Audi GEARBOX fault within 3 months of purchase

DB.8609_2

Hello everyone, I'm new here and just wanted to ask some advice from people who may have been through similar or know the area.

I purchased a 2002 Audi TT MK1 for £6,499 from a used car dealer on the 18th of June 2011. Within 3 months, 10/8/2011, the gearbox developed a fault, and the car is no longer drivable. I still have the ad saved (from Autotrader and his own website) stating the vehicle is "in excellent condition".

I have read the OFT guidance for used car dealers and there are several points which the dealer is not complying with. There are also separate financial issues at hand.

I notified the dealer 3 days after the incident, and I was told "toughis, sold as seen". My receipt also states "sold as seen". According to the OFT document this is an attempt to "limit liability" and is non-compliant with the legislation.

Finally after much argument (documented via email), the trader said he is willing to inspect the car, if the fault is "due to abuse" then he will charge me for the inspection. If not, he claims he will "take it from there".

I have made the car available for collection, but the trader has not taken any further action, despite my calls and emails. The problem is, he is 90-120mins from me, and transporting the car would cost in the region of £300 +

I have quotes which I have sent him for the damage, which vary from £830 + VAT to £1504 + VAT depending on the garage.

He claims he can get the work done for £500-ish and wants me to pay for it to be transported to him.

However, if I am going to risk £300 car transport fees (and he may not get the car repaired anyway, if it is due to "abuse") then I am wondering if I should just cut my losses and pay myself.

If I do so, can I claim any costs through the small claims court?

I am paying to hire a car, and paying storage costs by the day at the current garage. Fees are mounting up and I wonder if paying then pursuing him is the best option.

I am aware that I need to "give him a chance" to inspect the vehicle and repair it, but the distance makes it a little unreasonable, and he is not willing to chip into the costs of transporting the car.

Many thanks for any insight.

Dave

forgotmyname

£300 transport fees? Do you not have breakdown cover? Using the tips on here you should get cover
for £40 which maybe less than half that with cashback etc.

I dont think its unreasonable for them to say bring it back. But i would expect it to be repaired without charge
or if taking the gearbox off then maybe contribute towards fitting a new clutch at the same time.

They dont sound too helpful though.

System

How many miles have you done in the car in the 2 to 3 months ?

A car can be in excellent condition and the dealer can advertise as such and could not have known that the gearbox would fail at some point in the future. If you did not buy with a 3 month warranty, then the garage's liability will be reduced and you may find you have a battle before you get anything towards the cost of repair, it depends how many miles you did in the car.
It would be a different story if it failed within a few miles of driving it from the garage for example.

I assume it is a manual gearbox, many garages will not work on the guts of a gearbox anymore, they will simply replace with a reconditioned unit, hence the excessive costs you are being quoted.

Before you pay for any transportation charges, you need a written agreement from the garage of what they will be willing to do, after their inspection to check if the fault is due to abuse, not sure what they will be looking for though, seems like a cop-out.
You need them to say in writing, if they will repair / replace the gearbox and how much if anything they would charge you with an upper maximum amount so that you know what is involved.

For example, they may say they will not charge you for the labour but just for parts, get a fixed quote for the parts in this case.

Compare the total cost with other quotes from your local garages and make up your mind what you want to do.

missile

After almost three months I would doubt your claim will be successful, but speak to a solicitor. You may have legal cover included with your insurance? He may respond to a solicitors letter. Your next option is the small claims court.

If it were my car, I would want it repaired by a local garage.

motorguy

my thinking is that the dealer would have to prove the fault was not there at time of sale.

If the gearbox has been fine for three months, then he could argue that there was no fault at time of sale - that is to say, he has to warrant the condition of the car at time of sale, NOT provide a warranty on the car. Its also of note we are talking about a 9 year old car here, with perhaps mileage to reflect that.

He may also argue that you got the car at a reduced price and thus 'buyer declined warranty in lieu of discount'. Again, he has already said he will be trying to demonstrate that the damage was caused by abuse - something that is a definite possibility in a performance car over a period of three months.

It does seem strange that you accepted the terms written on the invoice at the time, but now feel you can 'fight' this?

Personally, if i was not prepared to accept the invoice terms i would have walked away OR bought a warranty off them OR a third party warranty? There is no world shortage of Audi TT's OR car dealers for that matter.

You could cause yourself a lot of stress, cost, hassle, etc, over a long period of time (and be without your car during that time) to 'possibly' get £500 back?

motorguy

missile wrote: »

If it were my car, I would want it repaired by a local garage.

The dealer must be given the opportunity to resolve the problem, otherwise its another way for them to wash their hands of the fault.

vax2002

Did you Sign this receipt, if you did it was NOT a receipt, it was a contract .

Wh05apk

So you bought a car, advertised, and "sold as seen" which presumably drove fine at the time you test drove it, and after 2-3 months, and only after 2-3 months a fault developed which you now feel should be repaired under warranty? A warranty you did not have as the car was "sold as seen". If you are trying to say the car was not of merchantable quality, then the fact it lasted 3 months without fault excludes that, unless you can prove the fault was present at purchase, and the delaer somehow "bodged" it to last 2-3 months.

missile

pgilc1 wrote: »

The dealer must be given the opportunity to resolve the problem, otherwise its another way for them to wash their hands of the fault.

Of course garage must be given opportunity, I discussed that in my first paragraph.
The second paragraph of my post is regarding the second aspect of OPs post where he says garage would repair for £500.

iolanthe07

You cannot reasonably expect a dealer to be liable to fix such an old car that was sold 'as seen' (presumably at a price commensurate with having no warranty) after three months' use. It is bad luck, but you have to take your chances when buying a car nine years old.

rev_henry

iolanthe07 wrote: »

You cannot reasonably expect a dealer to be liable to fix such an old car that was sold 'as seen' (presumably at a price commensurate with having no warranty) after three months' use. It is bad luck, but you have to take your chances when buying a car nine years old.

Dealers are still bound by the Sale of Goods Act when selling to the public, even if they write 'sold as seen' or 'trade sale'. Whether the gearbox failure would be seen by a judge as unreasonable I'm not sure. A gearbox isn't usually a consumable item is it? So it should reasonably be expected to last the life of the car.

Bartlett v Sidney Marcus (1965) is quite an interesting, relevant case although its worth pointing out this was about a failed CLUTCH not gearbox.