Advice on FAULTY 2nd Hand Car

thcoms

I purchased a 53 plate Vauxhall Astra back in Nov 2010 for £2k cash with 58k on the clock from what I thought was a trustworthy used car dealer in my area, the car was sold with no warrenty & 1yrs MOT, I had to tax it myself, after 2 days of having the car, I was checking the water & oil levels & the NS front headlight was loose, the OS drop link was not attached & there was a crack in the oil sump, I took the car back to the garage who reluctantly repaired the problems only after I threatened them that I would be contacting VOSA (they MOT'ed the car).

3 weeks ago I noticed a strange whining coming from the engine so I took the car to a local garage who confirmed that the gearbox was the problem & they said it could be a diff bearing may need replacing so I left the car with them, about 1 hour later I got a call from the local garage who told me the whole gearbox needed replacing, I didn't bother going back to the garage where I purchased it from as my previous experience after 2 days of purchase did not give me confidence of their responce & I didn't want any further confrontation so I had the gearbox replaced at a cost of £300.

Then last week I had to call the RAC out as the OS brake caliper had seized making the car very hard to drive bearing in mind that the garage I purchased the car from had replaced the front discs & pads.

I sent a recorded delivery letter to the garage stating the SOGA 1979 & the above mentioned faults & I received a phone call from a guy who works for the garage stating I purchased the car from him as a private sale & nothing to do with the garage yet the car was up for sale on the garage forcourt, he got quite abusive with me & said I would be hearing from the garage owners solicitors.

What rights do I have & where do I stand.

themull1

What details are on the contract/bill that you received? and you say that you didnt receive a warranty?

wealdroam

You really should've let the selling garage have a go at repairing the gearbox before getting another garage fix it.

You haven't said what you want to happen, but now that you have had problems fixed at another garage, I think you will have difficulties.

thcoms

Just a piece of paper with the guys name & address details & how much I paid, sold with no warrenty which is fair enough but how do you check engine & gearbox problems, it had a new timing belt fitted according to the service history book along with a service & new pads & discs.

thcoms

wealdroam wrote: »

You really should've let the selling garage have a go at repairing the gearbox before getting another garage fix it.

You haven't said what you want to happen, but now that you have had problems fixed at another garage, I think you will have difficulties.

I would like some (not all) of the cost refunded, since owning the car, I have had to replace 2 front tyres (3wks after purchase), gearbox, front brake caliper & water exp tank hose

System

Only my opinion, but after six months of owning the car, how many miles have you done ?

I would want a 2nd opinion before agreeing to a whole geerbox change, when it sounds more like a shaft bearing or a clutch bearing. But aside from that, for the other faults, it is likely that on this age of car, the type of faults you have mentioned (ignoring the original faults that the seller repaired) would be expected and could occur at any time and you cannot expect a seller to forsee this type of fault (not having a crystal ball).

Also...Car sales forecourts often sell cars on behalf of private owners, so it all depends on what paperwork you have, if you got a dealer sales form that the dealer signed, then it was not a private sale - AFAIK

DebtHater

thcoms wrote: »

I purchased a 53 plate Vauxhall Astra back in Nov 2010 for £2k cash with 58k on the clock

3 weeks ago I noticed a strange whining coming from the engine

What rights do I have & where do I stand.

Sorry, let me get this right. You bought a car in November 2010 and its developed a fault in April/May 2011? Thats a bit of a large timeframe, to be honest.

A car developing a fault 5/6 months after purchase is not the sellers fault, UNLESS you can prove the fault was there/developing at the time of the sale. Fair enough, if it happened soon after the purchase then I would understand. If someone came to me 6 months after purchase complaining of faults, I would show them the door.

With regards to a private seller using a garage forecourt to advertise the vehicle, I would imagine a court would deem that to be misrepresented, i.e using a garage forecourt although its a private seller. You would be forgiven for thinking it was a trade sale, as that would be how the average Joe Public would view it, UNLESS it was explained to you before sale in writing.

thcoms

BAA1 wrote: »

Only my opinion, but after six months of owning the car, how many miles have you done ?

I would want a 2nd opinion before agreeing to a whole geerbox change, when it sounds more like a shaft bearing or a clutch bearing. But aside from that, for the other faults, it is likely that on this age of car, the type of faults you have mentioned (ignoring the original faults that the seller repaired) would be expected and could occur at any time and you cannot expect a seller to forsee this type of fault (not having a crystal ball).

Also...Car sales forecourts often sell cars on behalf of private owners, so it all depends on what paperwork you have, if you got a dealer sales form that the dealer signed, then it was not a private sale - AFAIK

I have done apprx 4k miles, I didn't need a 2nd opinion as when I went to the garage about the gearbox, it was up on the ramp & my driveshafts were very loose & the gearbox oil was silver instead of golden brown & the garage I use is owned by a friend.

System

thcoms wrote: »

I have done apprx 4k miles, I didn't need a 2nd opinion as when I went to the garage about the gearbox, it was up on the ramp & my driveshafts were very loose & the gearbox oil was silver instead of golden brown & the garage I use is owned by a friend.

Well, that additional info could make a difference, can your friend at this garage identify what may have caused the failure of the gearbox. If it is as a result of accident damage or incorrect parts fitted by a previous garage / owner then that may make your case a little stronger, but it may still be too late _pale_

DebtHater

thcoms wrote: »

I have done apprx 4k miles, I didn't need a 2nd opinion as when I went to the garage about the gearbox, it was up on the ramp & my driveshafts were very loose & the gearbox oil was silver instead of golden brown & the garage I use is owned by a friend.

I wouldnt be surprised if the gaskets go shortly

You have to allow for reasonable "wear and tear" - but you now have a bit of a problem trying to prove that they sold this car as a trade sale.

Traders have certain rules they need to satisfy under SOGA - i.e they need to put issues right if the car was sold with the faults.

Private sellers do not have those rules - they only need to be honest about the condition of the vehicle, they arent allowed to misrepresent the condition etc.

So you need to think carefully about what the seller said, whether they gave the impression that it was via the garage, etc etc.

thcoms

BAA1 wrote: »

Well, that additional info could make a difference, can your friend at this garage identify what may have caused the failure of the gearbox. If it is as a result of accident damage or incorrect parts fitted by a previous garage / owner then that may make your case a little stronger, but it may still be too late _pale_

Problem with that is my friends garage uses this car dealer for his MOT's so it would be putting him in a position