Have I brought a lemon and been ripped off

madmummyx5

Hi everyone, I am lurker and learnt some fantastic stuff but really need some help.

3 weeks ago I brought a fiat punto for me and the kids to get around, on Monday when I took my 2 youngest to nursery my steering failed and I couldn't do anything with the car. The car was taken into the garage and I was told I need a new steering rack at the cost of £450 which includes labour.

I contacted the garage where I brought the car and I was met with a barage of abuse, sold as seen, nothing we can do etc etc and told me it was my problem now as the car was out of the cooling off period.

I can't afford £450 for a new rack and I spent all my savings (£1395) buying the car, is there anything I can do, can I get my money back, or force him to pay for the repair. I don't really want to let them repair it in case they bodge it or have I just lost everything on a lemon.

Any advice would be greatly received
Thanks
Madmummy

arcon5

Since you bought it from a business seller the 'sold as seen' line is a load of rubbish. This would only stand up if it was something visual like a scratch.

Whether you have a case though would depend on the age and mileage of the vehicle....
You would need to determine the life expectancy of the steering rack to determine whether it has failed prematurely or because of wear and tear. If the former then it would be reasonable for you to contribute an amount that represents the wear and tear of the part to date.

You would though need to give the seller the opportunity to rectify it.

bod1467

A steering rack is, by definition, a safety-critical component of a vehicle. As such it is not expected to have a normal failure rate within the typical lifetime of a vehicle - let's say 10 years. If the vehicle is an 02 plate or newer then I'd expect you to have a strong case.

IMO.

s_b

get in touch with your local trading standards and ask them to have a word with the selling garage
they are obligated to fix it after only 3 weeks and would be the reason you purchased off them so as to have problems like this rectified in such a short time scale of purchase
post back if you get nowhere but consider posting under the car section so i can see it

Fosterdog

Did the car come with any sort of warranty? My latest used car came with one month and the one before that came with three months. If yours did then you could argue that you only made the purchase because of the warranty and knowing that any problems within that time would be resolved for you. The warranty formed part of the contract.

John_Jizzle

i'm sure from a business you get 3 months warranty (minimum)

wealdroam

John_Jizzle wrote: »

i'm sure from a business you get 3 months warranty (minimum)

Don't know what you are basing that on, but the Sale Of Goods Act offers protection up to six years from purchase (in England and Wales).
But it isn't a warranty.

yangptangkipperbang

bod1467 wrote: »

A steering rack is, by definition, a safety-critical component of a vehicle. As such it is not expected to have a normal failure rate within the typical lifetime of a vehicle - let's say 10 years.

Absolute rubbish ! Things fail at any time on a car............. after 1 day - after 20 years !

arcon5

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

Absolute rubbish ! Things fail at any time on a car............. after 1 day - after 20 years !

Yes, things fail all the time. But that doesn't mean they are supposed to fail or at the very least fail within such a short period of time - if it does fail prematurely and it is because of an inherent fault then of course a remedy should be sought.

maninthestreet

The OP hasn't told us the age or mileage of the car, but we can have a guess at the age from the fact they paid £1395 for it.

System

Is it the steering rack that has failed or the power steering? Mk2 Puntos are famed for problems with the power steering and yes it can involve changing the steering rack and electric power steering,. However it can also be something as simple as a sensor on the steering column.