HELP! second hand car from garage

jessoir · 19 February 2009 at 11:03AM

My boyfriend bought an MR2 from a garage advertised in the autotrader 4 weeks ago. The garage said it had a new engine and that the car had been really looked after as the owner of the garage actually had owned the car himself.

Anyway...for the last week it has been in another garage because the engine was smoking. They have said to him there is a leak in the water tank or something (im not quite sure what is wrong!) BUT it will cost £800 to fix.:mad:

Is there anything he can do to get back his money for the car or get them to pay for the repairs?
Where does he stand legally??
Can anyone give us any advice? Thanks!!

Herr_Schmitt · 19 February 2009 at 11:18AM

Ring Citizens Advice, but from my experience it is down to the garage to prove that they were not aware of any faults with the car when they sold it. This is for up to 6 months from when they sold it, excluding fair wear & tear.

Limey · 19 February 2009 at 11:24AM

Leak in the water tank? Sounds like an odd one. I've owned a MK1 MR2 for over 8 years now and have done some work on Mk2s so might be able to help.

Is it a Mk1 (Cheese wedge) or Mk2 MR2? If the latter I guess it's the UK model rather than a turbocharged import?

What colour's the smoke?

Did the garage you bought the car off give any guarentee with the car? Sometimes they'll give 6 months. If there was no guarentee with the car then other than the right of return within 28 days it'll be difficult to claim against the seller. You may have them on false advertising if you can get a copy of the advert and it states that it has a new engine etc.

Oh and whereabouts are you located, I know a lot of MR2 specialists round the country who may be able to give you a better diagnosis and price if it comes down to needing a repair.

jessoir · 19 February 2009 at 11:49AM

Im not really up on cars so i dont know what mk it is but i do know its a K redge, MR2 2.0 turbo and my fella said when he bought it that it was an import.

We are based in Leeds. Im not sure what the colour smoke was to be honest as he only told me about it. He is really worried about the cost as he cant really afford it!

Limey · 19 February 2009 at 12:17PM

I'll have a look and see if there's anyome in the Leeds area who can help. But if you want to pop onto www.imoc.co.uk there are a good few folks who may be able to help with the mechanical side of things.

I guess citizens advice will be the best bet on the legal front.

Couple of contacts for you, find out some more details of the issue and give them a call. Paul will be happy to advise you on the fairness of the repair price (my nickname on IMOC's Limeymk1, tell him I gave you his No.).

Peter Gidden who runs a company called sBits may be able to help with a better quote. He's on 07710 648257 and based in Barnsley

Otherwise the best MR2 mechanic in the UK is Paul Woods and is based South of Newcastle:
Unit N10C
Tursdale Business Park
Tursdale
County Durham
DH6 5PG
Tel
07951304712

jessoir · 19 February 2009 at 2:04PM

Thanks Limey, i will pass the details on to my other half!:beer:

SBITS · 27 April 2009 at 1:14AM

I wouldn't be surprised if the OP had bought the car from SBITS (Peter Gidden / peterguk_v6KWK) of Hight Street, Dodworth, Barnsley. I had an awful experience there where I was told my car would take 6 weeks to repair and it ended up taking over 7 months and coming back costing over £3,000 more than estimated. Most of the work had not even been finished when I collected the car and much of it to a poor standard – aircon not working desoite being told it was (hoses not even connected), car leaking water after a new radiator and pipes were fitted, poor paint work, BITS REMOVED/TAKEN FROM THE CAR. He does not know what he is doing and is totally untrustworthy.

[Deleted User] · 27 April 2009 at 2:27AM

My experience is when a car seller says it has had "something" new what they really mean is that "something" is on it's way out.

harveybobbles · 27 April 2009 at 9:54AM

Why didn't the OP take the car back to where they bought it from? You have to give the selling garage enough times to fix the problem under the SOG Act before you go off to the CAB etc..

Tahiti · 27 April 2009 at 2:15PM

Any receipts to back up the "new" engine?

Is this implication that the water tank needs replacing at £800, or the leak has caused £800 of damage (head gasket failure for instance)?

A call to CAB or Trading Standards should confirm your rights.

HELP! second hand car from garage

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