help needed. bought second hand car and it has faults.

Bonbon

My b/f bought a second hand Golf GTI (52,000 miles), with 3 mth warranty,from a garage in London. We've just put it in for a full service, ahead of time, to cover the warranty in case there are any problems.
Our VW garage called to say that the gearbox has been changed (not VW) and has been badly welded and leaking oil, so they won't continue with the service. B/f has gone to garage now to have a look.
My questions are: would this be covered by the warranty? if so, I will have to phone them and don't know my consumer rights. Could we have a refund if more problems have been found.Can we ask for our own garage to do repairs, and make them pay. If it has to go back to the garage we bought it from, who is responsible for the costs to get it there.
When I phone to complain what shall I do if they say 'Tough luck'
I'll know a bit more when b/f gets back.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Bonbon

update;
gearbox is VW but wrong one for the car.Looks second hand from scrapyard. It didn't fit properly so the fixing holes have been welded to hold it in.It also has silicone on it and is leaking oil.Oil leaking into cooling tank. The sensor wire on the brake pads is missing (there are 2 wires instead of 3 so taped with sellotape). I hope that all sort of makes sense.
Our garage recomends getting rid of the car as it there appears to be something dodgy about it. They are going to give us a list of all the faults. Do you think we can get our money back under the warranty?

harveybobbles

Just phone the garage you bought it from, stay calm on the phone and point out what has been found and kindly ask what they intend doing. It's not uncommon to fit 2nd gearboxes to be honest, but the fact its the wrong one aint very clever!

KillerWatt

harveybobbles wrote: »

Just phone the garage you bought it from, stay calm on the phone and point out what has been found and kindly ask what they intend doing. It's not uncommon to fit 2nd gearboxes to be honest, but the fact its the wrong one aint very clever!

I'd want to know why a car that has covered naff all miles (52K is nothing for a VW) needed a replacement gearbox to start with.

Paradigm

KillerWatt wrote: »

I'd want to know why a car that has covered naff all miles (52K is nothing for a VW) needed a replacement gearbox to start with.

The word "clocked" springs to mind... possibly

Given what the OP has said it doesn't look to have been maintained to any sort of standard & I'd be tempted to ask for my money back.

benham3160

Some VW gearboxes do have a reputation for being made of "chocolate" but this is generally in the smallest of the models. Plenty of Polos/Lupos cheap because the gearboxes have exploded at low miles.

I'd contact who you bought it from, I agree it sounds like it's had a very hard life.

52k being nothing on a VW, well, I know of a 70k mk4 Golf (genuine) which is current awaiting a new engine due to piston ring failure. They're really not the be-all-and-end-all of build quality and reliability anymore.

Hope stuff gets sorted for you!

Regards,
Andy

harveybobbles

KillerWatt wrote: »

I'd want to know why a car that has covered naff all miles (52K is nothing for a VW) needed a replacement gearbox to start with.

Contact the previous owner to see if they know/knew about it?

If it's had a few owners send a chq for £5 to the DVLA to request all keeper details and write to them all asking dates/mileages of when they bought/sold the car etc.

Also, just cos its had a diff box fitted doesnt meant its been clocked !!!!!!! Driven over something and couldnt afford to repair it or it was on finance and about to be repod, so they took the gearbox out to sell on ebay and shoved the wrong one in?

101 reasons why its had a box replacement...

Paradigm

harveybobbles wrote: »

Also, just cos its had a diff box fitted doesnt meant its been clocked !!!!!!! Driven over something and couldnt afford to repair it or it was on finance and about to be repod, so they took the gearbox out to sell on ebay and shoved the wrong one in?

101 reasons why its had a box replacement...

Agreed but the wrong box that didn't fit & required welding to keep it in place??? On a car with 52000 miles?

Sorry, but something smells!

Bonbon wrote: »

Our garage recomends getting rid of the car as it there appears to be something dodgy about it. They are going to give us a list of all the faults.

Pretty much my thoughts.

whatajoke1

Bonbon wrote: »

The sensor wire on the brake pads is missing

I do that as a matter of course.

Faults should have been picked up on initial inspection of the car by the qualified person you took.

harveybobbles wrote: »

If it's had a few owners send a chq for £5 to the DVLA to request all keeper details and write to them all asking dates/mileages

You can look up all the old MOTs on the DVLA site for free

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10020539

this will list recorded mileage (although any clocker would clock it before an MOT, not after) /fails/advisorys. You could also check to see if its been in an accident using one of the mobile text sites (but its a bit late for that)

vaio

What year is the car? How long have you had it? what did you pay?

Hammyman

Oil cannot leak into the cooling tank from the gearbox so that'll be engine oil which could indicate head gasket failure. Needs investigating further.

Gearbox is a bodge and I'd be claiming for that.

The brake warning wire is completely inconsequential and brake pads are consumables so not covered.

As for the comments about failing in 52000 miles, quite possible for a car thats spent its life driving in town and city traffic. I do a 100 mile trip which is mostly NSL A road and motorway. I'd change gears and brake far less than someone doing a 2 mile commute in London.