Ran the 150 out of oil........

[Guest Close Guest]

Add a hire car to the costs. If you are left without a car, it will be approved in a court of law. Basic action in this situation.

You can do oil analysis on much less. Go to your local cavpower / CAT store. they sell a small bottle that's under 250ml to test oil from memory.

I would be using Toyota to do the mechanical check. Reason being they will likely be most expensive and will be all genuine parts. They will force a long block as the solution to repair most likely.
If it goes to court, Toyota will have the best standing as a witness, rather than any average mechanic.

[PradoJim Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradoJim]

Thank you Piggy. 100% agree and Toyota was my first choice for those reasons. However, I'm in a medium sized country town and it seems to be a feature up here, not the first time I've had this; They (the only Toyota dealer in town) were completely disinterested in the job. It was all too hard and in the service manager's words "...we're not really equipped to be pulling heads off". When I called them back about the booking I made for the inspection and told them the insurance company required the sump off, the service manage literally groaned on the 'phone.

I didn't want someone working on the car that wasn't interested and was finding it all too hard. So I switched to a fourbie place which brags that it's the biggest outside of capital cities. They've done good work for me before.

But, there's been a development:

This may be the best news.

Insurer sent a guy out to fourbie place to supervise the strip down. He stopped them and told them to first remove the oil filter and cut it open. It had white metal in it (just for interest, that filter's only got about 20 klm on it- not good). He then called the insurer and told them it was pointless replacing the turbo alone or doing a further strip down. The engine requires a full rebuild and turbo.

He also said that they would want pro-rata payment but told me that in his opinion, the motor was good for 500,000Klm. As I had 100,000 k on it, that's 20% use therefore 20% pro rata. However he felt this was unfair and it should be reduced to 10% and only apply to parts. He said the insurance company verbally accepted this.

He's waiting for a quote from the fourbie place and will present his findings, recommendations and quote to the insurer (which should be next week).

This could mean that I'd be up for some hundreds of dollars instead of thousands. Rebuild ~ $15,000. Cost of parts within that ??? I'd guess maybe half as there'd be a lot of labour - $7,500. Ten percent $750.

Hmm. I have an insurance assessor mate, recently retired. He's been very helpful and offered to support me through any battle. He knows all the Acts, all the departments and all the strategies. However, and he is a mate, his guarded advice was that I would probably win in the end (IE not pay anything) but I'd be strung out for as long as they could.

He thinks this could be a really good deal and I tend to agree. It's $750 more than I should be paying but to have it wrapped up in a few weeks vs up to a year or more and with a full rebuild is not a bad option. I know the principle and I can get very righteous as well but I'm thinking this may be a pretty good outcome.

PS He also thinks I was very lucky getting some one at the fourbie shop stripdown who knew what he was doing and appears unbiased. Inspectors like that are boxed in by "too many findings for the claimant = less work from the insurer".

PPS Just spoke to the fourbie place owner who's doing the work. He told me that they told the insurer that they will not be involved in any half-arsed work. It's full rebuild with genuine parts or nothing. They agreed. So just waiting on final quote which the repairer is working on now.

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Maybe I'm missing something. This engine was damaged by negligence of a mechanic. I gather it is the mechanics insurer you are dealing with now?

I am at a loss to understand how this is "Your fault" and need to pay pro-rata. Myself personally I would be going back to them with a bill for a hire car as well as demanding 100% of the repairs.

It has NIL comeback how old the engine was, it was destroyed by nothing but pure 100% Negligence, brand new or a million kms, negligence is negligence. I would stand my ground a bit and possibly get some feedback from the insurance ombudsman. Sounds like they are trying to weasel out of some of it.

[PradoJim Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradoJim]

Yes I know and thank you for the support. Yes, the mechanic's insurance. My comprehensive does not cover this type of damage.

