Oil stained driveway from brand new car

[r10aam]

Hi everybody,
New to this forum so thanks for taking the time to read my first post.
I took delivery of a brand new ford kuga on march 29th 2016. On April 23rd I noticed a lot of oil stains on my block paving driveway that had only been laid in November 2015. I took the car to a ford dealer who diagnosed that the oil pressure switch was loose and had no gasket fitted to it. The car had only done 400 miles. The ford dealer rectified the fault by fitting anew switch and gasket. The car is now fine but my driveway is not. The company who laid the dive have advised that there is no guarantee cleaning it will bring the driveway back to the standard that it was before the oil staining so have given a quote to replace the affected blocks and re seal the drive. The cost comes to £1090 in total.

I have submitted the quote to Ford Motor Company and they have rejected it. They have said that as "goodwill" they will pay for it to be cleaned if I get them 3 separate quotations for the cleaning. They have said that I should claim off my house insurance as this is what normally happens in this case.

I wonder if anybody could confirm if this is correct as it seems to me that they are wrong. Goodwill suggests that it is not there fault but they will do me a favour by cleaning it. for me. As the manufacturer who has paid to repair the car under warranty wouldn't`t they be liable for consequential damage to my driveway? They have obviously admitted liability by paying for the repair.
I don`t mind getting it cleaned if it can be guaranteed that it will be back as it was, but the only cleaning quote I have had so far states that oil may still be visible after cleaning. This quote is for £708.

Please can somebody advise me of the relevant law regarding Ford being liable for the damage, and also are they wrong to tell me to claim from my home insurance for damage that was caused by a faulty new car.

Sorry its such a long post but I have tried to get everything in to make it easier.

Thank you

Andrew

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Oil stained driveway from brand new car

As much as it pains me to say so, I would tend to agree with Ford. You do have a remedy in both negligence and contract, but in my view, the damage caused is far too remote to be recoverable.

Look at it this way, if you were the Ford mechanic at the Valencia factory, would you be saying to yourself "I'd better make sure that I fit this gasket correctly otherwise oil could leak out and damage r10aam's drive". This is what I mean by too remote; the damage was not reasonably foreseeable by either Ford or the dealer. If the engine had seized up, then that would be a different matter and you may want to get re-assurance that the missing gasket did not affect the lifespan or integrity of any other components.

I'd accept their offer to clean the drive. They'll probably send a cheque and I'd use that to replace the damage paving. Presumably there is only 1 or 2 m2 of stained blocks?

If you do settle do not sign away any rights in respect of the car, just the drive!

[r10aam]

Re: Oil stained driveway from brand new car

Thanks for a quick reply. I will see what they say when I give them the cleaning quotes.
You have been most helpful.

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Oil stained driveway from brand new car

You're welcome. Don't take my word as the definitive guide. Others will no doubt post during the day with other solutions.

In the meantime, one option to consider is to accept their offer but request that the manufacturers warranty is extended in respect of the engine because you are concerned that the lack of oil may have affected or shortened the life of certain engine components.

[r10aam]

Re: Oil stained driveway from brand new car

ok thanks. Yes that makes sense as there was quite a bit of oil on the driveway.