Engine ‘completely gone’

This is going to be a long one so I’m really grateful for anyone who reads this.

After losing £5000k+ on a dangerously faulty car from a scammer, I bought a 2015 1.5-litre Vauxhall Meriva in February from a dealership for around £3000 with 88k miles. The dealership was 30 mins from where I live and I had a 3 month warranty with cover from a garage which is even further away. It had a new service and MOT. I work full time, around 30 mins in the opposite direction and also have a weekend job to try and make ends meet.

Within a few weeks the check engine light came on so I brought it into the garage, but the light had gone off so they couldn’t see the fault. They mentioned verbally that because I had reported this during the warranty period, it would be covered. They said it was probably the DPF filter so to use premium diesel which I have since.

The light came on briefly and unpredictably in the following months, but because I work full time about 1 hour away from the garage, when the light came on recently I took it to a garage near my workplace just for diagnostics. It has always driven perfectly with no symptoms of a problem.

They told me it needed a new EGR valve and cooler. I booked it in to the warranty garage who said they would try to meet me in the middle with cost.

It was supposed to go in today. The last couple of days there has been a faint whirring sound when accelerating, but last night the acceleration lost power completely. I pulled over. When I moved the car to a safer spot there was tons of white smoke from the exhaust and a rotten egg-like smell as well as a fuel smell. The AA recovery guy said it was something to do with the DPF filter and a fuel blockage, and dropped the car off at the warranty garage.

I called the garage first thing and they said the problem is that there is no oil in the car at all and that the engine is completely ruined. They said this would not be related to the EGR valve/cooler issue. I have driven 9k miles in the last 6 months so they said it’s my fault for not checking the oil when I drive so much, which I do understand. I should’ve checked it and not relied on an oil pressure warning or symptoms coming up, but I’ve had an older car before and driven lots of miles without changing the oil until the yearly service, and with it being a newer car I honestly didn’t think about it. The garage said they couldn’t comment on why there wasn’t a warning or symptoms.

The warranty garage has quoted me £3k to replace the engine with a second hand one with 94k miles, as well as replacing the consumables. The car is currently undriveable so is stuck there.

I’d be so, so grateful for any advice. Please please help me. I feel completely devastated for ruining a car I’ve been driving for six months after losing so much to the scammer.