Is the garage BU, or is my daughter?

[Oldstyle]

My daughter took her camper van for a service & MOT at a local garage. Lots of work needed doing which didn't surprise her. She said to go ahead. Couple of days before it was due to be collected the garage phoned to say the engine had blown up when they were doing the final check which involved high revs. They say it was a faulty engine that could have gone at any time. She can't prove it was or wasn't but the small print on the MOT info says that the garage is responsible for the car while it's on the premises. She's very upset - and will struggle to afford a new engine alongside everything else. Wondering about small claims court but maybe the garage is not BU? Any mechanics or legal types out there?

Bumping for you.

Was the faulty engine one of the many faults they suggested needing repairing when they went to her for authorisation?

I doubt the garage did anything to make the engine blow up - why would they? I think that they are probably telling the truth that it could have gone at any time.

The small print saying they are responsible for the car presumably means if it is stolen or they crash it while manuvering, not that they are responsible for any fault occurred while on their premises.

If a car develops a new fault whilst on their premises, I can't see why the garage would be liable.

Our cars clutch pin broke while in the garage, we still had to pay for it as it was a wear and tear induced issue. Hello £1300 bill we weren't expecting.

MrsGareth no - the engine was ok until it suddenly wasn't.
Stompy it seems that the main reason that engine's blow when they are being 'over' rev'd is lack of oil (according to the one bloke in my entire acquaintance who has any knowledge of cars). So it might be that the garage didn't check the oil before revving.
But I guess we're on a hiding to nothing here since we can't prove that.

Almost yikes!

Ask the garage for their insurance company details. The IC can arrange for one of their own engineers to inspect the vehicle and determine whether the engine issue is due to an error by the garage or just crappy timing for your daughter.

A difficult one this, as I used to work in a garage and this sort of thing does happen.

If the camper van is old with fair mileage on it then chances are you're on a sticky wicket. If it was just out of warranty you might be able to talk to the manufacturer about covering some of the costs.

Some tests do have to have the engine working at high revs so I dont doubt what they did, they won't have set out to blow it up. We used to have signs up warning people about this.

Yes the garage are responsible for the vehicle, just not in the way that would mean they'd pay for a blown engine. Think bodywork damage, theft etc.

Your dd needs to go in and have a proper chat with them. Find out how much it would cost for a new and second hand engine, I'd be tempted to ask them to go 50/50, or maybe she pays for the parts and they pay the labour. They won't want the grief or bad publicity, but equally won't pay out for something they don't have to. Rather than going in all guns blazing, have a proper sit down chat with the garage owner

Can I also ask what exactly broke? Did the engine seize, any talk of cam belts snapping, head gasket?

Thanks whoknew - think they'll go with that option. It's a local garage so will hopefully want to minimise bad publicity.