Advice re 2nd hand car bought now revealing problems.

motorguy

mochynbach wrote: »

Unnecessary

But happens all too often on here.

As i said earlier, if you're not happy with it, get it back to him for a refund and use your £1200 to buy something younger and sensible privately, not a £700 hot hatch in its twilight years with a dealers margin whacked on top.

It sounds to me like your priorities should be reliability and low maintenance rather than a GTI image. I've had about 5 or 6 "budget" GTI golfs this past couple of years and whilst they are fun they're not the sort of car you want to be running on a tight budget OR expecting to be anywhere near perfect.

motorguy

mochynbach wrote: »

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

Well its not wrong - its how it is in reality. I suspect your car is around 1999 / 2000 / 2001. No matter what, its an old car with a lot of wear and tear on it. The next bill might happen the day after you buy it, or 3 months down the line but it will happen. And if you have a mechanic or KwikFit go looking for things to spend money on they will find them.

fivetide

I don't think the OP is being too unreasonable in expecting not to have a decent bill for at least a few months, even if the car is old. At least they aren't saying they expect it to be perfect.

I think the issue is that it seems to have a fault which has made her feel the car is unsafe and it is difficult to trust a car you think of in those terms. You'd always be worried driving it.

That said, the dealer seems to be doing their bit, offer to fix or refund.

Assuming the code is an old one and the car is basically sound, the £100 offer might not be too bad. Given the cost of getting it to him and back you won't be much out of pocket and you'll know it has been done properly. Maybe add an oil change if you want to keep it.

Failing that, take up the refund offer. Be sure it is a full refund and be prepared to lose a bit on the insurance because you'll probably get an admin fee for swapping to another car and you have the train fare home to pay too.

In this price bracket, look for something local and buy on condition not miles etc would be my advice. Also look for something without a potentially expensive to fix turbo if you just want to get from A to B

mochynbach

Thanks all!
I did have another car on my short-list, basic and economical, however it didn't come in to the other garage until a week later by which time I'd left the area (that and the one I did buy were the only 'decent' examples within my budget; the rest were beyond 'battered and bruised', so there was some method to my madness!) It was never about image. I would buy local but have no one really that has any knowledge of cars here, whereas I bought this with help and 'some' knowledge.

Appreciate your comments.