Insurance repair

[JohnD]

sadly, the people doing the work, and the people paying for it, are likely to be incentivised towards cheapness, penny-pinching and skimping.

The effort to totally rebuild a worn old engine is going to be greater than building a new one in the factory.

You can do limited amounts (bearings, crank, pistons, valves) on a budget but are not going to bring every part back to new condition.

 

[sxturbo]

What has happened to a recon engine then ? Are they as good as a new one ? Can an old engine with say 100k be recon'ed to be as good as new ?

MEC diesel I believe use brand new blocks etc, 12 month 20k mile warranty,

Ivor Searle and Vega are recon units.

Ivor Searle and Vega all they do is recon engines.

They have a 12 month 15000 mile warranty against manufacturers defects.

Essentially your getting a brand new engine.

There is other companies but they are all monkeys,

 

[Agile]

The impression I get at motor repair garages is that most written off engines get replaced with ( hopefully ) low mileage engines from recent crash write offs.

If the recon van units are £5000 then that is not very surprising.

 

[trevorbayliss]

The bad news came today. Offer £7.1k for the van as it is a write off.

The parkers guide has mine valued at £9.6k

I have found my van for sale on autotrader, except they all have higher mileage. Mine has 25k miles:

89k M £7.5 plus vat

49K M £9.3k

116K M £6250

They said the actual value was around 6.5K, but they were giving me £7.1k

I told them to stick it and have pressed the complaint format.

I suppose they haggle now and i produce my evidence.

Then onto the ombudsman.

It is a really disgusting industry.

 

[Burnerman]

In the ‘good old days’ it was possible to recon an engine by reboring the cylinders, fitting bigger pistons and grinding the crankshaft and fitting under sized bearing shells. Alloy cylinder heads were likely to be skimmed too.
Not all engines are capable of having this treatment now, in fact very few are so the term ‘reconditioning’ needs to be carefully investigated!
For sure, if the oil drained from your sump after an impact or whatever, the crankshaft bearing shell bearings would be wrecked in seconds.
John

 

[sxturbo]

In the ‘good old days’ it was possible to recon an engine by reboring the cylinders, fitting bigger pistons and grinding the crankshaft and fitting under sized bearing shells. Alloy cylinder heads were likely to be skimmed too.
Not all engines are capable of having this treatment now, in fact very few are so the term ‘reconditioning’ needs to be carefully investigated!
For sure, if the oil drained from your sump after an impact or whatever, the crankshaft bearing shell bearings would be wrecked in seconds.
John

Most still can, however few have the parts available to do such work these days, and even fewer people pay for such work in today's throw away society.

I'm still surprised the insurance company are writing the van off when you can get reconditioned engines with decent warranties for about 2.5-3k.

I'd be tempted to take the money and buy the van back and get a decent mechanic to put a recon engine in for you...

 

[ETAF]

I'm not sure what the rules are today , BUT in 2015 I purchased the vehicle when written OFF , had to pay them the scape value from the settlement and excess, BUT after doing a lot of research and printing out car prices expecting an argument , Direct Line inspector, went round the car offered pretty much the forecourt price , with no hassle, so happy for that. I had a car written off in the 70's and that was a lot of renegotiation to get the price at what was a fair value.
IN 2015 we had the car repaired, and MOT, i think i was not told until i tried to MOT cant remember how i found out , BUT what i did not know was to put back on the road i needed to have an inspection by VOSA , i think it was then, but seem to have changed in 2017 , before it went back on road / insured.
Worth checking fully what needs to be done if considering buying back

I'm sure a member here will know and reply

Sad thing is like my situation , when a stolen car write off my car and disappeared.
The insurance went up , even in 2015 my wifes insurance went up with a protected no claims, and not her fault!!!!

 

[sxturbo]

I'm not sure what the rules are today , BUT in 2015 I purchased the vehicle when written OFF , had to pay them the scape value from the settlement and excess, BUT after doing a lot of research and printing out car prices expecting an argument , Direct Line inspector, went round the car offered pretty much the forecourt price , with no hassle, so happy for that. I had a car written off in the 70's and that was a lot of renegotiation to get the price at what was a fair value.
IN 2015 we had the car repaired, and MOT, i think i was not told until i tried to MOT cant remember how i found out , BUT what i did not know was to put back on the road i needed to have an inspection by VOSA , i think it was then, but seem to have changed in 2017 , before it went back on road / insured.
Worth checking fully what needs to be done if considering buying back

yeah on the old system cat D write offs could be put back on the road no arguments. cat C had to go to vosa for inspection. b spares only, a crushed.

not sure about the new system but they've changed it for what appears no good reason.

 

[trevorbayliss]

i collected my roof rack today from the engine repair place.

The guy there said i could buy it back off the insurers and put the same engine back in. The citroen engines are very common.

I am going to look into it.

It will be classed as a Cat "something" though so on resale it will be lower. However, i was intending to keep for 10 yrs.

 

[sxturbo]

i collected my roof rack today from the engine repair place.

