blown turbo

OddballJamie

AS2RW wrote: »

Traders are required to carry out a pre-sale inspection of the vehicle's mechanical condition / roadworthiness and keep records of such incase Trading Standards want to see them.

"The vehicle should be of satisfactory quality such that it is fit for use on the road and in a condition that reflects its age and price and must be reliable"
The checks must be carried out by a qualified person and they should not just rely on an MOT or service history.

This information is lifted from the OFT checklist for second hand car dealers (it makes interesting reading if you're that way inclined!)

I work in the motor industry and have just helped a friend through a similar situation with a garage. He bought a 2002 Freelander and the gearbox disintigrated after a month, the garage didn't want to know initially and tried to say things like sold as seen and they had not provided any warranty etc.
However when faced with the sale of goods act they ended up coughing up for a replacement gearbox, they had not done the checks despite having an MOT station on site and basically didn't have a leg to stand on.
As a private buyer you are not expected or required to have expert knowlege when buying a car, general wear and tear is one thing my friends Freelander still has intermitant central locking on one door and some tatty bits of plastic trim etc and that is expected with the age of the vehicle. Things you can see or test yourself like, do all the windows go up and down? do the lights all work? do the tyres need replacing soon? These things should be easily identifiable by anybody and addressed with the Trader before purchase then either rectified or used as bartering tools on the price.
Major mechanical failure within a reasonable space of time should not be expected.

The turbo went, two months and unknown miles down the line and I presume was driving fine up until that point.

How do you expect a pre-sale inspection to pick up on this?

EdGasket

I don't think it's possible to predict a turbo failure two months in the future with any standard, reasonable inspection. In addition, the OP's son could have thrashed the car and negelected to top up the oil; who knows.

mattyprice4004

The garage can just put a 2nd hand turbo on the car - a new one would be seen as betterment.

Also, the garage wouldn't have been able to predict or test for the turbo failing - and AS2RW your argument is flawed as a pre-sales check couldn't identify a gearbox that was about to lunch itself either.

When turbos and gearboxes fail, they usually deteriorate very quickly in my experience.

vaio

vaio wrote: »

nah...SoG applies to second hand goods too and the "lasted time" starts when you buy it, not when it was made or sold to the first owner.

Buy pre-loved and it should still last a reasonable time and be fit for purpose, subject of course to the normal caveats about description & price

I'd say 3 months on a £3.5k car is not long enough especially considering it is a major fault. Be a different story on a £350 car

arcon5 wrote: »

You're wrong.

Based on this flawed logic I can buy a 250k mile &15 year old car and expect it to last the same as a new car.

You then say it would be different on a £350 car, why so then if this is your logic?!

This would only be the case if the seller was misleading in making you believe the components was 'as new'.

How on earth do you read my post as meaning ".....I can buy a 250k mile &15 year old car and expect it to last the same as a new car...."?

My post actually means (and I think says) that if you buy second hand goods then they should last a reasonable amount of time subject to the normal caveats about price & description.

Thus a £35k car should last longer than a £3.5k car which should last longer than a £350 car

a £3.5k car should last longer than 3 months and, in the absence of evidence of abuse, the dealer should fix it.

SoG is quite helpful that in the six months after sale any fault are assumed to have been present at the point of sale and it's down to the seller to prove otherwise (or abuse).

After the first six months the situation is reversed and it's down to the buyer to prove the fault was present at the point of sale