Advice re 2nd hand car bought now revealing problems.

mochynbach

[FONT=&quot]Excuse any spelling mistakes, my keyboard is playing up.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I bought a 2nd hand car 2 weeks today, it’s old and has a lot of mileage so I expect it’ll need repairs fairly soon. So, bought in good faith that it was good to go, safe and wouldn't need to see a mechanic for at least 3-6 months. However the following happened:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunday (bank holiday) took it to national tyres to have wheel balance (car was shuddering at speed); they spotted 2 tyres need replacing front discs worn (think discs was just an attempt at a con), a hole in nsf c.v gaitor and wishbone bushes front and rear worn nsf.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Wednesday took it to my mechanic he spotted the same but didn’t mention the discs, also did a diagnostics : “characteristic field controlled cooling system; malfunction permanent, pressure drop between turbo and throttle valve intermittent”. He advised me not to drive it and ask for a £250 reimbursment he said suspension arms and bushes need replacing now and car should not have been sold as it was as it’s dangerous due to suspension. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Called the dealer for 3rd time today and finally got to speak to him. He was really quite patronising, told me I shouldn’t use a tyre centre (which I know from experience, but it was bank holiday and I use car for work so needed quick fix for what I thought would just be wheel balance), he also had a pop at my mechanics credibility, someone who’s not charged me in the past for work when I’ve been conned by kwick fit and always explains any problems to me clearly.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] He refused the £250 refund, said he’d fix the bushes at his garage if I can get car there (200 mile journey) or refund £100 towards cost of fix; or he’d accept return of the car for full refund.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It’s a golf gti I paid £1200 for it, they didn’t clean it properly when sold (which is by the by but still relevant!), virtually no petrol in tank when sold, no manual etc, mot and tax due in November.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Really out of my depth and don’t have the gift of the gab, so am easily ‘run-over’ by smooth talkers and con men and yes I'm female!. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Don’t know what to do next, any advice please?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No criticisms about my conduct please I’m really sick and tired of the actions of some people in the car industry, being constantly conned and having a bad and v. Expensive experience with my previous car has left me completely disillusioned and v. Suspicious of anyone working in that environment. However a car is essential for my job, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered replacing my now dead previous car.
[/FONT]

Inner_Zone

mochynbach wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Excuse any spelling mistakes, my keyboard is playing up.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I bought a 2nd hand car 2 weeks today, it’s old and has a lot of mileage so I expect it’ll need repairs fairly soon. So, bought in good faith that it was good to go, safe and wouldn't need to see a mechanic for at least 3-6 months. However the following happened:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunday (bank holiday) took it to national tyres to have wheel balance (car was shuddering at speed); they spotted 2 tyres need replacing front discs worn (think discs was just an attempt at a con), a hole in nsf c.v gaitor and wishbone bushes front and rear worn nsf.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Wednesday took it to my mechanic he spotted the same but didn’t mention the discs, also did a diagnostics : “characteristic field controlled cooling system; malfunction permanent, pressure drop between turbo and throttle valve intermittent”. He advised me not to drive it and ask for a £250 reimbursment he said suspension arms and bushes need replacing now and car should not have been sold as it was as it’s dangerous due to suspension. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Called the dealer for 3rd time today and finally got to speak to him. He was really quite patronising, told me I shouldn’t use a tyre centre (which I know from experience, but it was bank holiday and I use car for work so needed quick fix for what I thought would just be wheel balance), he also had a pop at my mechanics credibility, someone who’s not charged me in the past for work when I’ve been conned by kwick fit and always explains any problems to me clearly.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] He refused the £250 refund, said he’d fix the bushes at his garage if I can get car there (200 mile journey) or refund £100 towards cost of fix; or he’d accept return of the car for full refund.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It’s a golf gti I paid £1200 for it, they didn’t clean it properly when sold (which is by the by but still relevant!), virtually no petrol in tank when sold, no manual etc, mot and tax due in November.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Really out of my depth and don’t have the gift of the gab, so am easily ‘run-over’ by smooth talkers and con men and yes I'm female!. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Don’t know what to do next, any advice please?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No criticisms about my conduct please I’m really sick and tired of the actions of some people in the car industry, being constantly conned and having a bad and v. Expensive experience with my previous car has left me completely disillusioned and v. Suspicious of anyone working in that environment. However a car is essential for my job, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered replacing my now dead previous car.
[/FONT]

Return it, buy locally next time and get your friendly mechanic to give it the once over first.

Jakg

Sorry to be blunt, but...

It's not the dealers fault you live 200 miles away - if you were to happy to purchase the car there I think it's only reasonable you return it there for repairs.

