My wife met with a fender bender with our 2007 Odyssey(103K miles). The radiator and bumper were damaged and we took it to the body shop referred by insurance company.
The body shop DID NOT put the radiator hose back when we got the car back. Within 15 miles the engine overheated.
Long story short, the repair shop took the car back after I bitterly complained. Since then the engine has several problems.
The repair shop is now offering to replace the engine with one that has 63.5K miles.
Is it a fair deal or am I being duped?
I am demanding 1-year warranty on the new engine - is it good?
Should I be asking / demanding / requesting anything else from the repair shop.
Seriously, you’re handling this properly. It’s unfortunate that the shop didn’t.
Before accepting the car back after the shop is finished, pop the hood and check all the fluid levels and check as best you’re able to see if everything looks right. If anything seems “off” (pun not intentional), get and explanations before accepting the vehicle by signing any paperwork.
Start it, listen to the engine, look for any signs of a leak.
Look at hose and “line” connections and look under the car for any dripping.
Pump the brakes and see that they feel normal.
Turn on the heater and the AC and see if they seem to be working okay.
Test the lights.
Replacing an engine requires disconnecting some component of just about every system. They’ve already “dropped the ball” once, so it’d be a good idea to check everything over.
Note that double checking any and all work performed as best you can is always prudent before paying a bill and/or accepting a vehicle back anyway. It’s a good habit to get into.
There’s a pretty good chance that 65K engine is in better shape than the current engine was before the crash, so I think that’s a pretty good deal the shop is offering up. You are correct to insist on a short term warranty too, b/c the replacement engine – if you got unlucky – may be no good, overheated rather than just from another wrecked Odyssey. Besides the good ideas posted above, there’s often computer version incompatibilities involved with engine replacements. In other words the engine that came w/your car new had all the proper software versions installed in the various computers distributed around the car that matched up with the configuration of that engine. And those software versions may not be compatible with the replacement engine. The symptoms of the incompatibilities like this vary widely, from drivability problems to check engine lights that won’t go out. So you definitely do need at least a short term warranty, and more important, the shop needs to have the diagnostic tools and expertise to guarantee the car’s software matches up with what’s needed for the replacement engine. Sometimes disreputable shops are not able to fix these kinds of problems and will remove the CEL bulb instead. So make sure that the CEL, and all the other dash warning lights that should turn on, turns on with the key in “on” but the engine not started, then quickly turns off once you start the car.
