Volkswagen: Volkswagen Jetta 2004, volkswagen jetta, mechanic shop

Question
I bought a Volkswagen Jetta 2004 for my daughter on September 26, 2008, from a dealership. At the time the car I bought was said to have 63,000 aprox. and I was given 30 days warranty or 3,000 miles whichever came first. On October 29, only three days after the "warranty" expired, my daughter called me to told me that the "check engine" light had turned on and that she felt something was wrong with the car. She was on the highway and had to drive for 20 minutes to the nearest mechanic shop.  At first the mechanic had told us that the engine had been overheating and that probably was that the water pump had been leaking. We left the car there and to our surprise he called us the next day to tell us that once he opened the car and inspecting the car in detail, his conclusion was that the engine was damaged so bad, that it had to be replaced in its entirety.  The car is now sitting at the shop unusable and we were told by the dealership that the engine got ruined because the water pump leaked in it and do not want to pay for the repairs. Is it possible that the engine dying is the result of the leaky water pump? Also, is it possible that they might have tampered with the odometer? How can we know if that was done so?  I will be grateful for you expert advise.

Thank you.

Answer
Germaine,
 This issue is hard to prove either way.  63k is about right for an '04, so I do not think the odometer it was tampered with(I don't even know how it could be done).  A water pump can go out around this point too, not unheard of when approaching 75-100k.  Now a bad water pump will not necessarily kill the engine if the driver notices the overheat quickly and stops driving, but after too long the internal components can get damaged.  So yes, a bad water pump can cause engine damage.  I don't think the water pump was a pre-existing condition from the dealer, because 33 days is a long test drive.
 This is all assuming the current diagnosis of a bad water pump is correct.  Maybe a second opinion is a good idea; you could be spending a lot to get unnecessary engine repairs.