engine noise in honda city

a strange condition has happened to me.

i own honda city since 1.5 years in Baroda. I had to attend a conference in Ahmedabad on 12th nov. there was arrangement of valet parking by the organisers as a service so i gave my car at around 10.00 am in morning.

while leaving at 4.00 pm the attendent took out the car from the parking and gave to me. and while going out just 100 meters the car suddenly stopped on the way and nothing was working to start. so i have to call the roadside assistance to attend . the guy attended after 2 hours and and found out that while parking or so the bottom of the car had been banged and the engine oil filter was hammered and partially broke at the junction. so all the engine oil had been drained. he replaced the oil filter and engine oil and the car started.

now the problem was that car was running smooth up to speed of 50km/hr  or 2000-3000 rpm . but there was noise from the engine if we race it further. so he advised to take the car at low speeds to baroda and necessary check up to be done.

 at the workshop they found out that there is some problem in the engine and the engine needs to be opended up. the approximate expenditure would be from 15000 Rs. onwards.

the worst part is that the people at the workshop say it will not be covered under any insurance or warranty. because its not a direct damage to the engine. i said its not fault on myside even as i call roadside assistance as soon as i realised the problem.

friends if any one had any idea about this type of problem?// they say engine problems are not covered under insurance unless there is physical damage?

This isn't a particularly strange condition.  Unfortunately it's a disaster, and I expect the repair bill will be much more than 15k.

I would press the insurance company.  Breaking off the oil filter is physical damage resulting from an impact with some object, and the engine damage is a direct result of that incident.  Hire a lawyer if you have to.  Running an engine with all the oil drained out (as apparently happened here) is a really awful thing to do to it.  If an engine siezes due to a lack of lubrication it has almost certainly been seriously damaged.  At least a full engine overhaul is probably in order, though if the car is only 1.5 years old replacment with a new engine may be preferable.

Alternatively, you can look into filing a lawsuit against the valet's employer.

When the car has lost oil, its best that you never start the engine. However, as all has happened now, there is nothing much that can be done.

There could be a partial seizure of the engine as you are telling that there are problems in higher engine speeds. Saddening to hear this. Have you brought this to the notice of the building authorities? This could cost you a bomb depending upon the scale of damage. 

Try getting an opinion from another service centre/mechanic but I would suggest you to not drive the car anymore as it may aggravate the condition.

Regarding the lawsuit Mike, here in India if I file a case regarding this issue, probably its my children who will listen to the final judgement The system is so bad(maybe a li'l bit exaggerated)

Thank you Mike and Sanshrinand.

i know i am dealing with disaster. and the repairing cost can be any damn amount.

the issue is that i never realised that the oil pressure reached crically low, because the car was running smooth till it stopped completely with some noise. Then after it doesn't started at all,and finally when it started -after oil and filter replacement -it was with noise.

right now the car is in the honda workshop only and i have registered the claim and looking for the surveyer's report.

regarding lawsuit it is very difficult to prove that it was only his mistake because the person had handed over me the car in working condition.then only after 100 meters the problem occured.

after all this events and condition i think there is very little that can be done in this situation!!!!!!!1

sorry to update lately but it is taking so much time.

insurance company had rejected to aprrove any expense for the engine damage, they say its not the physical damage!!!!!

company people had opened the engine and given estimate of 60000 Rs.

i am still in discussion with company as well as other people as well as cosumer court forum whether anything can be done or not?

is it true that the engine damage is not covered under insurance??? it is nowhere written in bajaj alliance policy document which is received

waiting for suggestions

thank you

INSURANCE - This is something that protects you from accidents, subject to certain requisites that need to be proven to the company while filing for a claim, such as the driver's proof of licence, road worthiness of the vehicle and many other conditions which will not point out to the negligence of the driver of the insured vehicle. Insurance does not cover vehicle breakdowns. In your case, either the driver has not noticed or hid the factfrom you or you havent taken the issue seriously(if you were aware of the issue). Hence, there is no point in bringing insurance co to scene. If in case your vehicle suffered major damage to body and then engine failed, there could be a relation between the two. But here, you cannot do so, as I vaguely remember that your oil sump was damaged.

Though this comes under physical damage, the insurance company might agree for a new oil sump, but not the engine repair as it was not inevitable.