What next? 2k car off-road after a week!!

djdido2

Hi there

Bought a car 05/06/2014 for £2170 off a car sales place. One week later it broke down and I paid £300 for repairs. On collecting the vehicle the mechanic advised me that the gear box was about to fail and said this was very dangerous and not to drive the car. None of the faults I paid for were covered under the three month warranty I obtained with the car.

The mechanic has quoted £1500:eek: to repair this and advised that the catalogue of faults on the car should never have passed an MOT.

I have told the dealer that I want a refund but he just said that all the faults are 'wear and tear'. Spent a fortune ringing the 0871 warranty company, only to be told the faults are not a sudden mechanical fault.

I am heartbroken , it took me ages to save for this and I am not able to drive the car. Having to ask for lifts off family to get about and I am so frustrated

So far I have lodged a claim with the small claims court and have sent a letter to the dealer asking for a refund.

I have heard so many stories that people who win in the small claims court, do not necessarily receive their monies owed.:(

Any help or feedback would be really appreciated thanks.

Foxy-Stoat_3

If you have repaired the car without first seeking it repaired by the supplying dealer you may well have an up-hill struggle.

Whats the car?

What caused the breakdown?

What are the faults and when was it MOT last?

£1500 for a gearbox recondition, fitting with a new clutch isn't bad, considering the work involved but there are other/cheaper ways of doing things.

BeenThroughItAll

djdido2 wrote: »

Hi there

Bought a car 05/06/2014 for £2170 off a car sales place. One week later it broke down and I paid £300 for repairs. On collecting the vehicle the mechanic advised me that the gear box was about to fail and said this was very dangerous and not to drive the car. None of the faults I paid for were covered under the three month warranty I obtained with the car.

The mechanic has quoted £1500:eek: to repair this and advised that the catalogue of faults on the car should never have passed an MOT.

I have told the dealer that I want a refund but he just said that all the faults are 'wear and tear'. Spent a fortune ringing the 0871 warranty company, only to be told the faults are not a sudden mechanical fault.

I am heartbroken , it took me ages to save for this and I am not able to drive the car. Having to ask for lifts off family to get about and I am so frustrated

So far I have lodged a claim with the small claims court and have sent a letter to the dealer asking for a refund.

I have heard so many stories that people who win in the small claims court, do not necessarily receive their monies owed.:(

Any help or feedback would be really appreciated thanks.

Some more information might be useful. What kind of car, what faults are present, was the MOT done by the seller?


Also, what kind of 'car sales place' was it? Would be useful to know whether it's a limited company, partnership, etc.

djdido2

Mini Cooper. The MOT was done by the seller 5 days prior to purchase. It was a trade sales forecourt. Breakdown was due to faulty radiator and suspension bush.

I do not have £1500 to get it fixed.

Faults at present are gear box about to blow (mechanics advice). It is making a loud noise when driving. Airbag lights are on, tyre pressure lights etc. I am clueless with these things, forgive me

What are the cheaper ways of doing it please?

Thanks for your help!!

djdido2

The supply dealer told me that he does not do repairs on site and that the warranty would cover me for any faults. I understand their are things that wont be covered, i just cannot get my head round the fact that I am without wheels and have lost out.

I am off sick at the moment (self-employed) and just do not have the money to pay for such a large repair cost!

sh0597

Were these things wrong when you test drove the car?

Foxy-Stoat_3

Get yourself onto a BMW Mini forum, there will be secondhand gearboxes for sale, folk on owners club forums tend not to try and rip other members off with knackered parts, they will also know local independent garages that would carry out the work. On ebay the cost of a secondhand box £350 upwards, clutch would be £100 or so, just as a guide. These boxes are known to fail though.

That aside, the gearbox fault was most likely present at the time of sale so SOGA would be your first point but if you have not followed the procedure on rejecting the car then you may struggle, luckily the radiator and bush is nothing to do with the gearbox fail, if the car is successfully rejected then unfortunately the money you have just spend out would be lost without a fight.

The standardcraprubbish warrantes given out should cover gearbox failure but in any case with a bad gearbox it was probably not fit for purpose.

Tyre pressure light isn't a fail, but should be easily reset by pumping the tyres to the correct pressure and reading the manual for the reset procedure.

Air bag light is a fail but the garage will probably say it was fine when they tested it...did you notice these lights and gearbox noise on the test drive?

Suspension bush play if its bad enough is a fail or an advisory, check the MOT online for the advisories. If the break down was partly due to a failed bush then it must be pretty bad.

Retrogamer

Normally when any faults are discovered such as this the first port of call is to contact the trade seller and request they put right the problems you've found.
If they refuse and won't move from that position then you can usually have the repairs done elsewhere and take them to small claims to be reimbursed.

Never mind the warranty company. They're usually useless and it's the trader that is responsible for repairing it. It's up to them the method they use (own garage / warranty company etc)

djdido2

I briefly test drove the car but didn't diagnose any problems myself. In hindsight I probably should have got someone who knows their stuff to accompany me. I know how stupid/niave I have been. Wish I had stuck with my car that they part exed and gave me £250 for. Far more reliable.

((

djdido2

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Get yourself onto a BMW Mini forum, there will be secondhand gearboxes for sale, folk on owners club forums tend not to try and rip other members off with knackered parts, they will also know local independent garages that would carry out the work. On ebay the cost of a secondhand box £350 upwards, clutch would be £100 or so, just as a guide. These boxes are known to fail though.

That aside, the gearbox fault was most likely present at the time of sale so SOGA would be your first point but if you have not followed the procedure on rejecting the car then you may struggle, luckily the radiator and bush is nothing to do with the gearbox fail, if the car is successfully rejected then unfortunately the money you have just spend out would be lost without a fight.

The standardcraprubbish warrantes given out should cover gearbox failure but in any case with a bad gearbox it was probably not fit for purpose.

Tyre pressure light isn't a fail, but should be easily reset by pumping the tyres to the correct pressure and reading the manual for the reset procedure.

Air bag light is a fail but the garage will probably say it was fine when they tested it...did you notice these lights and gearbox noise on the test drive?

Suspension bush play if its bad enough is a fail or an advisory, check the MOT online for the advisories. If the break down was partly due to a failed bush then it must be pretty bad.

Thanks

What is SOGA and also procedure for rejecting the car??

I downloaded a template from the WHICH website and sent this along to the dealer. Is this the correct procedure??

Foxy-Stoat_3

Read the SOGA and procedure with dealing with repairs/rejections. Communicate via letter and if your going to the dealer then take someone with you so they wont intimidate you.

They may of removed the warning bulbs and if you only took it for a short test drive the box may not of sounded bad.