Help please where do I stand!!!!

GAZZA544

I traded in my ford mondeo auto which they gave me 500 for and 350 cash for a Vauxhall astra estate manual. I am struggling with the manual as I have arthritis and put it on ebay to get rid of it and get another auto. When I test drove the car on the 18/02 I noticed vapour coming from the exhaust but put it down to the engine being cold. 1 week later I noticed my heaters would not get warm and found I had no coolant so I refilled it.5 days later I noticed a leak coming from the top hose on the radiator and replaced it and topped up the coolant. 1 week on and it is still leaking slowly apparently coming from the thermostat housing which I told the buyer from ebay who has just come to have a look at it he said that was fine he could fix it but he didn't want a car with a head gasket failure. This car was sold to me for 850 with a head gasket failure from a used car dealer do I have any rights after nearly 3 weeks.

4743hudsonj

GAZZA544 wrote: »

I traded in my ford mondeo auto which they gave me 500 for and 350 cash for a Vauxhall astra estate manual. I am struggling with the manual as I have arthritis and put it on ebay to get rid of it and get another auto. When I test drove the car on the 18/02 I noticed vapour coming from the exhaust but put it down to the engine being cold. 1 week later I noticed my heaters would not get warm and found I had no coolant so I refilled it.5 days later I noticed a leak coming from the top hose on the radiator and replaced it and topped up the coolant. 1 week on and it is still leaking slowly apparently coming from the thermostat housing which I told the buyer from ebay who has just come to have a look at it he said that was fine he could fix it but he didn't want a car with a head gasket failure. This car was sold to me for 850 with a head gasket failure from a used car dealer do I have any rights after nearly 3 weeks.

First half made no sense to me what-so-ever but what i do understand is that you have HGF on your new car, bought on ebay.

Now providing he is a car dealership and was selling as part of his business you will have recourse under the sale of goods act.

Im gonna take a guess that its too late to easily *reject* the goods now as it was either NOT sold with HGF, you took far too long to recognise the issue OR you didnt drive enough to diagnose. Now if the latter you may well be able to reject the goods under the act and claim a full refund but if (and this is what i suspect) you have driven it a fair amount, you have effectively accepted the goods and so your recourse will be repair, replacement or refund at the sellers choice.

* = this is my opinion based on my knowledge of soga and my trade knowledge on hgf and its symptoms etc but could still be wrong so its up to you to try!

NOTE: if the seller was not acting as a business you have no recourse whatsoever but your next step will be ebay complaints procedure and see what can be done

Your next stop will be consumer direct for more advice and guidance with letters on the Sale of goods act but no matter what, you should and hopefully will get a repair at least. (also providing the HGF was not caused by yourself which they would have to prove if they wish to refuse recourse)

GAZZA544

no it was not bought on ebay it was bought from a local used car dealership.I wanted to sell it on ebay as I am struggling with a manual.I have not drove it a lot in 3 weeks as I have not been working but start a new job tomorrow.There was no visible water leak when I first got it which to me suggests that an additive has been used to hide it, but as far as I am aware it is down to the seller to prove that it didn't have the fault and not for me to prove that it did.

4743hudsonj

GAZZA544 wrote: »

no it was not bought on ebay it was bought from a local used car dealership.I wanted to sell it on ebay as I am struggling with a manual.I have not drove it a lot in 3 weeks as I have not been working but start a new job tomorrow.There was no visible water leak when I first got it which to me suggests that an additive has been used to hide it, but as far as I am aware it is down to the seller to prove that it didn't have the fault and not for me to prove that it did.

Ok well it doesnt really matter where it was bought, its still the same rights, so like i said you will have recourse.

However i highly doubt you could not have noticed HGF from the onset which leads me to thing either you just havt bothered to find out whats wrong till now OR HGF has developed since bought it (considered that maybe this is why the coolant was transparent?)

As you seem to be suggesting though, it is also possible that it had hgf and they put some seal up in it, flushed it and put new oil and coolant in to negate any visual signs of HGF

But this is hearsay and impossible to prove tbh, especially as you have been driving around with HFG.

