Getting a refund (second hand car)

unlocated

I had a bad experience with the dealer too. Long story short, he sold me a car in working conditions but after few days realised there were too many things wrong with it. mainly had been in an accident, and had been repaired not at satisfactory level (that is not what you are looking for when you buy a Clio 54 plate for almost 3K) - there's a post with the whole story if you feel bored today

In your case, I understand the frustration and the feeling of not knowing "what will be next"?. this is understandable and I completely agree. The only point is that to reject the car now you will have to not use it for all the time it will take for sorting the issue out and still you'ore not 100% sure you'll wine in the court or sort it in any way (unless you've a really big family to go with you at their premises :P). Plus you'll have extra costs due to insurance and the expenses you'll have to get around the fact you don't have a car.

My two cents: if the issue is something that you can live with once you get away the frustration and is not going to be a life threatening or too risky issue, just keep the car. If anything comes out within the 6 months from purchase the dealer will be still responsible for that (of course depending on the issue).


I hope that helps.

Ps: Dealers are the worst breed ever (without offences). It's really hard to find one who is honest and willing to make "your interests". And it is quite understandable given the fact that they have expensive pieces of metal to sell around and that otherwise will be a loss for them if they had to fix every single issue (as cars are never going to be always perfect while ageing). The only solution would be to get a new car! (and I wish I had the money for it!)

Sgt_Pepper_2

Why are people buying cars and then doing the background checks. Surely the time to do this is before you splash the cash.

n3il_2

What I'm also saying is this, they're refusing to look at the fuel gage because they're saying that there's nothing wrong with it in there opinion, but the fact in ran out if fuel (so they're saying) when it was showing on the gage over a quarter of a tank tells me differently.
And I've also been told by every mechanic I've spoke to that trying to start a car when it's out of fuel will not cause the crank sensor to fail.

bungle4by4

the dealer is lying to you, but you have still got no chance at getting your money back. the crank sensor probably failed, and the dealer was trying to blame you... i'd chalk to up to experience as long as the car now runs. I'd check the capacity of your fuel tank in your manual, and fill the tank to capacity. this will tell you if the gauge is working (ie if you can get 30 litres in a 40litre tank then your quarter full is working perfectly)

Notmyrealname

n3il wrote: »

What I'm also saying is this, they're refusing to look at the fuel gage because they're saying that there's nothing wrong with it in there opinion, but the fact in ran out if fuel (so they're saying) when it was showing on the gage over a quarter of a tank tells me differently.

Two things:

I once owned a car with a large tank where the fuel pick up pipe was on the right side of the tank. I parked on a road with a bad camber and even though there was 1/4 of a tank on the gauge when I parked up, there wasn't sufficient to reach the pick up pipe. Took a couple of gallons to get enough in.

Also even if there is a fault with the gauge, that is not sufficient reason for a refund on an 11 year old car because of the reasons I highlighted in the advice from CAB.

jimmym105

Incorrect fuel tank reading is a common problem across a range of cars. It's hard to explain in words how it works - but it's a bit like a float that moves up and down depending on how much petrol is in the tank.

This crud can get on to the float and affects the movement of the float which in turn affects readings. Seriously, very common.

An 11 year old car will have a lot of crud in the tank and I would recommend keeping it at least half full....1) to reduce the chances of rust and more crud inside the tank due to condensation and 2) to keep the fuel pump cool...on an 11 year old car it's probably the original and will appreciate being cooled by the petrol in the tank. They're expensive to replace.

Not a good idea to run petrol low, especially on an oldish car.