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

Norman_Castle

AdrianC wrote: »

For used products, SOGA manages your comeback on the supplier according to reasonable expectation for the age/price for that product, and that product alone. Given that you've bought at the VERY bottom of the price range, having a well-known fault develop shortly after purchase is not necessarily grounds for refund. The symptoms sound obvious enough that, if they'd been present at purchase, any reasonably informed purchaser would have noticed them.


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How likely is it this "well known fault" developed shortly after purchase?.
Many reasonably informed motorists would not spot a failing gearbox. If the dealer was unaware of the faults why would he sell the car at the bottom of the price range?.

A car a mechanic describes as dangerous and advises not to drive is not fit for purpose.

AdrianC

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Many reasonably informed motorists would not spot a failing gearbox.

The symptoms of typical, and common, early Mini gearbox failure are clearly audible - and so well known that any buyer arming themselves with a modicum of research will spot them a mile off. If somebody is looking to buy at the VERY bottom end of the market without doing even that most basic of research, caveat emptor.

If the dealer was unaware of the faults why would he sell the car at the bottom of the price range?

Why is any car ever for sale at a low price, yet still represent poor value? A combination of age, mileage, sparse history, mediocre general condition? SOGA does not give consumers similar expectations from such a purchase as for a higher-priced, better condition equivalent.

A car a mechanic describes as dangerous and advises not to drive is not fit for purpose.

The symptoms do not include anything that would cause the car to be "dangerous to drive". Without any further knowledge of what the actual problem is and what the actual symptoms are, we can only guess at the truth behind the OP's chinese whispers.

Norman_Castle

The symptoms of typical, and common, early Mini gearbox failure are clearly audible - and so well known that any buyer arming themselves with a modicum of research will spot them a mile off. If somebody is looking to buy at the VERY bottom end of the market without doing even that most basic of research, caveat emptor.

Caveat emptor as a cop out by car dealers is why trading standards exist.

A Chinese person just whispered that losing drive while driving may be dangerous.

AdrianC

Norman_Castle wrote: »

A Chinese person just whispered that losing drive while driving may be dangerous.

"Losing drive" isn't common with this problem. Unless, of course, you're deaf or have so little mechanical sympathy that you drive long after it's been screaming and whining and knocking.

sh0597

I think selling a car with a major gearbox fault present at sale which was not made clear could be a problem for the seller.

Buzby

Only if the vendor had prior knowledge. How would you proved it? If it worked flawlessly with no reason to raise a suspicion, caveat emptor does indeed apply, unless a warranty was provided.

sh0597

I'm uncertain to be honest as to where liability lies. But it wasn't a private sale, so it's not a case of needing to prove the vendor knew about the fault. It's whether the fault was present at sale on the balance of probabilities. At least that's my understanding.


If it's true that the car was sold at rock bottom price then it might also be argued that a worn gear box was not something unreasonable for the car to have. You've got a mechanic saying the gearbox is about to go and the car is dangerous but you might also drive around for a year and it doesn't. That's my thoughts.

colino

For goodness sake. For a pre 04 MINI gearbox to fail nowadays, it would be howling like a banshee. It's not new, it's 10 years old piece of crap with well defined shortcomings.
Add on scrap sale price, and you might find the OPs purchase cost.
It's a scrapper.

djdido2

I was under the impression that if you buy something and it fails that i would not have to spend in excess of a grand plus to put it right and have it back on the road again??? Surely I am able to reject the car due to its faults??

This is not looking good is it :(:(

Norman_Castle

^ Contact trading standards.

Asking on the consumer rights board http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=173 might be more helpful than here.