Burnt valve on cylinder 2

[Clarescott61 0]

I have an 11 plate chevrolet spark that has broken down 6 weeks out of warranty. I took it to a local garage and they say it's a burnt valve on cylinder 2 causing that cylinder to run at 25%. They have told me that I should take it to my local dealer 20 mile away as this should not have happened on a 3 year old car with low mileage. My local dealer will not agree to pay for the repairs before seeing the car and assessing it but I am unwilling to pay to have my car towed the 20 mile to the dealer without some reassurance that they will pay for the repairs. My local garage has said that I'm looking at between £600 and £800 for repairing the valve. I'm at a loss as I do not want to pay for the repairs seeing as it is not through any fault of mine and been told it is a mechanical problem which is obviously a fault of Chevrolet and the parts they've used. I've seen other posts saying that this has happened to other sparks so is obviously a regular occurrence but chevrolet have not recalled the cars yet for this reason. Does anyone have any ideas where I go from here? Thanks in advance.

[Greg_E 211]

Call Chevy support for your area and see if they can help.

[Clarescott61 0]

Thanks Greg_E. I've called the customer care number and they are unwilling to advise if they'll pay for the repairs before taking it to the dealer. I don't know what else to do. Any more ideas?

[WaltK 305]

I can understand you're feelings, but being you're six weeks out of warranty, they are holding all the cards, if they are willing to look at it, I would have it towed in, they may do something for you. Realistically, what other options do you have.

[Clarescott61 0]

I may have to pay more than my local garage to get it repaired at chevrolet if they won't agree to pay for the repairs. And seeing as it's chevrolet and the main dealer could be 3 times as much! And also pay for towing and diagnostics again because they won't believe what my local garage says even though they have already put it on the diagnostics! It seems to be paying out a lot to get it to the main dealer when I may not need to if they just agreed that it's their fault and they would repair it free of charge.

[Greg_E 211]

If they did a full valve service on all cylinders their price isn't too bad, assuming they do it correctly.

[Clarescott61 0]

Thanks Greg_E. How much do you think that would cost? And would they repair the valve in the service?

[Greg_E 211]

Typical full valve service is to pull the head, clean or replace valves (I always go for new valves when I do something like this), cut the valve seats, and bead blast the combustion chamber to clean everything. The only issue might be variable valve timing and the special tools that are required. It should be about what you were quoted, so I would ask them exactly what they are going to perform. Either way, there is a bunch of work to pull the head and put it back on, and probably a bunch of one time use bolts that need to be replaced.