I can't see why I should pay a cent. But my insurance insider tells me it'll certainly go on for months if not a year or more if I fight it. They will deliberately drag me out as long as possible. He said, for example, if the law required a 30 day response to letters sent by me or Fair Trading or anyone else, he would sit it on the back burner for 29 days. It was a deliberate strategy. I already have a complaint lodged with Fair Trading and am just waiting assigning of a case officer. He tells me (and I already know) they have limited powers.

I was initially looking at the possibility of paying thousands and now possibly somewhere in the hundreds (yet to be confirmed) but having my car back within weeks. I have to consider the practicalities. It does stink, not my fault one bit. My mate also tells me that if I go legal on it, the cost will rack up quickly with no guarantee of costs being awarded even if I did win (which I also already know, I have some experience with legal matters of this nature). The repairer is also my choice, someone I've dealt with before and who has a good reputation. So that's also a positive rather than being forced to use their choice.

I've also looked into fixing it myself (to get the car back quickly) and pursuing them for the cost. However I've been warned (once again by my insurance insider) that's a course fraught with danger.

However, I knew from day 1, no matter which way it went, it would cost me one way or another. I'm just hoping this thread will be enlightening for others as well as doing what it has, given me support and ideas.

[PradoJim Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradoJim]

Conclusion. Thanks all for your support. I'm very happy with this outcome as it could have been much much worse (they could have, and I was threatened with, writing off the car).

Seven weeks since the service the mechanic's insurance company called to say the repair has been approved. I'm getting a brand new D4D motor, brand new turbo and full Toyota warranty. I have to pay $950 which is a token by normal standards of "betterment". IE in insurance jargon, I'm getting better than what I had. I have from my Fair Trading Case officer that I should not be responsible for any money. I'll explain further below how that works. However, to get my car back ASAP and the fact that the engine comes with new injectors (mine were due for a change in around 20,000 klm and would cost me at least $2,500), I figure in a way I'm saving some money. Happy to pay. By the way, Fair Trading did not get involved, just advised in the background. They would only get involved if I was unhappy with the outcome.

That's the short story.

If you are interested: I think my saving grace was the engineer the insurance company sent to assess the car when the service centre of my choice received the car for damage assessment. Rather than pull the sump off (which in the Prado requires removing the engine), he suggested they remove and open up the oil filter (my personal go-to but I was warned not to touch anything). It was full of white metal. That filter was on the car for approximately 17 klm. From the side of the road break down, back to the garage to fully refill with oil and then driven to my home.

The assessor decided on that basis a full rebuild was required. He assessed the D4D as capable of 500,000 klm and as my car had 100,000 on it, I was liable for 20% of the existing wear. However, he was taken with the condition of the car. It's a 2012 but only has 100,000 on it. I also spent many hours detailing it before it went in for it's assessment. I never take a dirty car to a mechanic based on the belief they'll treat it better if it's well looked after. This may have paid off. He felt it unfair that I pay 20% of the repair cost (which is $17,686). He recommended to the insurance company that I pay only 10% of the cost and that be limited to the value of the engine alone ($9,500). So no contribution for the turbo or labour. He was very empathetic with my situation (IE 100% not my fault).

For interest and information, if I did want to pursue the matter Fair Trading were more than happy to take it up. However, they can't "take on an insurance company". What they would do is to pursue the mechanic himself to recover any costs that I incurred as I should not be responsible for any costs at all. They also don't believe in the "betterment" clause as without doing a full rebuild or supplying new parts the insurance company could not guarantee I would be getting a proper repair. If I ended up with something better because of it, the costs are not my problem.

However, I'm happy with the deal as is.

Finally, it was actually cheaper to supply a new engine and turbo than to do a full rebuild. Plus the insurance company is freed of any warranty issues as this passes to Toyota.

I'm not being compensated for the 7 weeks without a primary vehicle nor the several weeks I still have to wait but overall, this is pretty good.

[Leethal Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leethal]

The main thing is your happy with the outcome and I believe understandably so.
A new engine & turbo witn factory warranty is definitely a positive outcome in many ways.

Enjoy your fourwheeling now