Car bought dangerous to drive within days

marlot

jojo1984 wrote: »

Yes it is a clio.. it was ok and the bonnet shut ok.. was all in tack up until the point of where the car was on the motorway and that incidient happened.

The Clio has a design flaw. You'll find loads of reports around. eg.

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100218073836AAh7epK

marlot

I don't think you have any chance against a private seller

jojo1984_3

i did take a friend who new a little about cars but not knows of technical stuff that garages do etc, did a test drive and no lights came on while i drove it, drove well, did have a slight problem gettin it into reverse tho, as i didnt know that you had to lift the gear stick up slightly to get it into reverse.. seems good at the time, stupidly there were other people texting and ringing the seller as i was there (almost 1 hour) after the car and the car was 550, so wasnt that expensive.. kinda ya get what ya pay for in a sense. but for so many issues to araise that made the car unroadworthy that only a garage would spot really.

worried_jim

As it is a private sale and the owner hasn't lied you have no legal comeback I am afraid. As others have said already it's a case of buyer beware.

silkyuk9

jojo1984 wrote: »

i did take a friend who new a little about cars but not knows of technical stuff that garages do etc, did a test drive and no lights came on while i drove it, drove well, did have a slight problem gettin it into reverse tho, as i didnt know that you had to lift the gear stick up slightly to get it into reverse.. seems good at the time, stupidly there were other people texting and ringing the seller as i was there (almost 1 hour) after the car and the car was 550, so wasnt that expensive.. kinda ya get what ya pay for in a sense. but for so many issues to araise that made the car unroadworthy that only a garage would spot really.

if a car is unroad worthy im sure there would be signs somewhere??

you need a good mechanic to look around a car and go in day light. its unfortunate. Ive been in this situation myslef but you have to be prepared to get a duffer when you are buying private and for only a few hunfred quid.

Strider590

jojo1984 wrote: »

The sunday after i bought the car, i was driving to work, on the A1 motorway, and out of the blue the bonnet of the car suddenly blew up and crashed into my windscreen and landing on my car roof, causing the glass to come all over me from the sun roof. I quickly did and emergency stop and managed to get onto the hard shoulder. With help from a passer buy who was walking his dog at the time, and the highway agency came to offer me assisstance. :mad:

Is your new car a Renault Clio? This bonnet catch thing is a documented fault which was the cause of a massive recall.

Edit - Someone already said this

colino

I'm sorry for your problems but you are wasting time and energy chasing the seller for a private sale at banger money. You need a friendly independent to review the car and give a realistic price for putting it all safe and right, don't rely on a friend who garbles nonsense about pads not being tight enough, they know only marginally more than you about cars.
I'd also keep on top of the recovery company, they don't store cars for free and if the Clios a nice enough one, I reckon they will ramp up the storage/recovery charge, but "generously" be prepared the wave the fee for the "scrap".

jojo1984_3

thanks colino, i no i didnt have the money to give the recovery.. and he took it to his and said give him a ring when sorted.. omg been mugged havent i.. he kepted sayin tht it was worth 800quid.. this whole issue has really made me ill.. the guy that looked at the car after i bought it was a mechanic, and my friend who came with me has a keen interest in cars but not technically if u know what i mean. The ad on gumtree was false advertising tho, so i dont have any come back that way at all!!!!

silkyuk9

jojo1984 wrote: »

thanks colino, i no i didnt have the money to give the recovery.. and he took it to his and said give him a ring when sorted.. omg been mugged havent i.. he kepted sayin tht it was worth 800quid.. this whole issue has really made me ill.. the guy that looked at the car after i bought it was a mechanic, and my friend who came with me has a keen interest in cars but not technically if u know what i mean. The ad on gumtree was false advertising tho, so i dont have any come back that way at all!!!!

who ever has your car can be charging around £80 per day. Thats why insurance comapnies get their fingers out when its recovered.

s_b

best advice i can give is if you no nowt bout cars dont buy private or at least arrange a fresh mot prior to collection done by an mot garage that is genuine
the bit about the clio (yes i knew it was a clio too) was you said it was owned by a mechanic but the reason the secondary bonnet catch doesnt work is because these cars with this part seized are cars that have never been serviced
always do a bit of homework about any prospective car you are going to buy and you will then have a deeper knowledge of what to check out
this is seriously banger money territory though and is not a good place to buy a car you want to fly up the A1 in unless as i say you at least have a rudimentary mot inspection to confirm the wheels arent going to fly off like cocos circus car and you as owner go to prison for driving an unsafe car when you kill someone with it