Greeting all. I'd like to think that I would have joined this merry club without the problem which has beset me. It would certainly have been a lighter hearted post than this is going to be. What I am looking for is inspiration and practical advice which will help me recover a hell of a lot of money.

Last November, I bought the car in the topic title with the dealers words 'check the oil every 1000 miles' ringing in my ears. Three weeks later, after c360 miles, the oil level warning light came on when I started the engine. The light went out after a few seconds, which, according to the manual, meant it was not serious. I drove about 60 miles, then put in the recommended half a litre of oil. The warning light no longer lit when I started the engine, so I assumed all was put to right. Another 60 miles on, and without further warning, my engine blew up as I changed gear to engage the turbo charger. The RAC came out and discovered that I had not replaced the oil cap when I had topped up the engine. In their own words, they were in no doubt that this was the reason for the engine expiring. However, my insurers (or their engineer) is not having that. He is of the opinion that because there was so little oil present around the engine compartment and the underside of the bonnet, my engine must have been using an excessive amount of oil beforehand, and leaving the oil cap off had just accelerated this. At first, he more than suggested that I had ignored warning lights on the dashboard, but then backtracked to state that the fact that there hadn't been any warning lights was another fault with the engine and its associated systems. I put this to Skoda themselves, and whilst not denying that the engine may have had some sort of malfunction, they were more than relieved to back up the oil cap senario as being at the root of the problem.

I have had the engine replaced at great expense, and the car is performing brilliantly, but I am £5500 out of pocket with a seemingly impossible conundrum. The engine might have been using too much oil, and might have blown up anyway, but in leaving the oil cap off, I have masked this effect and given everyone a perfect opportunity to blame something else for the situation. Does anyone have anything useful to tell which might help me without my wasting money on a solicitor with no guarantee of success. If I cannot gain redress, I will think about and suffer the consequences of this incident for the rest of my life.

:( Jings, wish I could help you, but unfortunately not. That really is a sore one.

Hi and welcome aboard.

Sorry to hear what has happened.

Hello Skodamned and welcome along, sorry it's not under better circumstances.