Sold a faulty second hand vehicle

Bargin_Betty79

Hi Guys,
I hoping you can give me some advice on my rights as a consumer and the next steps to take!
Four months ago I purchased a second hand 'P' reg vehicle from a local garage with a good reputation. The vehicle was sold to me with a 12 month MOT and 6 months tax.
In the four months I have had it, I have topped up the oil and water on a monthly basis. On Friday the vehicle broke down and had to be recovered to a local garage who have informed me that the engine has siezed due to no oil and will cost more to repair than the vehicle is worth!
I have contacted the garage I purchased the car from and they have said it was only sold with a 7 day waranty, they also had the cheek to say its possibly due the age of the car, I don't care how old it is, I expect it to have lasted longer than four months!
I feel I have been sold a faulty vehicle as no oil warning light has ever come on to show me that the oil needed topping up more than I did!
I'd be glad to any advice on how to proceed with this as I feel that the garage should take some responsibility!
Thanks
BB xx

vikingaero

Sometimes it's possible to get the garage to contribute.

But I feel that at the end of the day you bought a 14 year old banger and you checked the oil/water on a monthly basis. The fact that oil/water was needed should have made you check it far more often.

I drive a 2 year old car and check under the bonnet 2 or 3 times a week - before every long journey.

hewhoisnotintheknow

not know or really care whos in the right or wrong, but if you were topping it up monthly didnt you think something was up?

I check my car at least 2 times a week manually and study the dash reports when i turn it on each time

uktyler

lots of older cars don't have an oil level warning light, you have to check under the bonnet. I, like the others on here check the oil more than once a month. How many miles did you drive each month? How low was the oil?

Can you get a secondhand engine, and get someone to fit it?

Hintza

I suspect taking the age into account, your lack of maintenance etc you are stuffed. Best hope in my view is to go back to them and ask for some goodwill if you buy another car.

But at the end of the day it's a banger and I am pretty sure a court would agree.

hewhoisnotintheknow

uktyler wrote: »

lots of older cars don't have an oil level warning light, you have to check under the bonnet. I, like the others on here check the oil more than once a month. How many miles did you drive each month? How low was the oil?

Can you get a secondhand engine, and get someone to fit it?

I never trust them anyway, like air bags you only really know if its too late

THere is also a lot of confusion about that an oil warning light actually is, level and pressure are different thigns

steveo3002

the oil light isnt a warning to "top up" its for low pressure

id imagine the handbook will suggest a weekly check of the oil level , if you didnt bother checking it then its kinda down to you

even new cars can use alot of oil, its down to the owner to check it

how much were you topping up each month? for how many miles , theres usualy around 3-5ltrs of engine oil , thats alot of oil to use up completely

Bargin_Betty79

I'm obviously rather naive when it comes to cars and expected the oil warning light on the dash (there's deff one there!) to show up when something was wrong, I've only ever had to top the oil up by small amounts so it never gave me any reason for concern.
I've only done about 800 miles in the four months I've had the vehicle and would have expected a fault that causes an engine to sieze up to have been going on longer than that!
Looks like I'm not really going to get anywhere with this problem, so its back to the bus for me!
BB

TiTheRev

I think the basics have been covered here. The car is 12years old (not 14), but still, if you've been checking and needing to top up the oil/water regularly, you should have reported that after the first or second time, you may have had more come back then.

The other trouble is, that you dont know anything about previous owners and use. If it had have been sold on by a 17year old, you may have suspected mis-use, but sold by a garage you presume all is ok. In fairness to the garage they may not have known either...?

tinkerbell84

Were there no obvious leaks under the car (after parked etc?)?

Bargin_Betty79

There were no leaks found when my garage checked it but my mechanic did say it could have been burning oil which resulted in it using so much.
I suppose its just down to my inexperience as a car owner, I assumed a car with a larger engine than what I was used to would need topping up more regularly than the small one's I owned previously.
I take into account everyone's comments about the garage,I'm not asking them for a refund, but being a bit more understanding and helpful in the situation would have been nice!