Comeback on dealer who changed name

bournerj

Hi folks,

* Have just read this back and it's a lot to read, I know, desperate for help though if anybody can!

We bought a car for my girlfriend in Feb this year and have had endless problems with it. We bought the car from 2nd City Auto Sales in Birmingham for £4,950 (an '02 Mini Cooper) which at the time seemed a reasonable price. We were given a one year £1,000 per individual claim warranty so assumed we'd be well covered.

After having the car for two days, the water pump went meaning the head gasket had to be replaced. We managed to claim around half of the price (for the cost of the water pump, not the head gasket) of this claim from the warranty company.

We had another successful claim for the central locking unit in the passenger side door (our best experience of the car to date!).

Then we were extremely unlucky and a stone flicked up and cracked the radiator - head gasket replaced again at full cost to us (£500). Whilst it was in for the head gasket, the garage noticed that the suspension bushes needed replacing before it's MOT (in Feb) and we had this done (£430) - I trust the garage completely so know I haven't been "duped" here.

We picked the car back up on Thursday morning a couple of weeks back and by the night time, the gearbox had gone. We were in mid claim with the warranty company when they stated they would not be paying out as they had no proof of the service schedule. I also mentioned that the dealer might have gone out of business/changed names and they told me the agreement was with myself and the dealer, they just administered it - which I've read online could well be true.

When we bought the car the dealer told us it had been serviced at the same time as the MOT (I have proof of the MOT), yet this does not appear to be the case. There is no record of the service in the service book and no invoice to that end. I called the MOT station to see if they could have serviced it at the same time and was told that they only do MOTs so couldn't have. (can't believe I was so stupid to not check that it had been done)

We've covered less than 4,000 miles since buying the car.

Within the first month of owning the car, I contacted the dealer several times - he was less than helpful most of the time, giving me several different answers to what I wanted. He diagnosed over the phone that the head gasket wouldn't have gone. Strange that because it had.

I phoned probably up to a hundred times over a two or three week period with little or no contact. Shortly after this, the phone line was dead. I checked their website (I can't post links but it's 2ndcityautosales dot co dot uk) and lo and behold, they are now trading as Abex Automotive. I called the new mobile number and spoke to who I believe to be the person who sold us the car and was told they'd bought the company from 2nd City four weeks prior and that as a result, they had no record of my purchase.

So I reckon I have a couple of options here:

1. Use the warranty - if they are the same parent company - as I believe them to be - then the warranty, if issued by the parent company (I don't have the paperwork with me at the minute), would still be valid. However, I would still struggle to get anything on the service schedule issue.

2. Take legal action against the dealer (if we can find them) as the car wasn't fit for purpose and also for breach of contract by claiming it had been serviced, then selling us a warranty based on that lie.

The only outcome I want (need!) from this is to get rid of the car.

If possible, the best outcome would be for it to go back to the dealer for a full refund and me being reimbursed the costs I've incurred since owning it (dreaming a bit there though I think).

If we could get it fixed and claim any of the money back that we've paid out, though and then trade the car in I'd be happy (not happy, but you know what I mean!).

Does anybody have any advice for me on this? Much appreciated if so!

Thanks,

Rich

vaio

Don't suppose any of the purchase price was paid on finance or credit card or visa debit card?

bournerj

Unfortunately not, no. Cash deposit and bank transfer for the balance.

Have just found out, though, that the company on the warranty document is Trade Car Sales who are still a valid, operating company (thank you Companies House). This means I have someone to chase for some form of recompense.

vikingaero

Judging from your post I would say that there is little you can do here other than to swallow the cost of repairs or sell the car as a faulty car. The main problem is the change of name of the trader. Car traders sometimes do change names frequently but it could have also been purchased by a new person and the staff and premises may have remained the same. If you did have some recourse it would have been in the 6 months since buying the car.

Unfortunately the car you bought was around 8 years old and things will go wrong. Maybe next time the £5k you spent on an old car would have been better spent on a newer but more boring car. A lot of people are falling into the trap of buying old but cutsey cars and having to deal with the consequences. The gearbox on the original MINIs were prone to failure.

Bonbon

Sorry I can't offer advice but, fingers crossed you get a reasonable outcome. I am in a situation at the moment with a dodgy second hand car and fighting to get a refund. You buy from a dealer hoping that things will be OK ,and find out that they're not. I contacted Consumer Direct who have been very helpful.

Keith

Lots of head gaskets! How many had actually failed

vaio

vikingaero wrote: »

Judging from your post I would say that there is little you can do here other than to swallow the cost of repairs or sell the car as a faulty car.......

Or he could chase the compay that sold him the warrenty which, according to post #3, is still trading

vikingaero wrote: »

......Unfortunately the car you bought was around 8 years old and things will go wrong. Maybe next time the £5k you spent on an old car would have been better spent on a newer but more boring car. A lot of people are falling into the trap of buying old but cutsey cars and having to deal with the consequences. The gearbox on the original MINIs were prone to failure.

Tastes vary but I'd take an interesting 10 year old car rather than a three year old boring euro box any day of the week.

(Current car = 1999 Bi turbo Audi S4)

patman99

Was the original company a 'Ltd' jobbie?, if not, ask around about the owners. If you can find their name and address then you could start small claims court action against them.

mark5

The Midland gearbox in the Mini Coopers were really poor and most fail, They swapped to Gatreg boxes in August 2004.

bournerj

Unfortunately the car you bought was around 8 years old and things will go wrong.

Very true, however, the car had supposedly been serviced and then the water pump went within two days of owning it. (I admit it was stupidity on our part for keeping the car instead of turning up with it on the back of a truck at the dealers and demanding a refund. Hindsight is a wonderful thing though).

Thanks Bonbon, I've also spoken to Consumer Direct about the issue. All comes down to whether or not the company is still trading (which I think they are).

The original company was LTD, yes.

I've done some ringing around today. The warranty company said their "person who deals with them" was "under the impression" that they had ceased trading - not entirely sure what that means, they're either trading or they're not.

So I phoned the "new" dealer, Abex Automotive and they claimed that they'd just purchased the business contacts, etc from 2nd City, nothing to do with the business itself. Seems a bit dodgy to me.

Have got the number (I think) for TCS after a quick Google search but haven't had chance to call yet - have to fit work in between all the unnecessary car dealings!

forgotmyname

Headgasket replaced because the pump died, and again when the radiator cracked?

Sorry but do you ever watch the temperature gauge? I have driven cars short distances with very little water in them.
Back in the pre mobile days. Never needed the head gasket replacing as you dont let it overheat.