paulr

Hi,

My dad called the AA because a belt needed replacing on his Skoda. Loosening off a pulley the AA snapped the bolt. Now it needs drilling and its an engine out job. Has any body had the AA damage their car, and made a successful claim
.
Any tips or advice welcome.

thanks
Paul.

PaulC72

The first question is I assume the AA are saying they are not liable already?

paulr

We havent contacted them yet. We only found out the extent of what needs doing over the weekend.

Saying that, i have just emailed their claims dept asking for details of how to claim. I doubt they will roll over just like that.

apples24

iTrader: (1)

that will not be counted as there fault, its a fault with the car

sprigeteer

iTrader: (9)

I had a massive to do with them about 8 years ago. I started legal proceedings and ended up with them offering me a new interior for my classic MG Midget. They'd taken it to a yard for storage when it's windscreen blew. I instructed them to cover it, which was promised. They subsequently left it out in 3 days worth of rain with no screen. They then lost the car! It turned up 1 week later many miles from the original incedent with it's clocks full of water. I kept notes of everything everyone told me on the phones (times and dates) and then had advice from trading standards and CAB. Sent a letter to the AA advising them of my intentions and the reasons why. They wanted to settle out of court. Can't rememeber the exact amount, but it wasn't far off a £1000.

Main tip: record dates, times and any conversations you may have. If you phone someone, get their name and position within the company. Get advice too.

apples24

iTrader: (1)

different cases imho

yours is negligence, the other is the fault of the car

Dedrater

Could it not have snapped when he was torquing the bolt back up? Realised his mistake, then put the old belt on saying it snapped when he was undoing it?

Is it common for a pulley bolt to shear off? How old is the car?

Wish

iTrader: (2)

No Claim to be had ...

SteveShort

was it BOBT doing the work

Dedrater

I think there is, they will be insured for this sort of thing. You don't expect your car to end up with more damage when the AA come out to fix it. If they were not confident of doing the job or it was high risk, they should not have taken the job on or at the very least, made aware to the customer of the potential failings the job may incur.

If it ended up in front of a layman, a magistrate for instance or an awarding body, I am 95% sure in would fall in favor of the claimant, I would put money on it.

Dedrater

I think there is, they will be insured for this sort of thing. You don't expect your car to end up with more damage when the AA come out to fix it. If they were not confident of doing the job or it was high risk, they should not have taken the job on or at the very least, made aware to the customer of the potential failings the job may incur.

If it ended up in front of a layman, a magistrate for instance or an awarding body, I am 95% sure in would fall in favor of the claimant, I would put money on it.

Leslie

It is unusual for a bolt of that size to break when being undone unless it was severely overtightened in the first place. It is usually corrosion on the threads making it difficult to undo which causes that problem.

Hard to say it was the patrolman's fault if it snapped when he was undoing it. Did you see that actually happen and did you know about it before he had installed the new belt?

The AA must be insured against that sort of thing so maybe if you claim you will get satisfaction from them.

Sounds as though the bolt may be rusted in if it is necessary to do an engine out job to get it out of the mounting.

Examnination of the bolt and the bolt head may indicate whether it broke while being undone rather than being tightened up by seeing the direction the bolt was being turned when it broke off.

Les

BOB.T

Ahem

MMT WRX

So what if the AA man pulls the bonnet release and the cable snaps. Who would be at fault?

There have been a few similar cases on P/heads recently where cars have suffered some form of breakage whilst in the garage for repair work. The general consensus has been that, 'things can break'. If I remember correctly, one was a Porsche that went in for brake pads and the ignition barrel failed - about £500 worth - whilst being driven on to the ramp. The garage (OPC I think) refused to contribute anything and the customer had to suck it up.

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

I've got a good one on my ramp at the moment. 2008 MINI COOPER S comes in non start.
Check the memories, inlet camshaft sensor fault.
Test the sensor on starter cranking- No signal.
Remove the sensor and crank engine again- Cam not turning!!! Gulp!!!
OK rip the rocker cover off and find the cam chain has snapped, along with the end sprocket of the exhaust camshaft.
Noticed both of the camshaft very rear ends are blue. Exhaust camshaft is seized solid.
Remove vacuum pump from it's connection to the exhaust camshaft, camshaft now free.
Ok, so why is the pump seized?
Checked oil level an epic 1Litre of oil in engine.
Ok, so to the point of my long story.....
We tell the customer, this looks like all the problems have stemmed from the engine starving of oil, causing the vaccum pump to lock, exhaust cam seize, and the timing chain to snap the sproket off of the front of the camshaft, and then the chain ripping in half!
Customers response, the oil light didn't come on, it's not my problem. You'll be hearing from my solicitor!! So....checking your oil level every three weeks (as stated in the handbook!!) must be far too hard a task for this brain dead retard!!!
Why do we try to fix things, if we constantly have to worry about getting taken to court when something breaks??!!
Rant over.

