Timing chain jumped

[Kowal1984]

Hi guys, got a problem, quite huge. Took my car (Toyota avensis 2.0 l diesel 2012) to mechanic to change egr valve, after three hours got a call saying that basically my car is "Mod edit: swearing removed"  engine need replacing. Was running perfectly fine, two days before passed the test, was advised that soon I needed to replace egr valve, decided to do this straight away. I asked for more details and mechanic said that they replaced egr valve, took it for a test drive and then timing chain jumped. So now engine is dead and they advise that cheaper is to replace the engine that repair this one (131k on the clock). But I need to pay for it. I give them perfectly working car, now I got a worthless piece and it wasn't even my fault. I serviced car regularly and they just destroyed it. It wasn't my regular mechanic, company I worked for said that I can use them, they will pay it and take money of my next month contract. I just wander if this is possible that they do something wrong while changing egr valve or it was just hidden fault. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by FROSTYBALLS
Swearing removed - do not try to bypass the swear filter.

[paul9]

Time to seek proper legal advice in your area. At the very least,  check with your local Citizen's Advice Bureau, Consumer Advice service or whatever similar service you have locally.

[Konrad C]

It sounds like they either drove it or revved the engine hard to make the timing chain even jump! There could have been a bit of wear that could have contributed to the alleged failure, but it happened on that garages watch! 
Seek legal advice. Some may prefer to get the engine inspected by preferred mechanic, and repaired. Independent expert will advise the likely cause.
I looked at a video on YouTube, and it did not look difficult. They only had to change the EGR and make sure it worked at normal engine speeds! 

Not accusing the garage, but I remember an owner who had a Dashcam that recorded a mechanic thrashing his car. No damage was done, but mechanic no longer worked there.
This why I make the time to do things myself or go to someone 'I' trust and use. In the MOT station, there are signs stating that they won't smoke test if the test doesn't think the engine is good condition, and they ask the owner so if the engine breaks, they are not liable! You were asked by the garage?   
   

[furtula]

I think the shops should be insured for these kind of things. Normally they are trying to blame it on your so in case they are insured, their premium does not go up, and they make nice money out of it. 

They should fix it at their own expense, as you said, you left them a working car.

As for the skipping chain, if the tensioner was loose, it would rattle, so they would immediately know it also should be replaced. Since this was not the question, i'm guessing they revved it pretty hard for it to skip, and since it's an interference engine, damage is almost always pretty substantial..

 

[Stivino]

It sounds like a male chicken (my 1st choice of word was edited out) and bull story to me.

[Kowal1984]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:33 AM, Konrad C said:

Not accusing the garage, but I remember an owner who had a dashcam that recorded a mechanic thrashing his car. No damage was done, but mechanic no longer worked there.
This why I make the time to do things myself or go to someone 'I' trust and use. In the MOT station, there are signs stating that they won't smoke test if the test doesn't think the engine is good condition, and they ask the owner so if the engine breaks, they are not liable! You were asked by the garage?   
   

I wasn't asked about anything, I got mechanic i trust but because it was before Christmas (lots of expenses) and apparently it was easy job I decided to use them, company I subcontract to use them all the time. They say I can put this on their account and they will take money of my January contract. Already spoke with some advisors and they say that I first should inspect the car by independent specialist, then repair it, got all the receipts, count loss of income etc and then go to court. Apparently if I refuse to pay to this garage they can hold my car till I pay or till case will be settled. 

Like I said it got test two days before it happened, and week before I took it to my mechanic to do inspection before the test. He said that I may soon need to change egr valve and check injectors but for now everything works fine. Only needed to change two rear tyres, and that's it. Everything else was fine. So I got bills for that, also got recorded a owner of the shop when he called me (got app on phone which records all calls) and he admitted that this happened when they took car for the test drive 

I got car last year, since then every 8k I change oil (use premium one) with engine flush and oil filter. Every another 8k I do big service (change other filters as well). Brakes, tyres, everything I change regularly, it's earning my living so I care about it. Now I need to rent another car, luckily the company I subcontract to give me quite good deal. But spending around 1500 (that I was quoted by them) to replace the engine it's not nice

Edited December 22, 2019 by Kowal1984
Missed some words, did not explain everything correctly

[Konrad C]

9 hours ago, Kowal1984 said:

I wasn't asked about anything, I got mechanic i trust but because it was before Christmas (lots of expenses) and apparently it was easy job I decided to use them, company I subcontract to use them all the time. They say I can put this on their account and they will take money of my January contract. Already spoke with some advisors and they say that I first should inspect the car by independent specialist, then repair it, got all the receipts, count loss of income etc and then go to court. Apparently if I refuse to pay to this garage they can hold my car till I pay or till case will be settled. 

Like I said it got test two days before it happened, and week before I took it to my mechanic to do inspection before the test. He said that I may soon need to change egr valve and check injectors but for now everything works fine. Only needed to change two rear tyres, and that's it. Everything else was fine. So I got bills for that, also got recorded a owner of the shop when he called me (got app on phone which records all calls) and he admitted that this happened when they took car for the test drive 

I got car last year, since then every 8k I change oil (use premium one) with engine flush and oil filter. Every another 8k I do big service (change other filters as well). Brakes, tyres, everything I change regularly, it's earning my living so I care about it. Now I need to rent another car, luckily the company I subcontract to give me quite good deal. But spending around 1500 (that I was quoted by them) to replace the engine it's not nice

I feel your pain. Hindsight is something we don't have. If only you left it to your trusted mechanic who said 'may need to change soon'. I would have then said to him 'how soon you can fit me in, and is the car okay until then?'. Remember, the EGR at worst will put the car in limp mode. 
You are doing everything right to document everything and get expert help and opinion. 
I wonder how much a replacement chain and tensioner replacement cost, in comparison repairing the damage caused by the jumped chain? I assume during repair, a compression test to will be done by re-timing up the timing chain and see if the valves and pistons are damaged. If not it will be a strip down or replacement, whichever is cheaper.

I did say in an earlier post, the engine let go on that garages watch. It could be that they revved the engine very hard, compared to how you normally use the car. Saying that, if the tensioner was weak, it would have been a matter of time. One thing is when the work has been done, make sure all the old broken parts are retained for evidence. Let who ever does the work know in writing, with a written signature. It sounds far fetched, but you want to try anything that helps your cause.
Good luck.