Broken down car soon after purchase

s_b

i totally agree with the captain
i would have spoken to them before any work done though because they would obviously have got a better trade rate for repairs

vaio

£3.5k and three weeks it's a Sale of Goods issue and the selling garage should pay for the repair or give you your money back.

Destination_..._?

Just correct me if I got this wrong . You were basically moving off very slowly on your drive way and the belt snapped and @ that speed you have damaged your valves ?
My friends cambelt snapped @ 20 mph and no damaged to his valves . Checked properly and were okay .

patman99

You can never know how the previous owner/s treated the car. They may have had a heavy right foot, in which case the cambelt would have been put under much more stress than if the car were driven gently.

It is unusual to bend more than 2 valves as the head stops turning at the point the belt snaps. Look on Citreon forums or google the issue.
Having had 2 cambelt failures, I have only suffered 2 bent valves per failure.

SteveJW

Have look at interference fit engines 99% of the time they bend the valves if the belt fails, you could even bend them spinning over on the starter if the belt has failed. Non interference fit engines hardly ever bend the valves

Usually damages the cam carrier and rips the securing bolts out of the head

motorguy

Destination_..._? wrote: »

Just correct me if I got this wrong . You were basically moving off very slowly on your drive way and the belt snapped and @ that speed you have damaged your valves ?
My friends cambelt snapped @ 20 mph and no damaged to his valves . Checked properly and were okay .

Depends on the engine design - some engines will get head damage if the belt snaps, others wont.

Turbodiesels generally !!!!!! the head when the belt snaps, petrol cars not so often.

motorguy

vaio wrote: »

£3.5k and three weeks it's a Sale of Goods issue and the selling garage should pay for the repair or give you your money back.

I personally think the dealer should pay as a matter of goodwill - or make a hefty contribution at very least - but they should have been given the opportunity to inspect the car first - thats one of their rights under the Sale of Goods Act if you want to go down that route. Also its the garages right to repair the car, replace it with another similar car or refund, depending on what is most economical for them (not for the customer)

Out of genuine curiosity - and not that i am debating it - on what basis do you see it as a SOGA issue?

The fault wasnt present at the time of sale and its been serviced to schedule and isnt due a belt for some time yet?

I guess so soon after purchase the O/P could potentially have rejected the car, but not now that they have started work on it?

Queries

This may not be relevant, but a long time ago I bought a 2CV for £1300 from a small garage. When it went for its MOT (9 months later) it was discovered that the chasis had been welded (a lot) and would have to be replaced at a cost of £900 (chasis's are apparently a common fault with 2CV's). I traced the last owner and he admitted he had welded it due to his weight. I went back to the garage who refused to refund me, even though the fault was there when they sold it to me. I involved a Mechanical Engineer (I think that's what they are called - please check if you decide to use one), who looked at the vehicle, did a report and when I took it to the small claim's court, due to the evidence from the Mechanical Engineer, I received the cost of the vehicle back and the cost of the Engineer back. Good Luck!

vaio

pgilc1 wrote: »

........Out of genuine curiosity - and not that i am debating it - on what basis do you see it as a SOGA issue?.......

satisfactory quality/freedom from defects/reasonably durable, take your pick really

OP........ have a read of

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf

it's a guide for traders but covers everything you need to know.

Destination_..._?

It's a just a profit making racket by the manufactures using timing belts to make more money from the driver .
They should all be forced to use timing chains . Instead of issuing data like mileage / years on a belt change which could well go before there stated date of belt replacement.