The only thing i'd say the AA will pay out for, is damage caused by neglegance.
You'll need to prove the damage was due to the AA guy doing the job wrong/incompetantly. Like has been said before, components do rust/age, and aren't indestructable. You may well have a fight on your hands to get any pay out from the "you've got AA friend" lot.

Westwood2006

iTrader: (1)

When green flag recovered me from my first big end rattle they tried to make me sign a disclaimer absolving them of any liability for suspension damage after recovery!

I had already formed an irrational dislike to the chap who was driving because he revved the nuts off it when I asked him repeatedly not to start it because he wasn't fixing it on the side of the road.

I just laughed it off. No way was I signing that. Luckily he asked me after I had been recovered home.

CrisPDuk

What? Car manufacturers must be using some seroiusly shoddy materials these days if that's the case. I've never had this happen on any car I've owned, and (scoob apart) I've never owned a car that's less than 10 years old. Although I do generally give all exposed threads a light coat of lubricant before turning them.


This I would most strongly agree with, if the the garage is telling you the engine needs to come out for a little job like that, it's highly likely that someone is taking the p1ss (was it a Skoda dealership by any chance?). Take the car to a proper mechanic for a second opinion.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Any belt pulleys I've ever done have had dirty great bolts fixing them. I can imagine rounding the head off, but to snap one would take a bit of torque.

Anyway, did your Dad authorise any repair work by the AA and sign anything?

Leslie

You have been a lucky chap then. It always seems to me that manufacturers assemble their cars with either dry nuts and bolts or with very little lubricant. Easier all round on the assembly line I suppose. That explains why chassis bolts get pretty rusted up after a few years and doubtless also any bolts on the engine especially the front where they are more like to have a wet existence.

If the AA man put a fair old tweak on the bolt in question then if the thread is badly rusted then it is not too difficult to wind the head off the bolt, depends how long his "shifter" was. Easy to do if he was trying to do the job quickly. it is easy enough to detect the problem before damaging the bolt if you try it a bit more gently in the first place. Only remedy is a good dose of WD40 and leave it for a good long time. Sometimes rocking it very carefully in each direction will free the threads, if you are lucky! Too late now of course.

All this is difficult to prove of course. If the threaded part is that badly rusted into the block then an EZ Out probably won't get it out either. It will more likely need to be drilled out accurately in several steps in drill diameter and the final piece of bolt thread will have to be tapped out with a die.

Great fun to do I don't think!. I have had to do that a few times over the years.

I wish you luck with the AA.

Les

paulr

Its the crank bolt. The AA guy put a socket on, wouldnt move so put a long pipe on the end. He was trying to tighten the bolt, but it was fully tight and snapped. That to me is neglignece

Anyway, what i really after is people who have won a claim against the AA, tips and advice please.

PaulC72

Never had to go through it, but the one thing you have just said to me is one of the most important things in your claim.

Is it normal procedure for them to use a pipe on the end of his socket, if not then he is at fault. I would have thought he would have used a torque wrench to tighten the bolt to stop it shearing.

paulr

Good point, thanks. This probably need clarifying.

MMT WRX

Paul, can you clarify: in your initial post you said loosening the pulley then later you say tightening the bolt.

Obviously this has an impact on whether a torque wrench should have been used or not. I think its common practice to use a short length of pipe on the end of the spanner to undo the bolt, but not for tightening.

paulr

Okay, this is what happened, (i had to speak to my dad)

He was checking his car for oil and noticed the fan belt out of line. Called the AA and the guy thought it was the tensioner (Skoda Fabia) that was not seated properly ,ie not tight. He tried to tighten it with a socket and bar. Couldn't do it so got a longer bar, then snapped it. I would say he should have used a toque wrench.
Having said all this, we will await the results from the garage.

I would also like to hear from anyone who has made a successful claim.

Leslie

You said earlier it was the crank bolt and now you say it was a bolt on the tensioner. That is very confusing.

Trying to tighten it with a longer shifter when it would not move was very unwise anyway.

Was the fact that the belt was out of line the reason that he was trying to tighten the pulley up on the end of the crankshaft in order to align it better?

All this sort of information will have an effect on the success or otherwise of any claim.

Les

paulr

My last post is correct, it was the tensioner, not the crank. (My dad is getting on a bit.)
Of course we will wait until the car is repaired, and we have a report from the garage before we make a claim.

Leslie

Yes ok, looks like he was a bit over enthusiastic with the big shifter. I wish you luck with the claim anyway.

Les

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

To be fair its not the AA mans fault that the bolt has broken..

Its probably corroded into the tensioner,or just weakened through usage..

How was he supposed to go about trying to fix the car ?? Say "Hmmm,thats too tight,im not even gonna attempt it"?

If the guy broke the bolt tightening it up,that would be a very different scenario..