The guy there said i could buy it back off the insurers and put the same engine back in. The citroen engines are very common.

I am going to look into it.

It will be classed as a Cat "something" though so on resale it will be lower. However, i was intending to keep for 10 yrs.

If your keeping it that long you would be quids in. You'll be able to put a recon engine in by a mechanic and still have 2-3k left in your back pocket

 

[trevorbayliss]

From reading a bit it seems recon engines are a bit hit and miss

Can it really go that well with a recon or new engine?

 

[sxturbo]

From reading a bit it seems recon engines are a bit hit and miss

Can it really go that well with a recon or new engine?

, don't go to Joe blogs for your engines their is so many cowboys out their, I'm sure there is more in the engine recon industry than in Texas.

Stick to the companies I've stated previously, Ivor Searle, Vege or MEC diesel.

MEC diesel is Italian and only deal with trade, I deal with them through work I'm not sure who else deals with them in the UK.

Ivor Searle you will have to purchase from a motor factors, Vege is available from euro car parts and most other motor factors.

These have full warranty backup for any failures, and from my dealings with them all failures have been fault of the installing mechanics and never because of poor quality build. In each instance Ivor Searle always do a discounted goodwill gesture to help. Vega and MEC don't.

These cowboys that are out there you'd be lucky if they answer the phone to you after they've sold you the engine.

The bad reviews you see on the companies mentioned are to be taken with a pinch of salt. I am yet to meet a mechanic who admits to making a mistake. I've had so many over the years blame the parts for failures they themselves have caused.

My wife recently had a warranty claim on a Ivor Searle transit engine, the engines are supplied with no injectors and it is expected when the customer fits the old ones or new ones that new seals will be installed also. Not so on this one, the mechanic fitted the old injectors with the old seals. On these engines the injectors fit under the rocker cover so with combustion leaking past the injectors it coked op the oil. They also installed the old turbo oil feed without cleaning it and even though it was full of carbon. Ivor Searle done a full written report with photos of the failures and the customer still wouldn't accept they cocked up. Ivor Searle offered to rebuild the engine at cost as goodwill (1k instead of 2.5k). The customer paid but now refuses to accept their engines...

Can lead a horse to water....

 

[cdbe]

Worth seeing what they ask for the salvage, mine was 10% of their offer. Then ask the engine garage for a "private" quote to repair/replace.

 

[trevorbayliss]

, don't go to Joe blogs for your engines their is so many cowboys out their, I'm sure there is more in the engine recon industry than in Texas.

Stick to the companies I've stated previously, Ivor Searle, Vege or MEC diesel.

MEC diesel is Italian and only deal with trade, I deal with them through work I'm not sure who else deals with them in the UK.

Ivor Searle you will have to purchase from a motor factors, Vege is available from euro car parts and most other motor factors.

These have full warranty backup for any failures, and from my dealings with them all failures have been fault of the installing mechanics and never because of poor quality build. In each instance Ivor Searle always do a discounted goodwill gesture to help. Vega and MEC don't.

These cowboys that are out there you'd be lucky if they answer the phone to you after they've sold you the engine.

The bad reviews you see on the companies mentioned are to be taken with a pinch of salt. I am yet to meet a mechanic who admits to making a mistake. I've had so many over the years blame the parts for failures they themselves have caused.

My wife recently had a warranty claim on a Ivor Searle transit engine, the engines are supplied with no injectors and it is expected when the customer fits the old ones or new ones that new seals will be installed also. Not so on this one, the mechanic fitted the old injectors with the old seals. On these engines the injectors fit under the rocker cover so with combustion leaking past the injectors it coked op the oil. They also installed the old turbo oil feed without cleaning it and even though it was full of carbon. Ivor Searle done a full written report with photos of the failures and the customer still wouldn't accept they cocked up. Ivor Searle offered to rebuild the engine at cost as goodwill (1k instead of 2.5k). The customer paid but now refuses to accept their engines...

Can lead a horse to water....

Thanks for the info. So for example, if i want an engine i just order one through euro parts and it will be a Vege.

Then i need to get a mechanic to fit it. But this is the bit which is the weak point ?

There are 2 garages near me doing this type of work, so not that many in a medium sized city of 200k. I have spoken to one today and he is going to see how much an engine is for my citroen. I will call the other on monday.

I will also look into the makes you mentioned.

 

[sxturbo]

Thanks for the info. So for example, if i want an engine i just order one through euro parts and it will be a Vege.

Then i need to get a mechanic to fit it. But this is the bit which is the weak point ?

There are 2 garages near me doing this type of work, so not that many in a medium sized city of 200k. I have spoken to one today and he is going to see how much an engine is for my citroen. I will call the other on monday.

I will also look into the makes you mentioned.

Yeah, lkq who now own ecp also own vege

Vege do different options, they can supply a complete engine with the fuel pump and injectors or the basic engine and you use your fuel pump and injectors.

The others mentioned will supply just the engine.

I'm surprised there isn't more garages willing to do such a simple swap near you.