Car Sold To Me With BLACK STICKER On Dash

Obukit

OP: As others have said, you probably won't have much luck with the person who sold you the car, but bearing in mind a nine year old car won't be worth spending lots of money on, if the emissions are borderline there are a couple of cheap ways to try and pass the MOT.

The easiest are to remove the air filter for the test (can normally be done without any tools, just unclip the air filter housing but replace it after the test), and immediately before the test really thrash the car (high revs for a while) to clean all the rubbish out the engine. Then, when the engine is really hot, take it for the test and cross your fingers!

It's not a safety issue but your car is probably running rich (too much fuel), hence the emissions problems, so you will be using more petrol than you should.

mikey72

puddy wrote: »

true, but some warning lights are universal to that make of car, no matter how many variants of it there are and others are as you say specific to the level of car you have, the manual will state this (well it does in mine)

There's up to twenty different lights on mine. All the ecu lights are listed as "options not in all vehicles". The op had no chance.

s_b

Obukit wrote: »

OP: As others have said, you probably won't have much luck with the person who sold you the car, but bearing in mind a nine year old car won't be worth spending lots of money on, if the emissions are borderline there are a couple of cheap ways to try and pass the MOT.

The easiest are to remove the air filter for the test (can normally be done without any tools, just unclip the air filter housing but replace it after the test), and immediately before the test really thrash the car (high revs for a while) to clean all the rubbish out the engine. Then, when the engine is really hot, take it for the test and cross your fingers!

It's not a safety issue but your car is probably running rich (too much fuel), hence the emissions problems, so you will be using more petrol than you should.

its also best to have 2 rabbits foots
a doll of the Madonna i personally use the one from the church of prague the black one
ive never failed an emissions test yet:D

Wig

First of all lack of MOT does not mean your car is unroadworthy, it just means it has not got an MOT, your car is in all likelyhood roadworthy. Your children were not in any danger. You just have a fault somewhere causing the vehicle management light to come on and to fail on emissions.

I don't think the OP had no chance. Every driver should be aware of the error lights on the vehicle, you get this information from the manual, the error lights should come on on startup. My own manual lists the lights on the dash and for ALL the ones which come on "on startup" it says
"illuminates for several seconds when the ignition is switched on" There is also a symbol next to all the descriptions where that feature is not on all models, such as TC, ABS.

I actually disagree with everyone that you have no chance...., there may be a slim chance.

Fact...The car was sold to you by a dealer with a sticker over the engine management light

You can get witness statement to say that the car failed it's emmisions but probably passed last time because of the crack in the exhaust.

There could only be a nefarious reason for covering up the lamp, no matter who covered it up, it was sold covered and in all probability has been illuminated since it was sold.

So you go with SOGA to small claims court, suing for the cost of repairs to get the light to go out and to remove the sticker, and say that the car was sold in an unsatisfactory condition, as it was sold with an illuminated emmisions light which had been covered so as for it to be hidden from view and with failed emmisions which have only recently come to light due to circumstances.

eddi

s_b wrote: »

you seriously need to reassess whether you should be driving before you get in an unfamiliar car because its probably you that put your wipers on as you cut across my bow last week

I dont think I said I didnt read the manual nor that I wasn't familiar with my car so I suspect it wasn't me ... I've read the manual cover to cover.
What I said was that I'd wager the majority of people don't read it at all before they drive their car and probably not until there's an obvious problem to need to look for. Even then some people wouldn't know where to start. I'm not suggesting that's right and proper but I imagine most folks get in a car, suss out where the basics are and off they go because they don't technically need to know any more than that. I think some basic knowledge wouldn't go amiss for all drivers but how would you be able to ensure people were doing it?

If the light had come on for the OP and stayed on I daresay she would have wondered why that light was on the dashboard and realised there might be an issue of some kind? I find it unreal that it wasn't picked up that the light wasn't illuminating at all the first time it went in to a trained mechanic. I'd like to think Wig is right that the OP might have a chance at pursuing the dealer. They sold a car that had intentionally been tinkered with to disguise a fault. How you prove who did it is anyone's guess though?

photome

Wig wrote: »

First of all lack of MOT does not mean your car is unroadworthy, it just means it has not got an MOT, your car is in all likelyhood roadworthy. Your children were not in any danger. You just have a fault somewhere causing the vehicle management light to come on and to fail on emissions.

