Sold House - Now Boilers Broke

DON79

If they are going to be upgrading and removing the old boiler anyway, I don't see a lot of point in buying a new one now as surely it will have already been factored into their costs and their price offered - although I understand they may see this as an ideal opportunity to get the price even lower! Try wording it in a very polite way and asking if their plans had included removing the old boiler anyway and if so you would be prepared to contribute xxx amount towards a replacement. Start with a lower amount and negotiate upwards probably. Or second the idea of getting it fixed to chug along for another six months if at all possible....

Patr100

Get at least 2 more quotes - quick.
How do you know the single quote you got was really the only option?

Ulfar

DON79 wrote: »

If they are going to be upgrading and removing the old boiler anyway, I don't see a lot of point in buying a new one now as surely it will have already been factored into their costs and their price offered - although I understand they may see this as an ideal opportunity to get the price even lower! Try wording it in a very polite way and asking if their plans had included removing the old boiler anyway and if so you would be prepared to contribute xxx amount towards a replacement. Start with a lower amount and negotiate upwards probably. Or second the idea of getting it fixed to chug along for another six months if at all possible....

What they are or are going to do is irrelevant, it is what you have stated in the contract that is important.

pararct

Oddly enough the older a boiler is the less likely it can be to break down.
I have a free standing Glow worm stood down in my basement that has been down there since the mid 1980's. (7 bedroom house so it quite a big beast). Every year I have an engineer around to service and certify it and every year he fails it (not to current standard) as the flue is within 18 inches of the basement escape window. He tell me boilers of that age rarely break down as there are very few moving parts inside them to go wrong. I should get around to replacing it as it is no doubt very inefficient but the engineer tells me if it ain't broke and all that

abc1234_2

Ulfar wrote: »

Have you exchanged contracts yet ?

If you have and have advised the boiler is in good working order in the contract paperwork then you have to get it fixed, if you don't you will be in breach of contract and then it is up to your buyer if they will take legal action.

If you haven't exchanged, tell them and have it noted in the contract. It is then between you to negotiate any reduction.

No not exchanged contracts yet. Got an appointment to sign next week.

abc1234_2

DON79 wrote: »

If they are going to be upgrading and removing the old boiler anyway, I don't see a lot of point in buying a new one now as surely it will have already been factored into their costs and their price offered - although I understand they may see this as an ideal opportunity to get the price even lower! Try wording it in a very polite way and asking if their plans had included removing the old boiler anyway and if so you would be prepared to contribute xxx amount towards a replacement. Start with a lower amount and negotiate upwards probably. Or second the idea of getting it fixed to chug along for another six months if at all possible....

What do you think is a good starting point? £500, or is that too cheeky?

geoffky

pararct wrote: »

Oddly enough the older a boiler is the less likely it can be to break down.
I have a free standing Glow worm stood down in my basement that has been down there since the mid 1980's. (7 bedroom house so it quite a big beast). Every year I have an engineer around to service and certify it and every year he fails it (not to current standard) as the flue is within 18 inches of the basement escape window. He tell me boilers of that age rarely break down as there are very few moving parts inside them to go wrong. I should get around to replacing it as it is no doubt very inefficient but the engineer tells me if it ain't broke and all that

The boiler we had was for pubs and care homes and we are only a 4bed,the engineer said it was like having a rolls Royce when you only need a mini..it was a big !!!!!!..

googler

Call a Heating Engineer as opposed to a plumber - someone who routinely services boilers.

See if it can be repaired rather than replaced.

Doozergirl

Where British Gas will come in handy I think. They will do a fixed price for a guaranteed repair.
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/maintenance-and-repair/one-off-boiler-repair.html?ai_link=BR_Boiler_Repair

Unless the plumber has actually condemned the boiler, it's probably salvageable. He might recommend a new boiler but that's not the perogative here. Sods law, our three year old boiler chucked a wobbly about a week after we agreed a sale. The plumber saw the sign outside our house and asked if we'd moved in. He was totally shocked we were fixing it before moving out!

They probably are planning to replace it if they've mentioned redoing the room itself so a fix would probably be a fairer result in general to try and put everyone back to the position they were in before it broke rather than fully renegotiating on something they were probably expecting, iyswim. It's only to be expected that they would take advantage.

£2500 is also a pretty high price just to replace a boiler - I'd do some shopping around. NOT British Gas, for heaven's sake! That will be even more expensive. Friend recently had his smallish boiler replaced with a Worcester (decent brand) for £1500 in London. £1500 would be achievable in a bigger house with a cheaper brand.

DON79

abc1234 wrote: »

What do you think is a good starting point? £500, or is that too cheeky?

that was the figure in my head, plenty of room to bargain then

have to say, if I was buying the OP's house and planned on ripping the old boiler out anyway, then I wouldn't be too bothered if it had already broken down since it was going to be chucked away anyway. just how I would feel anyway.