We have a 17 reg Fiat 500 that was running fine apart from an oil leak we only picked up on recently.
We took it for a service and to fix the oil leak which the London based garage did for £600 give or take.
As soon as we drove away there was a weird sound in the engine, like an odd ticking noise. We took it back in a week after and they had a look and basically said "we don't know what the issue is but you likely need a new engine". It's done 48k milage so not massive.
Obviously we were shocked that all they suggested was a new engine and wouldn't take any responsibility. We took it to another garage that opened it up and had a look and ended up replacing the vanos gear, solenoid, timing belt, water pump, spark plug, alternator belt and oil filter all for the grand sum of £2,800.
I'm useful on cars but i went back to original garage to speak to them and they, of course, said it was just unlucky timing issue and not their fault.
My question here to people far more in the know than me is that is there a high chance that the issue was caused by the mechanic during the service or fixing the oil leak? I have legal cover through my insurance so is it worth going down the legal route or is it likely to just be really bad timing and something we have to swallow up this time?
Thanks for the thoughts in advance
Tom