Second hand car - multiple faults.

CoreDefect

This is quite a long story, please bear with me.

Hi everyone, need a little help here.

I bought a car, second hand, from a dealer back in October 2011. Part of the Terms of Sale meant I had to pay £98.13 for a 'Vehicle Status Check' where they put the car through rigorous tests to ensure it's fine and fit for sale. I didn't mind paying this because, at the end of the day, you want a working car.

After only having the car a few weeks, I noticed the headlight squealed really bad when turned on, and fuel consumption was really low so decided to check my tyres for any faults. I found one of the tyres to be incredibly low in pressure and promptly filled it up. This happened again a week later so took it to the garage for a puncture repair. They said the puncture had been previously repaired (he showed me as soon as he took the tyre off where it had been plugged) and so had to replace the tyre.

The same scenario happened for my windscreen - noticed a chip, called Autoglass who attended and stated it had been previously repaired. I had not been told any of this, but decided that I would have had the knowledge to check these myself when picking up so never bothered pursuing the company.

Around December time I noticed that the car was having troubles starting. This time I spoke to the company and they agreed to have a look at it. They found no faults but did service the car for me.

The problem was still there and, since they inspected it, a horrible grinding noise was present when driving. So they took the car in again, found a loose exhaust bolt and tightened it. They still couldn't find anything to attribute the ignition problem.

Fast forward to last week, and now my engine management and battery warning lights are lit (it even cut out on me doing 70mph down the motorway which was scary). I've contacted them but they have said they don't know when vehicles go faulty and they apologise. They have said I am more than welcome to have it looked at again, or part exchange it for another vehicle.

I have responded by stating that each time they have looked at it they haven't found a problem and part-exchanging it will leave me out of pocket. I have queried the possibility of swapping the car for another with the same purchase price but communication has now dried up.

Is there anything you can suggest? My main concern is this 'Vehicle Status Check' that I paid for hasn't been done, because surely they would have noticed the tyre pressure and checked for punctures. I think they would have also noticed the noisy headlight because they have to check the headlights work. It is worth noting that the car was originally at other location of theirs and had to be delivered to my local branch - there was a mix up in paperwork and they were initially unsure if the checks had been carried out. They quickly dispelled this and said they actually had been.

Thanks for reading - your help is much appreciated.

UsernameAlreadyExists

1) I cannot even begin to imagine what a "noisy headlight" is ? can you elaborate?

2) both the tyre and windscreen are consumables IMHO. Punctures and stone chips just happen and there's little you can do about it, you just have to deal with it.

3) the engine manage light is more serious, and any mechanic worth their salt should be able to plug in the appropriate diagnostics tools and give you the fault codes which will go someway towards finding the problem

4) re the Vehicle status check ... I can't really comment as I have no idea what it includes.

You bought this in Oct 2011, and it's now Feb 2013? If you meant 2011, and not 2012 ... then I suspect you have no chance of them even listening to you anymore. Warranty will be long gone unless you've paid extra and through the nose.

CoreDefect

Thanks for the reply.

1) When the headlight is switched on fully (not the sidelights), the passenger one makes a horrible squealing noise.
2) I agree, but both the puncture and chip had been previously repaired. I am not pursuing them over these faults, just adding them into the mix to show how many problems I have had since purchase.
3) So you suggest taking them up on the offer of taking another look?
4) Not sure if I am allowed to post URLs. If possible, I can post a link to show the checks they do before a sale?

Also, my mistake - I meant October 2012. Silly typo.

UsernameAlreadyExists

you'll get more replies in the morning! (if this doesn't appear into oblivion)

1) so you can hear the "squeal" from outside the car and are able to determine which side it's from ? (sorry never seen/heard of this before). If it's working, all I can imagine it thats it's a bulb about to fail. even when it does they're not expensive.

2) punctures/windscreen chips happen anytime. Having one fixed before doesn't mean you couldn't have picked up a fresh one in the mean time. and a fixed chip is fine (and normally free anyway ... so you might be able to get the new one fixed for nothing). A full replacement is normally about ~£75 depending on your insurance and having windscreen cover. I got a chip 2 days (yes, 2 bl00dy days!) after my last replacement. Meh.

3) now you have an engine mangement light on, the ECU should have a log of the faults which they ought to be able to interrogate. So yes, I'd let them investigate it if they are willing.

4) you should be able to post URLs after 10 or 20 posts (can't remember which). but you can modify it a little so it's not actually a URL and give detail how it should be corrected.

CoreDefect

Thanks again for your comments.

1) Yes, I've popped open the bonnet as well and can clearly identify that the sound is being emitted from the passenger-side headlamp unit. The latch on this is missing so I can only assume it's been letting water in which has damaged a motor or something.

2) The joys of driving I suppose!

3) Thanks for this, I will keep that in mind.

4) It's quite a long URL, so I've used !!!!!!! to shorten it (if that's permissible) !!!!!!!/WuKoSO

CoreDefect

never mind, that failed. :')

UsernameAlreadyExists

I found it anyway ... not many obvious URL shorteners out there

http://www.quicks.co.uk/buy_a_car/why_us/114_point_check.aspx

also headlights don't normally have motors that squeal when they're turned on unless it's a self levelling one or something?

I need to sleep, but will read the link tommorrow, sorry I have to run away now

CoreDefect

Oh, glad you found it!

I don't think it self levels, but I have a little dial near my steering wheel that I can only assume changes the height of them, or something along those lines anyway.

Ha, enjoy the rest - thanks for your comments so far.