Car bought privately 2 months ago... mechanical issues

molerat

The only one relevant to the MOT is the brakes and if they worked OK and were not visibly excessively worn, bearing in mind that you cannot see much, then it is a pass.

hewhoisnotintheknow

no comeback get it fixed

[Deleted User]

hope you never buy a car off me:eek:

Apples2

I do hope you wouldn't sell the car, or even part ex it until you have repaired all those faults and ensured it is in the same pristine condition as the day it was first sold.

People get shot of cars when they start costing too much money to keep on the road, people rarely get rid of a perfectly reliable car.

Why did you get rid of your old car? maybe the new owner will come knocking your door saying it has a fault.

battleram

I am surprised at the number of people that think that if vehicle is purchased from a private seller, then the buyer automatically has no legal rights at all. This is just not true.

If a car as sold as being roadworthy, then it needs to be just that. However, I appreciate that the problems the OP is experiencing may be due to normal wear and tear although I'd be surprised if the seller didn't know that at least a couple of these things weren't too reliable.

It may not be very helpful in this case, but any future thread readers with similar issues may benefit from this link explaining the rights of vehicle purchases from private sellers (or dealers if that's the case):-

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/c_secondhand_cars.pdf

I won my own court case against a dealer selling me an unroadworthy car which was purchased January 2008 - CCJ finaly awarded to me in April 2009.

karenx

When buying a private sold car then you should check everything yourself. If you know nothing about cars then theres the AA etc who will come out and check the car and tell you if theres any faults.
A mot really means nothing tbh, it checks for things on the day of the mot. Anything could happen to the car the day after that puts it unroadworthy but that doesnt mean its the mot testers fault.
You just have to admit you bought a car without checking everything out first. And for all you know all these things could of happened AFTER you bought it anyway, you cant put all the blame on the seller.

gsmmad

battleram wrote: »

I am surprised at the number of people that think that if vehicle is purchased from a private seller, then the buyer automatically has no legal rights at all. This is just not true.

If a car as sold as being roadworthy, then it needs to be just that. However, I appreciate that the problems the OP is experiencing may be due to normal wear and tear although I'd be surprised if the seller didn't know that at least a couple of these things weren't too reliable.

It may not be very helpful in this case, but any future thread readers with similar issues may benefit from this link explaining the rights of vehicle purchases from private sellers (or dealers if that's the case):-

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/c_secondhand_cars.pdf

I won my own court case against a dealer selling me an unroadworthy car which was purchased January 2008 - CCJ finaly awarded to me in April 2009.

The issue is you wont against a dealer, not a private seller. The advice on that leaflet is all good. However the car is to description as anyone is concerned, because the concern is not that it isn't described. Its because things don't work or have too much wear.
Non of the terms the seller specified seems to be broken.
There is no proof that at the point of sale the car was unroadworthy, there isn't much right now. The brakes have a lot of wear and need replacing, this doesn't make it unroadworthy. The fact that it passed MOT supports the seller.Apart from the brakes nothing has been committed. Which you have no case on.


There is not a single thing this buyer car do, he brought a lemon. My suggestion is forget whats happened do not stress yourself, its just not worth it at this cold and economic climate. Get yourself down to a few breakers and garages, do the repairs. The battery not holding charge is probably your alternators gone or you need a new battery. Oil light might be due to a pressure loss. We have this on a BMW 330 you start the car the oil light comes off but goes off after a few minutes, or it could be a faulty sensor. The car turning off, you need to give more information, could be something as simple as your air mass sensor. If the leak in the rads are small you can use something called rad leak, it will fix small leaks. Brake pads just get them checked if they are on there way out just get it serviced.

I am not a mechanic im just assuming from work done to my cars.

Rolandtheroadie

Dont automatically assume you can use radweld on an engine. Check first (cant on some rovers for definate).
When did battery show a problem. In 4 cars we need 3 batteries in the past week due to the frost. For a heavy duty (diesel) one we're £58.
Is the central locking issues just since the bitter temperatures?
Oil light. Are you certain the lights coming on before the car cuts out? If so perhaps oil pressure sensor but join a seat owners group (yahoo groups is your friend).
Is there a metal to metal sound from the brakes? If not and they stop you (and you haven't had them tested on a tester) The pads are probably ok, just coming to the endo of their life.

battleram

gsmmad wrote: »

The issue is you won against a dealer, not a private seller. The advice on that leaflet is all good. However the car is to description as anyone is concerned, because the concern is not that it isn't described. Its because things don't work or have too much wear.
Non of the terms the seller specified seems to be broken.

To be fair, I did say that the info and link I posted wouldn't be much help to the OP, I just thought the thread seemed a bit negative in the way that a few people were implying that private car purchases means that the buyer automatically wouldn't have any legal rights.

In the future a person that did buy an unroadworthy car from a private seller under the assumption that it was a good buy (after having been told everything was fine of course!) may stumble across this thread looking for assistance. I wanted those people to know they may have basis for fighting against the original seller. That's all.

By the way, there is also no cover to the seller when they put 'sold as seen' on their adverts. They would still be liable for not declaring any major faults if it became apparent there were one or two eg blown head gasket.

pendulum

battleram wrote: »

By the way, there is also no cover to the seller when they put 'sold as seen' on their adverts. They would still be liable for not declaring any major faults if it became apparent there were one or two eg blown head gasket.

Rubbish. A blown headgasket doesn't make a car unroadworthy in the legal sense. It is down to the buyer to check for things such as that before buying privately. Unroadworthy in the legal sense could be something like illegal tyres or faulty brakes (and no, brakepads that need replacing after you've had the car two months don't count!). When buying privately things are automatically "sold as seen" so there is no real need to state that on a receipt or advert.

The OP has no case whatsoever against the seller.