First impression - check the serpentine belt.
Legal issues for stating the make/model of the car that blew up?
Knowing the make and model would be helpful.
if it was a fire under the hood, file a comprehensive claim on your auto insurance. Other than that, you are probably outta luck......red
Get your car to another shop.
I’ll go out on a limb and guess this is a Government Motors POS?
I can’t imagine any legal issues if you post the type of car.
And don’t feel too bad about nt buying the warranty...they don’t always work out.
You say you lost power steering and there was smoke...
My initial thought is losing a belt will drop power steering, but not account for the other symptoms.
If a steering pump or hose just completely blew, that would explan both the loss of steering and the smoke....
But the dealer should be able to find this immediately.
My guess is really that the dealer hasn’t even looked at the car yet, and some element of the steering system blew a major leak.
Sounds like a power steering line sprung a leak and sprayed fluid over the hot engine. Have them replace the line. It might be covered under the lemon laws in Texas.
Why do you think there’s a legal problem if you mention make and model? Don’t be silly. If your Chevy blew up, it blew up. If your Ford fell apart it fell apart. No one can sue you for simply stating what actually happened to your vehicle, regardless the make or model.
FWIW, my daughter has a 2001 Honda Civic. She parked it before going in to work. Shortly afterward, someone came in and said a car in the parking lot was on fire.
Something under the dashboard of her car had caught fire, melted the dashboard, and burnt a bit of the inside roof. She got it fixed, but the wires were too screwed up to tell which ones were responsible.
She says that a similar thing happened recently to a friend who has a Honda Accord.
If the engine was running but you lost your power steering, I would think that one of the hoses on the power steering pump failed. That would explain the smoke as power steering fluid would then hit the exhaust pipes. Been there, done that.
Powertrain is routinely covered longer than bumper-to-bumper warranty, most often 100K mikes. You should be good, whatever it is, unless they can conceivably claim abuse or neglect. You performed all routine maintenance and can prove it, correct? Even if you didn’t keep receipts or go to the dealer for service, most shops will have a record of all your visits as well as service performed in their system, if you need it.
It's interesting that the vehicle has been in the dealer shop for 2 days without a finding....
Did the vehicle overheat? "Check Engine" light come on? Leaks anywhere under vehicle?
Did you have an actual fire under the hood? Or just smoke?
Smoke + smell + no power steering usually means that you blew a power steering hose and the fluid was spraying on your exhaust manifold. I’ve had that happen twice in the last 35 years.
Sounds like you lost your serpentine belt...the loss of power steering would be a tipoff. Or, I suppose, the power steering pump could have seized. Either is not a big deal. You should get a second opinion from another shop.
Would that we could fix. Or just scrap and recycle, our dysfunctional political hacks like we can our dysfuctional cars!
You forgot to mention what make and year the car was. Provide that information, and you will get a lot more feedback.
Your serp belt broke, which overheated the car since it controls your water pump and power steering. The dealer is taking you to the cleaners. $90 fix unless you did other damage by driving with an overheated car.
Is this a Tesla? lol A little help with make and model would help. A LOT!