problem with used car (long read - sorry)

help_needed_6

I recently purchased a second hand car from a dealer (not main dealer) and there is a problem with it and I need to see how i stand legally for some compensation - I payed £2850 for the car.

I bought the car from a dealer 80 miles from home, it was advertised on the autotrader and it was just what i was looking for. I telephoned the dealer and asked if there were any problems I should know about as it was a long way for me to travel, he said there were NO problems with the car at all.

So i went to have a look and the car looked fine, a test drive confirmed that everything seemed ok.

I left a deposit and went back a few days later and payed for the car.

Around half way home I noticed the car was a little sluggish but everything else seemed fine.

When I got home there was a horrible noise coming from the engine which alarmed me somewhat, so i took it straight away to a reputable specialist who specialises in these cars, they told me straight wawy what the fault was and that it is a common fault on these cars. They gave me a price to put this right - £488.00 inc VAT & labour !!!

I telephoned the dealer straight away (i've owned the car for 4 hours at this point) and he told me the car was fine when he drove it and that IF THE 90 DAY WARRANTY COVERED THIS THEN THE WORK MIGHT BE DONE ??

He told me to get the car to him so his mechanic can have a look at it and if the warrenty covered it then he'd try to get it sorted, I told him that regardless of the warrenty he should sort this out as the cars only been in my possesion for 4 hours, he said his mechanic would check to see if there is a problem. I told him the car was at a reputable specialist and they have confirmed that there is a problem with the car, the dealer said that only his mechanic can confirm this and i was to take the car back to him 80 miles away. I asked him if he could lend me another car while the work was being done and he said no.

While i was talking to him the specailist could hear and told me that it was very unwise to drivethe car further as if this part was to break then catastrophic engine failure would occur, he advised me not to drive the car any further.

I told this to the dealer and he still wanted the car back to him, which i was not prepared to do as this could ruin the engine, the dealer told me that until he sees the car he would do nothing, I explained to him that the car was at a specialist and I had a written quote which I could fax to him to look at but the dealer wasn't interested in that he just wanted HIS mechanic to look at it.

So I had to get the car repaired myself which actually cost me £508.

I have telephoned the dealer since and told him what i had to do and he says that its got nothing to do with him as his mechanic never saw the car.

I want him to reimburse me with the £508, have I got any chance if I take him to a small claims court ?, can anyone advise.

thanks.

CFC

I am afraid not. You needed to give him the opportunity to repair the car to have the benefit of the law on your side. It is not the dealer's fault that you live 80 miles away.

Just as a point to note, if you have Relay on your AA/RAC or equivalent, in this kind of situation they may have been able to help you with a tow. Indeed, if you had driven it back to the dealer and it went kaput, it would have been his problem. The law assumes that anything that goes wrong and makes the car unusable within 6 months of purchase is a fault present at purchase, unless the dealer can prove otherwise.

Sidmon

In the eyes of the law it will be considered that you should have taken the car back to give him a chance a rectification.

mchale

I telephoned the dealer straight away (i've owned the car for 4 hours at this point) and he told me the car was fine when he drove it and that IF THE 90 DAY WARRANTY COVERED THIS THEN THE WORK MIGHT BE DONE ??


Sorry to say you never gave the dealer a chance to check it out, sorry you dont have a leg to stand on, did you take your own mechanic to have a look at it ?? you should have had vehicle recovered back to garage and let them look at it.

mchale

CFC wrote: »

I am afraid not. You needed to give him the opportunity to repair the car to have the benefit of the law on your side. It is not the dealer's fault that you live 80 miles away.

Just as a point to note, if you have Relay on your AA/RAC or equivalent, in this kind of situation they may have been able to help you with a tow. Indeed, if you had driven it back to the dealer and it went kaput, it would have been his problem. The law assumes that anything that goes wrong and makes the car unusable within 6 months of purchase is a fault present at purchase, unless the dealer can prove otherwise.

think it might be 3 months

help_needed_6

thanks, its what I thought would be the case.

Just needed clarification.

The car is otherwise perfect, its been repaired now so you live and learn.

He needed the car for a week he said anyhow so i'd have been without a car for a week and to hire a car would have cost me plus the cost of petrol etc back and forth to the dealer.

The garage that repaired the car gave me a courtesy car so i could still get around, they had the car for 3 days because of waiting for parts.

thanks for your help.

harveybobbles

mchale wrote: »

I telephoned the dealer straight away (i've owned the car for 4 hours at this point) and he told me the car was fine when he drove it and that IF THE 90 DAY WARRANTY COVERED THIS THEN THE WORK MIGHT BE DONE ??


Sorry to say you never gave the dealer a chance to check it out, sorry you dont have a leg to stand on, did you take your own mechanic to have a look at it ?? you should have had vehicle recovered back to garage and let them look at it.

The dealer may find something wrong with the car that the other person hasn't.

He's doing his side of the deal by asking to have the car back to sort it, so in a way he is complying with the SOGA.

He didn't force you to buy the car from him, you chose to drive the 80 miles there etc.

(I'm just looking at this from a dealers poit of view, being one...)

just out of interest, what car is it and what is the fault?

harveybobbles

Erm, is help_needed and mchale the same person? i'm confused with the posts lol...

vaio

harveybobbles wrote: »

……..He's doing his side of the deal by asking to have the car back to sort it, so in a way he is complying with the SOGA.

He didn't force you to buy the car from him, you chose to drive the 80 miles there etc.

(I'm just looking at this from a dealers poit of view, being one...)

just out of interest, what car is it and what is the fault?

Not exactly, the SOG requires the dealer to remedy the situation "without significant inconvenience" and within a "reasonable time", asking the OP to move a car 80 from a specialist garage which has recommended the car not be driven is unreasonable as is the dealer not providing a courtesy car.

The dealer should have either accepted the diagnosis of the specialist or recovered the car to his own workshop

NickWarren_2

harveybobbles wrote: »

Erm, is help_needed and mchale the same person? i'm confused with the posts lol...

Think it is just someone unable to use the quote button :rolleyes::rotfl:

mchale

harveybobbles wrote: »

Erm, is help_needed and mchale the same person? i'm confused with the posts lol...

Just testing to see if your all awake:rotfl: