Buying a car 'as is' from a dealer

Hintza

*pinkpanther* wrote: »

H

Today I removed the dash to discover tape had been placed over a fair amount of warning lights, including the air bag warning light.

You perhaps should have noticed this when you turned the ignition on. Having said that I would not be too impressed.

colino

How much did you pay for this dubious chariot full of obvious hash burns? Equally, do you think that a trader who could have put out a brake pad warning light (properly) and ditto for an airbag warning light (very common fault) in half an hour would have dismantled the dash and got handy with the electrical tape instead?
Sounds like a dodgy trade-in that you have picked up very cheaply just before it was being sent off to auction.
If you weren't happy you should have gone back for a repair, refund or replacement, but as you have started working on it, that option may well be closed.

force_ten

arcon5 wrote: »

Well sadly he's 100% wrong. No trader is bound
to offer a warranty.
And faulty goods don't automatically mean rights. The law excludes wear and tear. Also if a car is sold as faulty then you can't just turn round and claim free repair.
But what a trader can't do is misrepresent his vehicles by hiding faults.

you are correct in saying that they do not have to offer a warranty, that said if they sell a car with am mot and in a roadworthy condition and the new buyer drives the car away from the dealers thee car must be fit for purpose, it appears that in the OP,s case the dealer has tried to hide faults to make the car appear more attractive for sale

www.consumeruk.co.uk

IF THE CAR YOU BUY HAS A DISCLAIMER

Some car traders try to use disclaimers such as 'sold as seen', 'trade sale only' or 'no refund' to restrict your rights. This is against the law and you can report any trader that does this to Consumer Direct, the Government funded consumer advice service.

that is taken from the consumer uk site and clearly states that a dealer cant sell a car with disclaimers

if the dealer sells a car as spares or repair and tells you to recover the car on a trailer then you would have no come back, but when a dealer sells a car with 12 months MOT and the buyer drives the car off the forecourt then i would be looking at what rights i have got under the sale of goods act

taping over or removing air bag warning lights and brake wear warning lights is morally wrong and potentially dangerous an any car dealer that is doing stuff like this should be bought to book

motorguy

SunReader wrote: »

Strictly speaking all dealers must offer a warranty unless a 'trade sale'

No. Absolutely not.

A trade must "warrant the condition of the car" - that is to say, the car must be as described, that is very different from offering a warranty.

motorguy

colino wrote: »

How much did you pay for this dubious chariot full of obvious hash burns? Equally, do you think that a trader who could have put out a brake pad warning light (properly) and ditto for an airbag warning light (very common fault) in half an hour would have dismantled the dash and got handy with the electrical tape instead?
Sounds like a dodgy trade-in that you have picked up very cheaply just before it was being sent off to auction.
If you weren't happy you should have gone back for a repair, refund or replacement, but as you have started working on it, that option may well be closed.

Thats exactly where i'd be on this.

Joe_Horner

motorguy wrote: »

No. Absolutely not.

A trade must "warrant the condition of the car" - that is to say, the car must be as described, that is very different from offering a warranty.

Athough he also has to ensure the roadworthiness of the car under RTA s.75. Ignorance of the fault isn't a defence against that section, which applies to trade and private sellers alike, but might be allowed in mitigation if the fault wasn't likely to be known using reasonable diligence.

A non-operating SRS warning light doesn't in itself make the car unroadworthy but it's a strong clue to a fault with the SRS system, which does. If, behind the tape, the light is indicating a fault (why else would it be taped?) then the car is unroadworthy for the purposes of that section.

In this case, the absence of any visible warning lights should have made the need to investigate clear to any competent trader so ignorance would be very hard to claim even in mitigation.

macman

Was this MOT'd at the dealer's or elsewhere?
Any advisories?

ice_babe

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Tape on a bulb wouldn't make it unroadworthy, it isn't illegal to drive round with an airbag light on, so unless the garage selling it took the dash off they probably wouldn't know. Was it a £300 sh*tter?

It is an MOT failure though!

motorguy

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Athough he also has to ensure the roadworthiness of the car under RTA s.75. Ignorance of the fault isn't a defence against that section, which applies to trade and private sellers alike, but might be allowed in mitigation if the fault wasn't likely to be known using reasonable diligence.

A non-operating SRS warning light doesn't in itself make the car unroadworthy but it's a strong clue to a fault with the SRS system, which does. If, behind the tape, the light is indicating a fault (why else would it be taped?) then the car is unroadworthy for the purposes of that section.

In this case, the absence of any visible warning lights should have made the need to investigate clear to any competent trader so ignorance would be very hard to claim even in mitigation.

Indeed

And exactly why the trader should have disposed of the car through auction, rather than in any way trying to retail it.

Far too much hassle, especially when you get customers who will sit like nodding dogs "oh yes, i know i'm buying it cheap and its an old car and theres likely to be other faults" when you're knocking it out cheap to them, then a week later on the phone whinging and demanding "their rights".

tedted

if it is not lit it is not an mot failure