AA lied! WWYD?

OP I’m sorry you’re getting such shitty responses from people.

It sounds like the AA were useless, possibly to point of negligence, so first step ask for a copy of the paperwork re your case and a copy of the protocol for these situations.

re you’re DD I hope she’s ok. I have older teens one of whom would be be distressed in this scenario. Many people underestimate the continued impact of covid and lock down on young adults who transitioned to adulthood in that period - they lost crucial months/years and many are understandably less mature and experienced than they ought to be.

All you can do is reinforce that shit happens and help her be better prepared should a similar scenario arise in future

Then the AA should have said that. Is the rule that if you call them out incorrectly (and I don’t think she did) that they can they say any rubbish they like?

Also - see loads of posts saying the daughter should have immediately pulled over on motorway when overheating started again (if there was indeed any warning). What then?

Head gasket failure causes the engine to overheat, not the other way round.

As others have stated, these vehicles are prone to this kind of failure.

I run three cars which like me are in their early 50s- they are generally very reliable but I do need the most expensive cover from the AA and I've always been happy with the service.

I was given paperwork when I had a blow out a few months ago. It detailed what they did, recovered me to a garage. I gave them the marker post number and it took them over 2.5 hours to get to me. They'd got on the wrong junction...muppets.
They seem to have all this technology but fail to give the most basic information.

RAC once failed to put a wheel on my friends car correctly and it came off after as short drive. She got nowhere so I wouldn’t hold your breath.

The AA who should never have been called in the first place. If your car overheats you take it to a garage when you get it home.

I agree @Honeyroar

I also feel for OP's DD and the expense, upset and inconvenience this has caused.

It's perfectly possible to feel compassion for the predicament but also to disagree with where the fault ultimately lies.

You can disagree, that’s what we’re doing here.

But for me - if I pull over on the motorway due to my car being undriveable I call the AA / RAC. If I had a similar problem recently and they told me the car was now fine, then it’s reasonable I’d believe them. I’m not sure what people find so objectionable.

It's OK. I have my big girl pants on. And we are not the twats here!

I mean, the AA person may well have lied but he wasn't the one who continued to drive a malfunctioning car.

But they’re both facts that would affect the situation/any legal case. Should people not say anything if they don’t agree with the OP?? I feel sorry for the OP. It’s a crap situation, but it’s not 100% the AA’s fault, and there’s no proof even to back up the bit that the OP says the AA man did wrong…. The reason it’s still worth reading the replies is because she might spend more good money after bad chasing this. It’s good to read varying opinions before deciding what to do.

If all of this was the result of hitting debris have you approached her insurance to cover the repair.
My DD debris on the M4 shattered the floor tray and destroyed the sump the insurance covered all the costs including the hire car.

So I just asked my partner about this, he's very knowledgeable on cars. He pointed something important out. Does the car still have its protective engine bay under tray in place ? If that was missing, as is often the case when lazy garages do services and don't replace them ? If its missing - hitting a small piece of debris can result in damage to coolant pipes or other parts inside the engine bay - which should be protected from underneath by the tray. The 120 point check sheet you had done in August should have highlighted if this was missing. ..?

Bloody hell you’re a tough crowd on this thread. Most posters ignoring the fact that the AA patrol man advised the OP’s daughter that it was safe to drive the car on to university. She took that advice and it turned out to be the wrong advice. Now the AA have denied that conversation took place and have lied and said they advised don’t drive the car.
Some asking what harm could she come to while waiting on the hard shoulder for hours. It’s a well established fact that sitting on the hard shoulder carries the risk of being ploughed into by another car. It’s not a safe place to be.

Unfortunately I’m sure the AA will have a get out clause somewhere in the contract. Plus they’re saying it was logged as a unroadworthy. You can’t prove he said otherwise if you haven’t any paperwork saying otherwise. I’m sorry for you, it’s a crap situation, but it sounds a bit like you and your husband were worried it wasn’t roadworthy, so perhaps you should have sought another opinion or done a test drive before sending her off. And yes your daughter probably should have stopped earlier, particularly if the car had broken down previously. But I’m not judging her for that as I blew my gasket on my first car going back to college too!

And those pecking at or laughing the guy’s advice are making themselves look rather silly. It was a perfectly sensible reply, even if it wasn’t siding with the OP.

OP I think you need to get a copy of the AA’s paperwork ASAP, speak to an independent garage (although it will be very hard to prove that there was damage that made the engine lose water/oil when your daughter hit the debris (that’s not a great thing to do either!). They could say it happened on the next journey (as it indeed could have). It’s crap but I think you’ll be hard pressed to win this the way things have gone.

@Male101 crazy assumption to make!

Yes, but the car was not broken down. It had previously overheated. The AA are not a maintenance service, they would not have all had all of the equipment or the skill to do a full health check/service to determine categorically whether the car was roadworthy or not. The OP should have got it checked over by a garage if at all concerned about the car. This does not fall on the responsibility of the AA.

Who said I was male?

Home start, not advice on basic car maintenance. Like check the water and oil if your car starts to overheat……..

Minis do though

OP is getting trashed here because simultaneously ‘why didn’t her daughter pull over immediately on the hard shoulder’ and ‘the AA are for non starts and emergencies’.

Sorry OP. It’s a waste of time coming here. Hope you get it sorted and your daughter is ok. Pulling over in the motorway can be scary apart from the damage.

You can opt to have home start on your breakdown cover.

I'm confused by the first part of the OP, actually.

We you, DH and DD all in the car when it first overheated as you talk about all of you asking the AA man questions.

If not, I assume you called the AA to your home? But from what you've then described the car wasn't actually broken down - i.e. it still worked and drove - so why did you actually call them to it at home?

They're a breakdown service not a maintenance service so would only get your car going if it won't start at home, or tow it to a garage for repairing.

If it first overheated on another journey to the one you're fuming about, it should have gone to a garage to be looked at, not had the AA called to it.

God this site is shite nowadays and such a lack of reading comprehension.

Also some cars don't have a temp gauge.

AA comes out, checks car, highlights water and oil need topped up! Potential causes of overheating. Fair enough he shouldn’t have said it was perfectly fine without doing more extensive checks but, realistically, that’s your first line checks.

DD should absolutely have pulled over as soon as warning light came on.

Another one here backing pp’s and advise maybe DD shouldn’t be driving on the motorway if such an event leaves her so traumatised. It’s life experience and she needs to learn to deal with these things on her own without it all being so dramatic.