used car a complete wreck

sharp75

Hi everyone,

I really would like peoples expertise in a matter I am currently dealing with.

Basically I bought a 2nd hand car from a dealership the end of June and it was described as the perfect car, reliable etc. There was no mention of any any problems whatsoever but within a couple of weeks it had a bad oil leak. I had this repaired and the person who repaired it said the oil filter was badly corroded.

A few days later I took it for an MOT and it failed badly. Apparently there is excessive corrosion under the car and the person who done the test said as he was touching it his hand was going straight through it. His words were "the underneath of the car was rotten and far too dangerous to pass".

There were other problems also ie the drop link had snapped, a tyre was not fitted properly, the tread on a tyre was not legal and the break pipe was excessively corroded.

I contacted the dealership who sold me the car and he is now trying to say the car was sold to me as a part exchange trade clearance and was "sold as seen", which this was not mentioned in the advert for the car.

Rather than offer me a refund he has gave me some rather absurd advice saying if I scrap the car I can make more money than what the car is worth or I can go and basically pay for all these repairs myself which I darent even think about how much all of this would cost.

I have contacted Trading Standards but I havnt been told whether I can definately do something about as I have to wait 14 days to see if the dealer will give me a refund (which hes already pointed out he wont) but I believe I have a very strong case to take this matter to court so could I please have some advice on whether people think I am right in taking action.

I appreciate any help youse guys could offer

hollydays

Well did trading standards say you had a very strong case?

sharp75

they have just advised me what to do and let them know in 14 days if I have a response or not then they will look deeper into it if he doesnt offer me a refund

stevemLS

How was it advertised, have you got a copy of the advert?

What sort of car is it? How old? How much did you pay?

stevemLS

You might get more responses if you post on Motoring Board, btw.

sharp75

The car was advertised on ebay as a classified. Its a Mazda6, 54 plate. It was advertised at £1000 with a statement saying price reduced but I got it dropped down to 900. When I asked why the car was reduced in the 1st place his words where "they get so many cars coming in on a daily basis that he needed a quick sale". Thanks for your response, I will also post on there

unholyangel

If he was acting as a buisness and not a private individual then there is no such thing as "sold as seen".

As for the rest.....what price did you pay and what kind of car/age/mileage was it? How did you pay for it?

Goods (even secondhand) should also match their description. So if you can show it doesnt, you would have a case for goods not being as described.

It is also illegal to sell a car that is not roadworthy.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/cars_buying_a_car_e/cars_buying_a_used_car_e/cars_ways_of_buying_a_used_car_e/buying_a_car_from_a_dealer_what_you_need_to_know.htm

Have a look on that link for slightly more information

gik

Did the car come with a warranty?

sharp75

Apparently it was sold without warranty(got told this after the sale), to be honest it was the first time i bought a car from a dealer, no discussion was made about warranty but i would have assumed to be an automatic thing for a dealer to do. Yes i know now i should have asked but should my lack of knowledge in buying cars really allow him to get away with selling me this car?

visidigi

sharp75 wrote: »

Apparently it was sold without warranty(got told this after the sale), to be honest it was the first time i bought a car from a dealer, no discussion was made about warranty but i would have assumed to be an automatic thing for a dealer to do. Yes i know now i should have asked but should my lack of knowledge in buying cars really allow him to get away with selling me this car?

The trader is not obligated to teach you how to buy a car, that's what research before buying is for.

As long as they have not been deceptive, then he isn't getting away with anything. If the car had an MOT when he sold it, then it had an MOT, the issue would be can you prove the wear they have found is something that would have occurred long before the point at which the MOT was issued.

gik

How EXACTLY was the car advertised? Are you happy to give an ebay link to the advert?