need advice,can i claim my money back?

kimberley111

hi,i january i bought a nine year old ford ka from a garage,i paid £1100 for it and paid cash,it was sold as seen and thats written on the reciept.The day after i bought it the exhaust blew while i was driving,i tried phoning the garage and there was no answer,i tried the next day and there was no answer,so i took it to the nearest garage which was kwik fit and it cost £371 to be repaired,the whole exhaust was knackered and it needed a new c.c.I didn't bother getting back in touch with the garage where i bought it from(which i know was wrong) and 3 weeks later the coil springs snapped!! i took it to kwik fit again and it cost another £244!! Does anyone know if i get in touch with the garage i bought it from and i can claim the repair money back? especially the exhaust money with it blowiing the day after? or have i left it too long? i have reciepts from kwik fit showing the dates the car has been repaired.

iolanthe07

If it says 'sold as seen' on the receipt, then that is what it is - sold as seen. You always take a bit of a risk when you buy a cheap old banger. You could try for a goodwill payment, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

Conor_3

There will be no warranty with it. Exhausts are counted as consumables so there's no guarantee on those other than what comes with a replacement.

You've been right royally screwed by Kwik-Fit. Apart from the fact I doubt the exhaust was knackered, a full new one for a Ka would've been under £100 from an independent tyre and exhaust place. A new spring is about £30 from Ford and an hours labour to change so £60-£80 should've been more like the price. In short, the total bill for the full lot should've been under £200.

Anyone who uses Kwik-Fit needs to have their head examined.

Keith

Advice - Don't use Kwik Fit.

vikingaero

Coil springs are a big problem on European cars because the manufacturers cut costs by not pigtailing them like on Jap cars. Even premium marques such as Mercedes have coil spring problems which cause MOT failure.

kimberley111

thanks for your answers,yeah i thought kwik fit had done me over!!

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

No such thing as sold as seen from a dealer, and you can't claim your money back because you didn't give them the chance to repair it themselves.

hewhoisnotintheknow

i know people have had good experiances with quick fit, but please dont take your car there as a first port of call. They are (in my experiance) sales men first, mechanics second. My friend always takes her car there and it really annoys me!

nullogik

I find Kwik Fits prices are OK, but not the most cheapest around.

However having used them twice for a rear exhaust box, I suspect some of the parts they use are very low quality. I found that an exhaust box for my old Escort used to last 12-18 months tops and rust out. After going through that twice I went to a independent and had one fitted there which lasted at least double that because I sold the car three years later and it was still in good condition with only minimal surface rust.

Cardelia

Conor wrote: »

You've been right royally screwed by Kwik-Fit. Apart from the fact I doubt the exhaust was knackered, a full new one for a Ka would've been under £100 from an independent tyre and exhaust place. A new spring is about £30 from Ford and an hours labour to change so £60-£80 should've been more like the price. In short, the total bill for the full lot should've been under £200.

Anyone who uses Kwik-Fit needs to have their head examined.

I think the cat on the Ka is one of those horribly awkward manifold/catalytic converters which take ages to get at. The cat on my old Fiesta went about a year ago and I was quoted £300+ from several independent garages because the job would have taken several hours.

Ironically I took it to Kwik Fit out of desperation and they charged me £130ish for the same job

Wig

Cardelia wrote: »

Ironically I took it to Kwik Fit out of desperation and they charged me £130ish for the same job

The moral of the story, then, is to obtain quotes.

My tip is to find a "back street" garage, which are usually much cheaper, and happy to fit owner supplied parts including new or scrap yard parts.