Like i said, at least you should be able to get a repair at no cost to yourself under the sale of goods act. If your lucky, you may be able to reject the goods and claim a full refund but i personally feel the time for this has passed and wont be possible but in the end only a judge could decide.

EDIT: ok so i re-read your post, made a little more sense with the extra info, goes like this?
-traded in old mondeo auto
-got new astra
-had issues, made assumptions it would all be ok
-sold it over ebay
-buyer saw HGF didnt want it
-you want recourse from garage?

If this is correct, forget rejecting the goods under the act as you crossed that bridge by assuming all the issues were due to cold running. You then decide to sell it on (and id be lying if i said i didnt have a suspicion you tried to sell it on because of the issues as well as the uncomfort but thats my opinion). Your only recourse will be a repair, refund or replacement, whichever the garage wants to so as said, get on to consumer direct and get drafting a letter!

GAZZA544

what you think not even 3 weeks is a reasonable amount of time ? and u think that i was aware of this not a chance mate i have arthritis and am struggling to drive it, how dare u accuse me of being dishonest i took it to a garage today who did not even see it but they said i had a leak from the thermostat housing to which i informed the buyer before they set off, i am not in the habit of conning people as you suggest and no there was no leak when i picked the car up.

4743hudsonj

GAZZA544 wrote: »

what you think not even 3 weeks is a reasonable amount of time ?

Where on earth did i say that? Once again....

You have rights to a repair, replacement or refund under the sale of goods act 1979. This is the garages choice as to which to offer not yours. This will be because the goods do not conform to contract and are not "fit for purpose" and not of "satisfactory quality"

All i said wasnt reasonable was rejection of the goods, this isnt the same as getting recourse as above.

KeithP

GAZZA544 wrote: »

...i took it to a garage today who did not even see it but they said i had a leak from the thermostat housing to which i informed the buyer before they set off,...

So Gazza, have you now sold it?

GAZZA544

No because wheen he came to look a it he informed me that he didn't want a car with a head gasket failure.

4743hudsonj

GAZZA544 wrote: »

No because wheen he came to look a it he informed me that he didn't want a car with a head gasket failure.

Have you given the garage or consumer direct yet with the information i gave you?

jasontaylor

Hello. What would be someones rights if they had brought the car from ebay, was happy with the car at the time of buying and forked over 1k in cash, then the car fails to start the next morning and after taking it to the garage finding that its just about a write off as repairs to the engine cost more than the car!!!

Ebay doesn't protect me for the vehicle category.

I have a reciept for the exchange in cash, but the seller isnt owning up to knowing about this problem and sold it as an extremely reliable car!

I want to show him how reliable his legs are after breaking them in two lol.

Any help in this matter will be kindly apreciated :-). I will also speak to consumer rights in the morning and see what they suggest.

4743hudsonj

jasontaylor wrote: »

Hello. What would be someones rights if they had brought the car from ebay, was happy with the car at the time of buying and forked over 1k in cash, then the car fails to start the next morning and after taking it to the garage finding that its just about a write off as repairs to the engine cost more than the car!!!

Ebay doesn't protect me for the vehicle category.

I have a reciept for the exchange in cash, but the seller isnt owning up to knowing about this problem and sold it as an extremely reliable car!

I want to show him how reliable his legs are after breaking them in two lol.

Any help in this matter will be kindly apreciated :-). I will also speak to consumer rights in the morning and see what they suggest.

Well if he is not a dealer then any sales come under "buyer beware". Meaning tough luck on your behalf if it all goes wrong a day later.

However, IF and only if, the problem was already present, then you can complain through ebay that he miss-sold an item and the description was incorrect. To do this though you will most likely have to obtain proof that the fault was already present which dependig on the fault, could be impossible.

What is the fault?

As said, you will have to go to the garage and ask them if they can identify when the fault occurred, and put it in writing for you. If they say it happened since you bought it then its really bad luck but the seller doesnthave to give you anything,