Issues with Car I bought

supermonkey

Hi All,

I recently bought a used car and after a few days noticed some issues.

The dealer was along way away, so I arranged to have it inspected by a local garage so I could report back. I was told it would be an hours inspection, but they charged me for half hour as it "did not take long".

In less then half an hour they:
- Did a general inspection
- Checked wheel alignment
- Checked exhaust & backbox due to clanging sounds
- Checked brakes
- Checked gearbox as very clunky
- Took the car for a drive to check for intermittent issues including varying idle speed and "juddering" from back of car.
- Installed 2 replacement parts due to a manufacturer recall.

Not surprisingly they didn't find faults apart from the alignment and I don't know how you can check items that quickly particularly when told some issues were intermittent.

I still believe the car has issues, but I need to have this confirmed as the dealer that sold the car had agreed to re-imburse me if anyworks needed doing. (They agreed this as they claimed to have fully inspected the car but have clearly not based on the recalls not being done).

Does anyone have any advice?

jaydeeuk1

If you need to have it confirmed, then if it was me I'd take it to a local mechanic (VAT registered garage may have more weight), get him to do a full report and test (not a 30 minute kick of the wheels and oil check) and send it, along with the car, back to where you bought it from (and claim cost of report from seller too).
Do you have it in writing that they'll refund you without hassle if anything needs doing?

bigjl

The only worthwhile inspection is an AA or RAC one.

Anything else is a waste of time.

They aren't cheap but then a proper inspection never is.

Hammyman

supermonkey wrote: »

Hi All,

I recently bought a used car and after a few days noticed some issues.

The dealer was along way away, so I arranged to have it inspected by a local garage so I could report back. I was told it would be an hours inspection, but they charged me for half hour as it "did not take long".

In less then half an hour they:
- Did a general inspection
- Checked wheel alignment
- Checked exhaust & backbox due to clanging sounds
- Checked brakes
- Checked gearbox as very clunky
- Took the car for a drive to check for intermittent issues including varying idle speed and "juddering" from back of car.
- Installed 2 replacement parts due to a manufacturer recall.

Not surprisingly they didn't find faults apart from the alignment and I don't know how you can check items that quickly particularly when told some issues were intermittent.

I still believe the car has issues, but I need to have this confirmed as the dealer that sold the car had agreed to re-imburse me if anyworks needed doing. (They agreed this as they claimed to have fully inspected the car but have clearly not based on the recalls not being done).

Does anyone have any advice?

Sorry but half of that the garage who did the inspection didn't do BECAUSE YOU ASKED THEM TO DO AN INSPECTION. They would have noted the fault but not done the work.

30 minutes to do an inspection isn't far off the mark. Tracking can be checked rudimentarily by taking it for a drive and looking at tyre tread wear.

Brake discs and pads can be checked visually in a couple of minutes with a mirror. The road test would reveal other problems.

So whilst all that was in the list above it wasn't the garage you paid to do an inspection who would have done the remedial repair work.

Hammyman

bigjl wrote: »

The only worthwhile inspection is an AA or RAC one.
.

Based on what? I've not noticed any RAC inspection taking along a mobile 2 or 4 post ramp....

dazzadub

or the mian dealer of the make of car.

this is the best option, it will cost more but they will have good knowledge of the car and potentially what faults maybe

supermonkey

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

If you need to have it confirmed, then if it was me I'd take it to a local mechanic

This may be the best idea.

dazzadub wrote: »

or the mian dealer of the make of car.

The place that did the inspection was a main dealer (thats why they did the recall stuff but the seller was also a main dealer)

Hammyman wrote: »

Sorry but half of that the garage who did the inspection didn't do BECAUSE YOU ASKED THEM TO DO AN INSPECTION. They would have noted the fault but not done the work.

Sorry, I don't follow this. I didn't expect them to do repairs. I expecting them to investigate and fault find. They did not do this.

dazzadub

take it to another dealer, not with in same group.

worth a shot