suspected head gasket blown on used car brought less than 2 weeks ago....

sarahj1986

Hi all,


I brought a used car less than 2 weeks from a dealer. On driving it on saturday it just conked out. The AA came out (thankfully I was covered on this) and advised that there was no water in it and the egine has overheated and suspected the head gasket may have blown. Ive checked the receipt I signed and the car was sold without warrenty. The car was £870 but a new head gasket is going to cost quite abit (if is has blown).I havent taken it to a garage or phoned up the dealer I got it off. I just need to know where I stand? The guy I borught it off told me he checked all the fluids before I left with it, he clearly didnt and to me its been sold in an unroadworthy state (because I do believe it can fail its MOT without sufficent fluids in it?)

Advice please on how to approach the dealer

Thanks

worried_jim

In the two weeks that you have been driving it you could have have had a stone chip hit the radiator causing a leak and the resulting HG failure. It can happen at anytime- I know as I have suffered myself in the past.
At no point during an MOT is the coolant checked- an MOT is not a service.
When buying a car (as I did last Friday) the first thing to do is go over it and check everything which includes the fluids for your own protection and piece of mind.
Unfortunately you may find the repair is not economical, but I wish all the best in getting it fixed/resolved. Good luck.

Chopper_Read

It can fail the mot if there's no water in the washer bottle, coolant is not tested. Have you ever checked the fluids?

maninthestreet

So you checked the fluid levels before purchasing the car??

motorguy

sarahj1986 wrote: »

Hi all,


I brought a used car less than 2 weeks from a dealer. On driving it on saturday it just conked out. The AA came out (thankfully I was covered on this) and advised that there was no water in it and the egine has overheated and suspected the head gasket may have blown. Ive checked the receipt I signed and the car was sold without warrenty. The car was £870 but a new head gasket is going to cost quite abit (if is has blown).I havent taken it to a garage or phoned up the dealer I got it off. I just need to know where I stand? The guy I borught it off told me he checked all the fluids before I left with it, he clearly didnt and to me its been sold in an unroadworthy state (because I do believe it can fail its MOT without sufficent fluids in it?)

Advice please on how to approach the dealer

Thanks

Head gasket failure is usually the result of a problem, not the problem itself.

Theres a very strong possibility that the car could have a leak which caused the water to drain and that blew the head gasket due to overheating.

This could easily have happened in the last couple of weeks.

Plus you really need to be checking oil and water levels at very least weekly yourself on such an old car, and not 'assume' that everythings ok.

Also, lack of water in the engine isnt an MOT failure.

Not sure how you can approach this. You might want to try rejection as you've had it for such a short time, but i would strongly recommend getting Consumer Service advice as there is a very precise way to reject and you only have a short window to do so.

sarahj1986

no I didnt check the levels.

I brought it quite late at night, it was snowing and I havent had chance to check it yet

Tilt

sarahj1986 wrote: »

Hi all,


I brought a used car less than 2 weeks from a dealer. On driving it on saturday it just conked out. The AA came out (thankfully I was covered on this) and advised that there was no water in it and the egine has overheated and suspected the head gasket may have blown. Ive checked the receipt I signed and the car was sold without warrenty. The car was £870 but a new head gasket is going to cost quite abit (if is has blown).I havent taken it to a garage or phoned up the dealer I got it off. I just need to know where I stand? The guy I borught it off told me he checked all the fluids before I left with it, he clearly didnt and to me its been sold in an unroadworthy state (because I do believe it can fail its MOT without sufficent fluids in it?)

Advice please on how to approach the dealer

Thanks

You believe wrong. MOT dosn't cover this issue.

BUT No matter what you signed, it is illegal to attempt to reduce your statutory rights under the SOGA, so that part of the receipt is worthless although there is no legal obligation for the seller to provide a warranty anyway.

Under the SOGA, it is for the seller to prove that the defect was not present at the point of sale within the first 6 months of purchase. The car must be of satisfactory quality and fit for the purpose (taking into consideration it's age and mileage).

You need to formally write to him asking him to rectify the fault at no expense to you unless he can prove the fault did not exist at the time of purchase (as per SOGA 1979). Give him a time limit of 7 days.

If he refuses, your only 2 options would be to get the car repaired and the pursue him for the cost (not recommended) or formally reject the car and demand a full refund. Either way, you may find yourself having to take the matter to court which can be a long drawn out affair and initially cost you more.

Norman_Castle

On driving it on saturday it just conked out. The AA came out (thankfully I was covered on this) and advised that there was no water in it and the egine has overheated and suspected the head gasket may have blown.

Contact the dealer and tell him the above. SOGA says the car should be fit for purpose. A major failure after two weeks suggests it is not. No water and overheating does not confirm a failed head gasket. It may just be a leak causing no long term damage.

spacey2012

Is this a Rover ?

Foxy-Stoat_3

No coolant would make the heaters blow cold air even on the hot setting....This is the first sign of no/low coolant.
Second sign before the HG would of blown, if it even has, would be the water temperature needle hist the red on the gauge. If you drove it when it was over heating then you may of seized the engine or wrapped the heard.

Did you notice any of these issues before it conked out?

You could try refilling with water and try to start it up. If no joy, then sell it as a non runner or scrap it, you should get around £100 depending on the size of the car, as you will have another issues other than HG to cause the lack of coolant, water pump, radiator etc.

It will be more cost effective to buy another car and check it over first. If I was buying a sub £1000 car I would be checking over it very carefully, or take someone else with you, and expect to spend a few hundred on it if needed.

As others have said, you need to be checking all fluids regularly and keep on top of maintenance. I would be checking it over daily for the first month if it was me on any old car I just bought.

motorguy

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

No coolant would make the heaters blow cold air even on the hot setting....This is the first sign of no/low coolant.
Second sign before the HG would of blown, if it even has, would be the water temperature needle hist the red on the gauge. If you drove it when it was over heating then you may of seized the engine or wrapped the heard.

Did you notice any of these issues before it conked out?

You could try refilling with water and try to start it up. If no joy, then sell it as a non runner or scrap it, you should get around £100 depending on the size of the car, as you will have another issues other than HG to cause the lack of coolant, water pump, radiator etc.

It will be more cost effective to buy another car and check it over first. If I was buying a sub £1000 car I would be checking over it very carefully, or take someone else with you, and expect to spend a few hundred on it if needed.

As others have said, you need to be checking all fluids regularly and keep on top of maintenance. I would be checking it over daily for the first month if it was me on any old car I just bought.

I suspect the O/P isnt in a position financially or otherwise to just write this off with an 'oh well'.

They have options under the SOGA which should be pursued and exhausted before i'd be considering disposal options.