We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Rights When Buying A Second Hand Car?

Options
Morning All :)

I wonder if you fantastic people could offer me some advice, my father in law bought a second hand car only for a few hundred pounds from a local small second hand car garage last week, he took it from Manchester to Cambridge on Sunday on the way back it suffered a catastrophic engine failure that resulted in the engine seizing. Needless to say he is not very happy, the garage have told him there was no warranty so tough luck!

Does he have any re-course whatsoever in law that can help him out? I was thinking maybe it was not fit for purpose when sold, it came with a full MOT so he thought all would be well.

Any ideas and advice really appreciated

Thanks in advance
"You can measure a man's character by the choices he makes under pressure"
Sir Winston Churchill

Comments

  • Hintza
    Hintza Posts: 19,420 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I will be interested in what folk think here. My thoughts are for a scrap value price you can't really expect a lot and I don't think the garage would be liable for 6 months.

    So the question is how long should the dealer be liable on a car like this? I suspect sligtly longer than a week but probably only 30 days or so even so could be a fight.

    Did your father do his first parade checks on the vehicle before setting off?
  • Hintza wrote: »
    I will be interested in what folk think here. My thoughts are for a scrap value price you can't really expect a lot and I don't think the garage would be liable for 6 months.

    So the question is how long should the dealer be liable on a car like this? I suspect sligtly longer than a week but probably only 30 days or so even so could be a fight.

    Did your father do his first parade checks on the vehicle before setting off?

    Hello

    Thanks for your reply, this is my thinking I know if he had bought it from say Ebay from a private seller then he would not have a leg to stand on, but from an actual business that sells second hand cars I hoping it may work a little different, with it coming with 12 months MOT he was hoping it would be sound, at least for longer than a week anyhow!

    He did his usual check before leaving home, which are thorough say the least, he is a bit old fashioned like that so the oil and all fluids got checked before he left and all was well, nice clean oil at the right level same with coolant, brake fluids power steering fluid and washer fluids.

    I feel desperately sorry for him, he is a typical pensioner with not a lot of money but relies on his car to get around, this will set him back for a while, I really hope there is something that can be done.

    Thanks again
    "You can measure a man's character by the choices he makes under pressure"
    Sir Winston Churchill
  • Hintza
    Hintza Posts: 19,420 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'm surprised you haven't had more replies. It could be worth talking to CAB and Trading Standards.

    If I was him I would at least send a letter (at least with a COP or recored) now to at least establish a time line between when it was bought and when it conked out.
  • Hintza wrote: »
    I'm surprised you haven't had more replies. It could be worth talking to CAB and Trading Standards.

    If I was him I would at least send a letter (at least with a COP or recored) now to at least establish a time line between when it was bought and when it conked out.

    Hello thanks for taking the time to reply, I have found a bit of information here

    http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_second_hand_vehicles.htm

    It would seem there may be some sort of recourse, I think your idea about trading standards might be the best bet, I will give them a ring this afternoon in his local town and see what they have to say.

    Thanks again :)
    "You can measure a man's character by the choices he makes under pressure"
    Sir Winston Churchill
  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Buying from a car dealer I would say thet a week is not reasonable, even for a few hundred pound bager. You could help him with a small claims action to cover the cost of the car and any losses he suffered, it is not expensive to do and would have a good chance of success.
  • stugib
    stugib Posts: 2,602 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hintza wrote: »
    I will be interested in what folk think here. My thoughts are for a scrap value price you can't really expect a lot and I don't think the garage would be liable for 6 months.

    So the question is how long should the dealer be liable on a car like this? I suspect sligtly longer than a week but probably only 30 days or so even so could be a fight.

    Interesting question. My opinion is the value of the car would come into it after acceptance. Let's say this is 2 weeks for the sake of argument.

    If it went wrong after 2 weeks the burden of proof would still be on the dealer (<6m), but when it was coming down to repair/replacement/partial refund decision the argument about durability would come into it, and as repair/replacement would be uneconomical that would affect the amount refunded (i.e. very little if you couldn't reasonably expect the car to last long)

    Before 2 weeks/acceptance, the customer would still be able to reject the vehicle for a full refund. A business still has to sell goods of satisfactory quality/fit for purpose.

    There's lots of arguments about what that 2 week example is on a second hand car in practice, but a complete failure a week later would in my opinion be within the acceptance period. Unless the dealer can prove it was misuse then I'd be pushing for a full refund.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.6K Spending & Discounts
  • 244K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.3K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.