£17,500 bill for oil pump failure on a 3yr old car
I have a 2016 Disco Sport HSE Lux which I have owned from new. Bought from and serviced by Hunters (Inchcape) in Guildford. 40,000 miles on the clock. On Tuesday, 50 yards from home the engine sounded terrible, so I pulled over. The AA attended and said we had run out of oil, but no warning light as ever shown. 2 litres of oil later, we started up the car and drove it 250 meters, before it entered 'limp' mode with a red engine light. However the engine did not sound particularly bad. This was the first warning light that came up.
The car was towed to Inchapce, who called me on Friday to say the oil pump was blocked (?eh?), the engine was a write off, and the problems had extended to the turbo as well. The estimated repair cost - £17,500! For a car that is 3 yrs and 10 months old. At their hourly labour rate of just under £200 per hour, it doesn't take long to rack up a huge bill. Their comment was, 'these things just happen" .
I appreciate the warranty has expired, but I would not expect the car to suffer fatal mechanical damage, at this stage in life, and certainly not without a warning light even showing up.
Is this something LandRover should be dealing with?
Should Inchcap share any responsibility for this as it has been serviced at every call up, which as you will know, is pretty often?
Is an oil pump blockage even a real thing??
Advice sought please.
Many thanks
Rupert