secondhand cars

kellben

My son bought a secondhand car 2 weeks ago admittedley only £250 this morning the water pumps gone and so has the head gasket :mad: any come back onthe garage ? any rights ? or has he lost his money and car ? any advice would be great. Thanks a concerned mum !

Nile

Hello kellben

I'll move your thread over to the 'Motoring & Public Transport' board, where it should get more views and responses.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

Silent_Bob_3

Yup, take it back and say it's not fit for purpose and you either want a refund or the faults put right.

saintjanet

Silent_Bob wrote:

Yup, take it back and say it's not fit for purpose and you either want a refund or the faults put right.

I think you would not get much joy trying this,its a £250 car,it wont have a warranty and it will have been fit for purpose when he bought it.

Both these faults could have happened anytime and could be seen as wear and tear,if it had happened on the way home,it may have made a difference,dont take my word check with trading standards.

The only chance i think you have is to have a word with the person who sold it to you and see if they will do anything as a goodwill gesture.Sorry this has happened to him,thats the problem with old cars.

kellben

saintjanet wrote:

I think you would not get much joy trying this,its a £250 car,it wont have a warranty and it will have been fit for purpose when he bought it.

Both these faults could have happened anytime and could be seen as wear and tear,if it had happened on the way home,it may have made a difference,dont take my word check with trading standards.

The only chance i think you have is to have a word with the person who sold it to you and see if they will do anything as a goodwill gesture.Sorry this has happened to him,thats the problem with old cars.

He bought it at our local "friendly garage" surely it still has to be roadworthy for more than 2 weeks ! He's had the AA out to it twice and the salesman actually said even if it last you 6 months you'll have had your moneys worth which my son would of been quite happy with.

hammy_the_hammer

unless they offered a warranty a £250 car that lasts 2 weeks and then develops this problem will result in no come back on them.

saintjanet

Sorry i can only repeat what i said before,the fact that you buy a car without a warranty means they do not have to do anything,he may have been lucky and it could have lasted 2 years its a lottery,buying old cars ,sorry to say.Your only real hope is a goodwill gesture by the garage,i know it is probably not relevant in this case but some one could buy a car for £200 and tour europe covering thousands of miles in two weeks,if you see what i mean,i really feel sorry for the lad,just tring to explain the problem as i see it.

kittiwoz

When buying anything secondhand it is buyer beware. The moral of the story is don't buy a secondhand car unless you either know enough about them to inspect it yourself or else get someone who does to inspect it for you. Pay someone if necessary. That takes most of the risk out. Also, especially if you don't know much about cars and can't do your own maintanence, you should really get a car with a recent MOT.

chainguy

I have, in the past, sold £250 cars. Some have lasted years, one lasted a fortnight once before the cam belt snapped and took the engine to heaven (it was a diesel).

Basically, your son has had bad luck, but its not the garages fault. You cant tell when a water pump will let go unles it starts to leak on the shaft or scream when in use.

Head gaskets can also die quite quick on an old engine that suddenly gets some 'spirited' driving. Here though, I suspect the WP failure has caused the head gasket to blow - driving on after it fails is a sure way to cook a head in a few minutes.

In short, your lad has had bad luck, but I really wouldn't try and blame the garage. Luck being the word here.

Sorry if all that sounds harsh; just being factual.

plane_boy2000

Sorry, but if you by a car for 250 you cant really expect much. best to just put this one down to experience, although if the garage is your local friendly one as you put it it might just be worth a shout to see if they are prepared to make a good will gesture.

Its like anything in life - you get what you pay for

aj3001

If the car is worth £250, the head gasket will cost around £500 to fix depending on the car therefore making it an uneconomical reapir, the car will be written off