Urgent help please, car bought 48 hours ago

Tilt

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Yes. He needs to repair, refund or swap car. Theres numerous threads on here how to handle it, but involves writing a recorded letter to him, detailing the problem and he has 14 days to resolve the issue if he's not playing ball.

So yeah, it is his problem. You were brave wanting to buy an old fiat punto though.

<SIGH!> Here we go again.... someone spouting off when they don't know what they are talking about!

For the record, I have owned well over a dozen Fiats across the range since 1978. Admittedly most of them were new and I have only kept them for about 2 years. Out of all of them I can honestly say that I have only had a major issue with one and that was a 1980 Supermirafori in which the nearside doors became severley corroded. As they had not yet bought in the 6 year anti-corrosion warranty, I though I was stuffed BUT upon contacting Fiat UK, they replaced both the doors FOC without any fuss.

Mechanically they are one of the most reliable marques on the road and I do speak from a wealth of experience. My current one; Punto HGT which I have owned from new, is just over 12 years old and the only main expence so far has been a cambelt change. Of course its had a couple of sets of tyres and brake pads but still has everything else working fine. Its just done 65k miles with certainly no hint of any gearbox issues.

As SB says, a Punto should not have any gearbox problems at 50k.

But the main point here is that the seller is fully responsible under the SOGA especially after such a short space of time.

Tilt

joee_91 wrote: »

Whats puzzling me is the MOT has obviously just been done so how can it pass its MOT with a gearbox problems?

I would question the MOT too. Or at least check for advisories.

Gearbox is not an MOT failure. The only issue would be as if it cannot be brake tested then they wont continue with the test.

LincolnshireYokel

The usual trick, since some of you seem to be unaware, is to stuff two or three pairs of old nylon tights into the gearbox. These wrap themselves round the gears and bearings, and temporarily tighten up the box and make it run quiet and smooth, for a few days.

Thats why you should always look see if the gearbox oil filler plug has been removed recently when inspecting a potential purchase.

Tilt

bikingbarney wrote: »

is it right that any used car that is sold by a dealer has to come with a minimum of 3 months warranty by law??

to be honest if it has broke down already I wonder what issues you will have with it further down the line.

I would take it back to him and dump it on his forecourt with a sign on it showing potential customers what he is like!!

No. A warranty dosn't reduce or replace the consumer's statutory rights anyway. SOGA applies here.

Tilt

Laura721 wrote: »

Thanks so much all For your advice.

Have just spoken to consumer direct, Very helpful. They advise sending the letter recorded to dealer. I am going to call him and let him know plans to do this so if he wants to comply now either with paying for full repair or giving us a full refund. Is this correct thing to do?

What dealer is now saying is we can do 'a deal' on them assisting us with payment for repair, but with a second hand gearbox they have with 3 month guarantee - i assume this is a big no no right? Why trust him with this if things have already gone wrong and why make a deal? i do not want to pay for any of this repair, why should i?

The only 'deal' to be done is that he takes the car back and gives you a full refund. Then go and take your cash and spend it elsewhere. There are plenty of decent Puntos out there for that money. Take a look on Auto Trader. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/fiat/punto/postcode/wv46hb/radius/1500/sort/default/price-to/2000/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/price-from/1000/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles

jaydeeuk1

Tilt wrote: »

<SIGH!> Here we go again.... someone spouting off when they don't know what they are talking about!

!!!!!!. Read my post again before having a keyboard fit... I said 'OLD FIAT PUNTO' not every fiat. They are badly made pieces of crap, not just my opinion but the opinion of many an owner.


The fiat punto regularly features near the bottom in surveys. Take 2007 for example...

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/jd-power-survey-2007/superminis---the-rest/225557

2009 worst in class

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/jd-power-owner-satisfaction-2009/superminis-17-23/240819

And yes, I have owned one fiat. a Tipo. Brilliant car, but also utterly unreliable crap.

So ha.

Tilt

I don't give a flying F**k what those mags says or you for that matter. Like I said, I speak from a wealth of actual, hands on experience which proves to me that after a dozen or more cars than you, that the cars ARE reliable which is more than can be said of those links that you have provided.

So 'Ha' to you as well! :wave:

s_b

LincolnshireYokel wrote: »

The usual trick, since some of you seem to be unaware, is to stuff two or three pairs of old nylon tights into the gearbox. These wrap themselves round the gears and bearings, and temporarily tighten up the box and make it run quiet and smooth, for a few days.

Thats why you should always look see if the gearbox oil filler plug has been removed recently when inspecting a potential purchase.

if you had ever bothered to try this on a car because i dont mean on an old Massey ferguson then you will know it wont work
i tried it about 20 years ago on a car and it split the gearbox in half:D

photome

Op as you have probably realised your thread is turning in to another mine is better than yours! just as most car threads do.

If you havent already done so please reject the car just as Vax2002 has posted, dont let the clown repair it

s_b

photome wrote: »

Op as you have probably realised your thread is turning in to another mine is better than yours! just as most car threads do.

If you havent already done so please reject the car just as Vax2002 has posted, dont let the clown repair it

no a poster is ridiculing fiats on no basis
thats unacceptable and unfair to purchaser in this thread ,fiat dealers and employees everywhere and anyone else with a fiat