Second Hand Car Problem

Germeze

Sorry I posted this in the Consumer forum before realising this was a more apt place.

Hi, I wonder if anyone can please help me out with some advice. I bought a Peugeot last week with about 30k on the clock. When I test drove it I mentioned it sounded a bit rough and was told it needed a service. Having paid for the car a I got all the paperwork and now it is apparent that the car had a new cam belt back in December and these normally don't get changed until about 70k miles. According to the paperwork the car in general needed a lot of work. Having driven the car for just under a week I find it stalls easily and when idling the engines revs jump up and down. I took it to an independent garage for a professional opinion. The mechanic agreed the car's engine had a lot work done to it recently and it didn't sound right when idling. He was concerned about various engine noises and he would take it back. He said although he couldn't sure the car would probably cost a lot money in the not to distant future and I would have been better off keeping my old car.
Obviously I want to take the car back. It came with a three month warranty I just want to swap it like for like in terms of value. I am tempted to call ahead and talk to the salesman so a courtesy car can be sorted out. OH thinks we should just turn up and explain to them we don't want the car as we don't believe it to be mechanically sound. We are already suspicious that someone else bought and returned it back in between December and March.

Any ideas, neither of us are really brave we just want a car that runs and we don't want to be fobbed off and told to keep the car we bought.

Thanks

dobbie82

How old is it? many belts should last til 70k, others need at 30k, most should be done every 4 or 5 years regardless of milage

AdrianHi

Germeze wrote: »

When I test drove it I mentioned it sounded a bit rough

Sorry not helping a I know but I have to ask...
Why did you still buy it then?
Car salesman likely to say anything to shift the car, and service due or not the car should not sound rough.

Now that I've got that off my chest I'll try and be more helpful
The symtoms you describe sound a bit like a bad O2 sensor (more than one on some cars), sometime referred to as a Lambda sensor which can be reasonably cheap to fix yet seem to escape the notice of so many garage mechanics when trying to diagnose problems like this. It measures oxygen in the exhaust gas flow (so usually on exhaust to rear of engine) and this is used as an input to control fuel injection. When these sensors go bad eratic idling and other symptoms you describe are commmon.
http://www.lambdapower.co.uk/Diagnosis/Diagnostic_index.asp#q6
General info on O2 sensors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_sensor
Not 100% sure this is the problem but worth considering.
Sugest it to the car dealer and get them to fix it or if it doesn't get fixed try and get your money back.

Pssst

Unfortunately you allowed your head to rule your heart as many buyers do. The dealer knew it was an iffy motor and so when you mentioned the noise,he just said oh yes its due for a service. My trusty Golf has done 92k and it runs like a sewing machine and can harldy be neard even when its due for an oil change. Services do not cure noises. Noises are made for a reason.

I wonder if the cam belt was changed due to snappage and subsequent catastrophic destruction of engine bits hence recent work?

Do you have the previous owners details? If not get them and enquire as to cars history. You can get details off the V5 or run a HPI check on line.

Think carefully about your approach to the dealer BEFORE you go there.

I am minded to follow hubbys trin of thought, i.e reject on grounds of condition being misrepresented. Your success depends on how much you paid and size/quality of dealership. how much did you pay,is it a main dealer or an arfur Daley operation?

enthrone

ICV - idle control valve, could also be an issue as it seems to be in many peugeots, which is why it may be stalling.

car got any service history to it?

swiftnick

Pssst wrote: »

Services do not cure noises. Noises are made for a reason.

Amen to that

Germeze

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I went to garage and listed the following problems:

Car pops out of gear
Car stalls even when clutch fully depressed
Driver seat doesn't seem to lock in to place
Car's revs run like a heart beat except it always sounds like it is just about to stall when idle.
Sales man tried to tell me this car hadn't been returned by the previous buyer within its three month warranty. He offered to get the mechanics to look at it and I declined the offer saying am happy to take an exact replacement. There are too many faults with this car after a weeks driving. The mechanics were meant to have PDI the car and missed all these faults? Who wants to own a polished turd. Not me
Pointed out we bought two cars and are very happy with the other car which has 20K more on the clock but sounds fine no complaints.

I am expecting a call from the manager on Monday. This a well known dealer and the price paid for car was enough that you wouldn't expect to find a list of faults especially with such low mileage.

Germeze

Forgot to answer a few of your questions. The paper work V5 was sent by the garage to the DVLA with out us ever getting to see it. The car missed one service but it is obvious it was PDI'd in December then came back within the three month warranty period for us to buy in March. Salesman said this isn't so but I can't imagine they kept a car on the forecourt for 3 months. Plus the other car was just PDI'd once.

harveybobbles

If the seat doesn't lock into place then that could be classed as MOT failure.

you have to give the dealer enough attempts at fixing the car and making it fit for the purpose it was intended for - Sale Of Goods Act etc.

hewhoisnotintheknow

oil the seat runners and check theres no coins etc in there

Germeze

Hi, Just an update. The dealership are insisting on looking at the car which is fair enough. In the meantime I have been looking at all the paperwork including the MOT history. I asked the salesman why the car was PDI'd and MOT'd in December then again in March. I suggested that it had bounced back as the previous buyer wasn't happy with the vehicle. I was told I was mistaken and they PDI each car when it comes in. I smell a rat and look at the paperwork for the other car. Just one PDI and MOT carried out when OH bought it. So I am thinking they told me they sold 200 cars a month and they are saying this car sat on the forecourt for three months and they wasted money on a MOT & PDI? So I have looked on line at the MOT history. Car was MOT'd September 2008 passed fine then it was obviously sold to the dealership after some sort of major problem be it an accident or serious engine problem. The car was MOT'd in December 2008 because someone bought it had done about 900 miles between December & March so it hasn't been sitting on the forecourt waiting for a buyer. It's been sold driven and returned. It also had a ton of work done it three or four days before its December MOT and still failed!.

Shall be rasing the issue of lying to me when the car goes back for the mechanics to have a look.