Help. My cars packed in and I've only had it 2 months

mr_skinflint

I bought a 6 year old car from a dealer (with a showroom) two months ago. Everything was going fine until I got in on Saturday morning and drove off. "that's a lot of smoke" I thought. I was being flashed at by passing drivers and everything. I pulled into the nearest petrol station and had a think. There was a lot of white smoke coming from the exhaust. Now I know this could be a symptom of a blown head gasket and thought "this could get expensive". I drove back home.

I called the dealer today and told him what happened and said I'd like it repaired, he said there was nothing he could do as I only had a 30 day warranty. I mentioned the Sale of Goods 1979 Act and he said "if you want to go down the Trading standards route then that's up to you but the warranty has expired".

So what do I do now? I've got a car sat outside my house which I can't drive and need it fixed pronto. Does anyone have experience of the process on getting the dealer to repair the car?

thanks for reading

forgotmyname

6 year old top secret spycars always emit white smoke. Its a warning that the missiles need servicing.

mr_skinflint

anyone with some helpful advice?

Apples2

mr_skinflint wrote: »

anyone with some helpful advice?

You could start by telling us what type of car it is, how it was driving, any strange noises or warnings, how long did it do it for, is it still happening?

A diesel conducting a DPF Regeneration can push out white smoke in plumes.

EdGasket

There are plenty of posts re Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) which suggests a car should go for 6 months without major problems. If you have bought from a dealer you can contact Trading Standards for help/hand-holding or you can just go straight for writing to the dealer and threatening court action if he doesn't fix/refund your car. If he ignores that, get an estimate from somewhere else to fix it and claim that from the dealer through the small claims court. I'm not sure if you can reject the car outright as you have had it 2 months; you'd need to check with Trading Standards.

mr_skinflint

Apples2 wrote: »

You could start by telling us what type of car it is, how it was driving, any strange noises or warnings, how long did it do it for, is it still happening?

A diesel conducting a DPF Regeneration can push out white smoke in plumes.

It's an Audi 1.9TDI with around 85K miles. Everything has been fine up until saturday morning. No warnings on the dash.

SailorSam

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/cars_buying_a_car_e/cars_buying_a_secondhand_car_e/cars_what_to_watch_out_for_when_buying_a_second_hand_car_e/buying_a_car_from_a_dealer_what_you_need_to_know.htm

chocoholicqueen

We had our car for 3 months, when a bolt fell out of the engine so my husband took it to the garage. To cut a long story short it had the wrong engine in it and trading standards were very interested in it. They also mentioned that as it had been less than 6 months since we purchased it, we had a good chance of getting our money back under the sale of goods act, which we did.

Definately give consumer direct/ trading standards a call.

Apples2

mr_skinflint wrote: »

It's an Audi 1.9TDI with around 85K miles. Everything has been fine up until saturday morning. No warnings on the dash.

Have you checked the coolant level?

Check the oil level too, plumes of smoke could point toward Turbo but you would have felt the lack of power if that had gone.

EDIT: Oil Cooler seems a popular failing item on those engines.

Your problem sounds to me like coolant is entering the engine oil via a cracked oil cooler.

This is what you need £69.60 inc vat (could source on net cheaper)
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Audi_A… Source(s):

Mechanic / Vw specialist

motorguy

EdGasket wrote: »

There are plenty of posts re Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) which suggests a car should go for 6 months without major problems. If you have bought from a dealer you can contact Trading Standards for help/hand-holding or you can just go straight for writing to the dealer and threatening court action if he doesn't fix/refund your car. If he ignores that, get an estimate from somewhere else to fix it and claim that from the dealer through the small claims court. I'm not sure if you can reject the car outright as you have had it 2 months; you'd need to check with Trading Standards.

^^^^

This

and just to confirm, i think pretty much after 4 weeks ish you're deemed to have accepted the car therefore the rejection avenue is pretty much closed.

closed

correct fuel?