motorguy

mochynbach wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Excuse any spelling mistakes, my keyboard is playing up.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I bought a 2nd hand car 2 weeks today, it’s old and has a lot of mileage so I expect it’ll need repairs fairly soon. So, bought in good faith that it was good to go, safe and wouldn't need to see a mechanic for at least 3-6 months. However the following happened:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunday (bank holiday) took it to national tyres to have wheel balance (car was shuddering at speed); they spotted 2 tyres need replacing front discs worn (think discs was just an attempt at a con), a hole in nsf c.v gaitor and wishbone bushes front and rear worn nsf.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Wednesday took it to my mechanic he spotted the same but didn’t mention the discs, also did a diagnostics : “characteristic field controlled cooling system; malfunction permanent, pressure drop between turbo and throttle valve intermittent”. He advised me not to drive it and ask for a £250 reimbursment he said suspension arms and bushes need replacing now and car should not have been sold as it was as it’s dangerous due to suspension. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Called the dealer for 3rd time today and finally got to speak to him. He was really quite patronising, told me I shouldn’t use a tyre centre (which I know from experience, but it was bank holiday and I use car for work so needed quick fix for what I thought would just be wheel balance), he also had a pop at my mechanics credibility, someone who’s not charged me in the past for work when I’ve been conned by kwick fit and always explains any problems to me clearly.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He refused the £250 refund, said he’d fix the bushes at his garage if I can get car there (200 mile journey) or refund £100 towards cost of fix; or he’d accept return of the car for full refund.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It’s a golf gti I paid £1200 for it, they didn’t clean it properly when sold (which is by the by but still relevant!), virtually no petrol in tank when sold, no manual etc, mot and tax due in November.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Really out of my depth and don’t have the gift of the gab, so am easily ‘run-over’ by smooth talkers and con men and yes I'm female!. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Don’t know what to do next, any advice please?[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]No criticisms about my conduct please I’m really sick and tired of the actions of some people in the car industry, being constantly conned and having a bad and v. Expensive experience with my previous car has left me completely disillusioned and v. Suspicious of anyone working in that environment. However a car is essential for my job, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered replacing my now dead previous car.[/FONT]

Not very sure what you're seeing as the problem here. At £1200 i'm assuming its a very old GTI thats probably been driven in a 'spirited' way all its life - ff you were to take any £1000-1200 car to a garage they could probably right a book on it. The dealer is offering to repair, make a contribution if you dont want to travel or offer a full refund, so i'm not sure what more he can do?

If you have concerns, take the traders offer of a full refund and my advice would be that if you're on a budget, you'll buy a fresher less troublesome mainstream car for your £1200 than you will a hot hatch thats in its twilight years.

Also, a dealers probably going to have a £500 markup on a car at that price point, so you're really buying a £700 car. Try to buy something thats being sold privately (check how long they've owned it) and with a full years MOT, that way your £1200 will go a lot further.

Foxy-Stoat_3

If you think it's not fit for purpose then return it for a full refund and look elsewhere or take it to an MOT place and see if it fails. If it fails then return it.

Its a £1200 old car so wont be perfect but still needs to be fit for purpose, ie pass an MOT ok.

Suspension bushes/wishbones are not expensive and worn bushes may of led to the wheel wobble,
Discs were probably worn but not unserviceable,
Tyres NEED replacing if the tread is under 1.6mm (wear bars)
CV gator split will need doing but not expensive, if left the CV joint will fail,
Cooling system/pressure drop faults may of been a previous stored code, get the mechanic to clear them and check again after driving for a few days.

Hard to say if worn bushes would mean the car is dangerous to drive, if they were that worn then it would drive horrid and knocking over bumps etc.

OddballJamie

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

If you think it's not fit for purpose then return it for a full refund and look elsewhere or take it to an MOT place and see if it fails. If it fails then return it.

Problem with that is if it fails on a safety issue then it's an offence to use the car, so you would need to have it trailered 100 miles for the refund.

I would just take it back, get the refund and avoid buying old hot hatches especially ones with barely any MOT left. Ask yourself why the trader didn't put a full MOT on it to make an easier sale for himself.

If you just need a car just for commuting then consider something less exciting and more reliable.

mochynbach

Jakg wrote: »

Sorry to be blunt, but...

It's not the dealers fault you live 200 miles away - if you were to happy to purchase the car there I think it's only reasonable you return it there for repairs.

Didn't imply it was his fault where I live, and if it wasn't a question of safety I'd take it there; but surely you can't deny the car wasn't ok to be sold as was?

Had 2 opinions and he's slammed both of them saying his mechanics noticed nothing of the sort; so if I go for 3rd and 4th opinion he'll say the same.

He slammed ALL mechanics (only after your money) and then turned around and called his own 'angels'. They would be the only qualified (and honest!) mechanics in the UK by the sound of what he's saying

my main problem is it's 2 weeks in and I'm already forking out, 1, 2,3 etc months, ok fine, but 2 weeks after buing it?.....it's wrong in my eyes, however old a car is

mochynbach

Thanks for all your advice and comments

OddballJamie

The seller is doing all the right things by the sound of it, he's offered a repair or refund. How does he know you aren't trying it on by asking for £250 from quotes from mechanics on the take.

If you had bought local then you would have taken the car straight back to him and he would be sorting it.

From what I see you have two choices.
1. Risk the drive there and get a full refund.
2. Take the £100, pay the rest yourself and get it fixed at a local trusted garage.

Once you take your time and fuel costs into account, I wouldn't contemplate allowing him to fix it as you may not end much better off then the local repair.

Me? I'd get shut of it and buy private with your budget.

spacey2012

Here we go again...
Help I bought a over priced banger for £1200, now I have since found out it is in a worse condition than a brand new £30,000 car.
Do I have any rights...

mochynbach

spacey2012 wrote: »

Here we go again...
Help I bought a over priced banger for £1200, now I have since found out it is in a worse condition than a brand new £30,000 car.
Do I have any rights...

Unnecessary