Terrible day :( Leon TFSI

[missymr]

Hi guys

Had a terrible day Saturday This is my boyfriends car..

Driving on the highway about to take over someone, the Leon dies, so we pull over. Tried to start it, and it was just turning over really quickly.

No breakdown cover, so signed up and left it 24hrs to call. Sunday he comes out and immediately says the cambelt has gone.

He lifts the cover and said he could see the belt turning, so said it may have slipped or something.

Its been at the garage since then, and they've just gave us worse news than we first thought. He said a sprocket has broken on the camshaft, which he said is worse than the cambelt, they aren't sure of the full extent , but could be £2-3K

They said it could be the oil not being topped up enough, but my b/f always checked it and had the Leon serviced annually.

I am so so gutted for him . It has done 59K and is 2005 and will probably have to now be scrapped

Missy

 

[big eck]

Why scrap it???

 

[missymr]

Well I am not sure what he will do, but if it's going to cost that much, then we can't afford that sort of money at the moment

 

[andypower]

Its not all lost. If the engine is unusable but the rest is fine. There are garages that will suply and fit a second hand engine for 1500 quid. its alot but not as much as yu thought.

I found a few on ebay though i cant copy n post the link as im on my phone.

 

[missymr]

Oh ok, thank you, I will let him know, if you can paste the links later, I would appreciate it

 

[andypower]

Until that happens, go on ebay and type in. Tfsi engine

 

[mike0105]

If the car has been properly maintained, i.e serviced at each interval and by a seat dealer (unlikely i know), it may be worth ringing SEAT and explaining the situation. The car is very low mileage for its age and well maintained parts should last more that 60k. They might offer you a goodwill gesture. This might be very small, but every contribution helps. They will probably try and fob you off so be firm with them.

Whatever happens, i do hope you get it sorted. Best of luck!

 

[lil3520]

sorry to hear your news.

 

[missymr]

Thank you for the replies.

I will update as the garage updates us, unfortunately it is not main dealer history

Missy

 

[shnazzle]

Thank you for the replies.



I will update as the garage updates us, unfortunately it is not main dealer history



Missy

Doesn't matter. As long as official SEAT parts were used

 

[missymr]

Doesn't matter. As long as official SEAT parts were used

Arh ok, well I have just asked the question, I am not sure we have kept every receipt, just have the book stamped up.

They are still stripping it down, valves are bent so it's looking pretty bad

 

[missymr]

The garage it is at, at the moment thinks it's due to oil being too low so it wasn't getting up to the top of the cam :/

 

[mike0105]

If the oil was checked regularly, was there any sign of a leak? How much did it need topping up (if at all)? Any blue smoke and strange burning smells whilst driving? Anything out of the ordinary at all prior to the car dying?

 

[LeonCR]

Doesn't matter. As long as official SEAT parts were used

It does make a difference as the way its seen is you being loyal to the brand by using a dealership

 

[shnazzle]

It does make a difference as the way its seen is you being loyal to the brand by using a dealership

Indeed but "legally" your rights are intact. Granted by this time it'll be more of a goodwill thing

 

[missymr]

If the oil was checked regularly, was there any sign of a leak? How much did it need topping up (if at all)? Any blue smoke and strange burning smells whilst driving? Anything out of the ordinary at all prior to the car dying?

No blue smoke, no strange smells and no leaks. I am not sure about the levels, but when he checked it when it broke down, the oil was low.

 

[mike0105]

Indeed but "legally" your rights are intact. Granted by this time it'll be more of a goodwill thing

If i am correct, everything sold has to be fit for purpose for a reasonable period of time, i.e 4 years for cars, 2 years for electronics etc. The car is much older than this, but the parts that failed may not be. There is a good debate to be had about the legality of manufacturers warranties....

SEAT would almost certainly have no statutory obligation to do anything due to the car being a 2005 model, but they might be inclinded to help to a certain degree as part of their PR strategy. Horror stories of well maintained cars failing at under 60k miles can be hurtful to any car manufacturer and they might want to be seen to be a helpful, caring company. Of course, they may not care and take the view that the car was not serviced by a dealer so in their eyes, not well maintained. But don't ask, don't get so it is well worth trying.

On a seperate and unrelated note, all used cars in the UK come with a 3 month guarantee by law. Any faults would need to be proved by them to be your fault. So forget the 28day nonsense that some provide.

 

[missymr]

Yeah very true Mike, I think I will try get my bf to write to Seat because like my friend just said at work, it could be a fatigue failure, and if it is anything like that, then they need to know about it.

 

[spud31]

Known faliure on tfsi engines well worth trying for goodwill

 

[missymr]

Hi all

Ok, update is ..

It looks like the engine is too badly damaged for repair, there has been some sort of sludge running through the engine and its damaged and worn the engine out, the water pump was corroded too, the head gasket was fine as was the cambelt.

This garage where the car is at have quoted £2400 for a recon engine with 12 months warranty, but that does not include fitting They've said it would be silly not to have a new clutch if we went ahead with this, so with engine, clutch etc, we would be looking at £4000

I know there are ones on ebay for £1500 fitted, but we are just so scared of being ripped off, you see these things on watchdog and it puts you off.

We are so confused now, do we buy another car or what! arghhh