Help! My used cars engine has seized 6months after purchase

eg0u91c8

Hi,

I bought a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTi SXi 100 (55 plate) six months ago from a specialist car dealership for £3300 with 76k mileage. They only gave me a 3 month guarantee. The dealership gave the car a full M.O.T and service before I paid the full balance and it passed the M.O.T with no faults highlighted.

6 months after purchase, my engine completely seized up whilst I was driving on the motorway. I got my local garage to complete a diagnostics check on the engine and he confirmed it has seized and that it was due to a fault which meant the oil was not getting pumped into the engine.

I am just wondering whether I have a chance of taking them to a small claims court to get a refund or any money as a matter of fact. I know the guarantee has ran out but a low mileage diesel car with a full M.O.T and service completed should not seize up after 6 months. Obviously they have ignored and covered a major fault up.

Do I have any right to take them to a small claims court / is it worth it?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm devestated this has happened!!

Thanks,

Steven

OddballJamie

How often do you check the oil and when did you do it last?

When was it exactly six months, before or after the car broke down?

scheming_gypsy

You've driven it problem free for 6 months. How many miles have you covered ? and what evidence have you that they covered up or ignored a major fault that would resurface 6 months down the line, compared to it being perfectly fine when you bought it and failed due to wear and tear?

tykesi

I don’t think I’d go so far as to say they ‘obviously’ missed something or covered something up. It’s just as possible something has failed in the mean time which hasn’t shown any symptoms until the breakdown.

I’m not 100% sure (and am sure someone will be along to confirm) but I think after six months has passed the onus is on you to prove that the fault was evident at the time of sale. This would usually involve getting an independent inspection carried out and if this agrees the fault was there you could pursue the vendor.

Hopefully someone will be able to confirm whether this is correct and then you can look at your options to see which will be the best course of actions from here.

eg0u91c8

I bought the car on 13th April 2013 and it broke down on 17th October.

I done one oil change about 3 months ago. I don't have any proof of them covering up a fault but they obviously sold me a dud because engines don't seize up like that. There is plenty of oil in the car and I checked it regularly.

There was always a tweeting noise coming from the engine from the day I purchased it but I just put it down to it being a diesel and diesel engines make more noise.

colino

It didn't seize up for 76,000 miles, nor for the six months that you have owned and driven it, so why do you think that there was anything wrong with this "dud" that the seller sold you and why haven't you answered when you last checked the oil? By all means have vent, but you haven't mentioned anything in the cars running that points to a concealed fault.

Daz2009

Cars can be running perfectly one minute and develop a fault the next.They are predominantly mechanical after all and mechanical parts wear out.

I think you're just unfortunate,I can't see how you can blame the dealer when it's run ok for 6 months.
You did put the correct grade of oil in it didn't you ? And changed the oil filter ?

scheming_gypsy

Did they just say what the fault was that was stopping the oil getting pumped into the engine or just that there was a fault?

eg0u91c8

The mechanic told me there is plenty of oil in at present but its just not getting into the engine. Personally, I checked the oil around 1 month before it broke down.

Your right I don't have any proof that the fault was present when I bought it. The only reason I am thinking of persuing a claim is because I've only done 5k miles in it and I haven't abused the car.

Diesel engines are renowned for lasting upto and over 200,000 miles before a fault like this should occur when looked after, which I have.

Surely, after paying £3300 from a specialist dealership for a car and it only lasting for 6 months before it's rendered unroadworthy, is unjust and warrants some form of compensation?

colino

If you want to throw money at getting compensation, you better try and remove this thread. Checking the oil once a month isn't enough. You don't do the checks every week, as a minimum, because you expect to top them up, it's because you want to spot when there's a leak or a loss that you can do something about.

SailorSam

The thing that stopped the oil pumping, wasn't there any sort of warning light on the dash to say you had low pressure.