinkers off, it's all fine if YOU do it at home but when labour charges of a garage come into play it doesn't work out.
A reconditioned engine is of course the same thing but work carried out on a larger scale from a company specialised in just that. Hence the competetive price.

and where did I say i CAN't be done? All I said was it's usually too expensive if a garage is involved.

...but what do I know. (and I am too tired to dig an old story up where I reground valve seats with the just the use of my feet in the rain forest)
 
described the incident to a mechanically minded friend and his money is on one of the injectors grenading itself into the cylinder bore and thus damaging a valve


wife said she heard a pop, but for a few seconds before it died I heard a bad pinking/timing gone wrong sound

guesses on a postcard please
 
Mechanics

I agree with you Sir, it takes years of experience for a mechanic to gain knowledge and skills, learning by mistakes sometimes to know if a part should be repaired or replaced. I struggled to repair a Renault starter problem but could rebuild an engine or replace a head gasket.

I guess for those interested and discussing this saga, we have the Glass Half Full and Glass Half Empty options. For me the Glass is usually Half Full and I would trust the mechanic to do an expected good job.

What happens susequently cannot always be forseen. I have currenlty two family dilemmas involving cars that were not expected, one a possible £3k loss as whole engine ruined, the other a £15 repalcement item which was initially thought to be a new engine. Some you win some you lose.

Good Fortunes wished.
 
My glass is still half full

Hoping to return to France to collect the rest of the glass.....and some!
 
I must admit I thought it was way too big after I first bought it

Now driving it is no harder than driving any other large van sized vehicle

Only really get an impression of the size when you step away from the vehicle
 
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