I don't think the OP had no chance. Every driver should be aware of the error lights on the vehicle, you get this information from the manual, the error lights should come on on startup. My own manual lists the lights on the dash and for ALL the ones which come on "on startup" it says
"illuminates for several seconds when the ignition is switched on" There is also a symbol next to all the descriptions where that feature is not on all models, such as TC, ABS.

I actually disagree with everyone that you have no chance...., there may be a slim chance.

Fact...The car was sold to you by a dealer with a sticker over the engine management light

You can get witness statement to say that the car failed it's emmisions but probably passed last time because of the crack in the exhaust.

There could only be a nefarious reason for covering up the lamp, no matter who covered it up, it was sold covered and in all probability has been illuminated since it was sold.

So you go with SOGA to small claims court, suing for the cost of repairs to get the light to go out and to remove the sticker, and say that the car was sold in an unsatisfactory condition, as it was sold with an illuminated emmisions light which had been covered so as for it to be hidden from view and with failed emmisions which have only recently come to light due to circumstances.

How do you prove that after 2 years?

I would like to think the OP has a chance but in reality...2 years down the line?

cyclonebri1

Yep, all down to practicallities and for a 9 yo car unless it's a matter of principle it ain't worth it.

The "Italian tune up" option pre test is always worth a try;)


Did I recall the salesman showing some remorse earlier?, if so surely he would feel obliged to at least get the car diagnosed correctly for the op, oh, sorry we are talking car salesmen here :(:(:(

macman

I'm still completely unclear as to whether this was a private sale or bought through a dealer? The OP refers to it a 'salesman', but then says it belonged to the salesman's daughter?
So, was it purchased from the dealer, or was it a private purchase from a salesman who happened to work at this dealership?
If the latter, then clearly no comeback whatsoever (though, after 2 years, probably no comeback even on a dealer sale either).

red_eye

Red_Shirt wrote: »

Please can someone help me,

In Jan 2010 I passed my driving test and 1 week later went out to purchase my first car, a Fiat Punto 2003, the salesman said the vehicle was his Daughters vehicle as she was expecting Twins so needed a bigger car. I signed up for finance that was arranged through the garage and for which I am still paying.

In Jan 2011, the MOT became due. I took it to a different garage and it passed, but the man said that the exhaust had a slight hairline crack and i'd have to get it changed. This repair was carried out.

In Jan 2012, again the MOT was due. I took it to the garage and this time it failed due to high emissions. An auto electrician pointed the fault at the catalytic converter. A new replacement was fitted to lower the emissions, emissions were lower but not sufficient to pass. The auto electricians computer was showing the ECU as being at fault.

After realising the ECU appeared not to be the origional they tried to re-programme it. They could not do this as the engine light did not appear. The ECU was reconnected again and they could not understand why there was no light coming up on the dash. Looking closer there is a black sticker on the dash covering the light, I have been informed that taking the dash off to place a sticker over it is not a simple job.

Now this all came to light last week, (1st week in Feb) so I emailed the man that sold me the car and basically he has replied that the vehilce was his Nephews Wifes, he knew nothing of the sticker and he does'nt work like that. Also his Nephew or his Wife know nothing of this sticker, the Logbook shows me that his Nephews Wife owned the vehicle since July 2004. The vehicle is on a 53 plate.

The Auto electrician said that it had passed MOT last year 2011 as the hairline crack would have dragged air into the exhaust and thats why it brought the emissions down.

This vehicle is classed as being not roadworthy due to not having a valid MOT and I wonder if it ever was in a roadworthy condition when sold to me, since, I've been driving around in it, with my children aswell!!

It is on finance done through the Car Salesman can I get a refund? Is there something in the Comsumer Credit Act?

but why did you finance a 7 year old punto arnt they like worth somewhere around £1000?

Few tips
stay away from kwik fit.
take some one who knows about cars with you when buying a used car.

Lum

red_eye wrote: »

Few tips
stay away from kwik fit.
take some one who knows about cars with you when buying a used car.
Don't buy a 7 year old Fiat

Fixed that for you.