Second hand car rights with dodgy invoice

barrab

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2000 BMW 316i SE on the 3rd April 2015 from a dealership near me. The car was an extremely smooth drive, couldn't see any faults whatsoever on inspection and with the addition of a full service history record seemed like a steal at £650. Driving down the motorway on Saturday doing less than 60mph (nan was present) the car overheated. I pulled over immediately with steam billowing from the engine and subsequently got it recovered back to my house (around 10 miles away).

The recovery driver wasn't a mechanic but did a few basic checks and noticed there was water leaking from the temperature sensor just behind the radiator (apparently a common fault) and, after refilling the car with water; that there were a lot of bubbles in the reservoir tank while the car was running.

Didn't drive the car for the rest of the weekend and finally got it into the garage hoping that it was a simple fix such as a split hose or new temperature sensor which I would expect for a car of this age. The garage confirmed through a chemical test of the coolant that the head gasket is royally trashed and, providing their is no engine head warping/damage; the minimum price for repair will be around £500 + VAT..

Normally, this seems extremely straight forward - the car is faulty and I am within my rights under the sale of goods act to return it as such. Unfortunately the invoice states that the car was "Sold as seen (trailored away)". I already know "sold as seen" counts for absolutely nothing; it's the trailored away part that is concerning me. The car was not trailored away and I didn't spot the seller write it at the time of signing.

I have just got off the phone to the dealer and informed him of the problem. He has asked me to give him a call back tomorrow morning to discuss what's what and see what can be done; seemed reasonable given the time (17:25) so agreed.

Because it has only been 10 days since I informed the dealer of the fault; am I entitled to claim the cost of the vehicle, the recovery and garage diagnosis fees back regardless of the slightly iffy invoice annotation? In other words, do my statutory rights still apply?

Many thanks in advance.

**Tried to attach the link for the invoice but am unable to as a new user, if you are able to help please message me and I will send you a copy**

Original Autotrader advert text:

BLUE, SERVICE BOOK STAMPED @14K...29K...43K...59K...68K...85K...102K...118K...124K...132K...155K.., Next MOT due 15/10/2015, Full service history, Good bodywork, Interior - Good Condition, Tyre condition Good, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels, Electric Windows, In Car Entertainment. 5 seats, CALLS AFTER 6 PM,
£795 ono

arcon5

Hmm
an old banger with high mileage sold for peanuts with an invoice stating it was trailered away.

Best see what the seller says. Hopefully he'll just take the car back.

Marktheshark

15 year old car with 160k on the clock is never a bargain.

colino

What, "dealership" sold you a 15 year old car, known for age related cooling system faults, with 155,000+ miles, knocked nearly 20% of their asking price, and just to make sure you knew they weren't a real dealership, requested contact after 6pm?
Bug him for your money back, he might still have it and be scared of bad, local publicity.

barrab

Marktheshark wrote: »

15 year old car with 160k on the clock is never a bargain.

A vehicle from a reputable manufacturer with full service history should have been good to go for at least another few months - which even considering fuel, insurance and road tax is still cheaper than my local public transport provider... It isn't unreasonable to expect BMW's/Mercedes to go round the clock; provided they have received adequate maintenance that this particular model was advertised as having.

As the car is unfit for purpose in such a short space of time after purchase, am I right in thinking my statutory rights should still be intact regardless of what wording was put on the invoice? Car was advertised and sold without any fault listed; subsequently discovered otherwise.

Thank-you.

BaileyB

Make sure you print copies of the advert online. Hopefully someone be along to offer advice on the car and legal side.

barrab

BaileyB wrote: »

Make sure you print copies of the advert online. Hopefully someone be along to offer advice on the car and legal side.

I managed to get the original advert text from autotrader:

BLUE, SERVICE BOOK STAMPED @14K...29K...43K...59K...68K...85K...102K...118K.. .124K...132K...155K.., Next MOT due 15/10/2015, Full service history, Good bodywork, Interior - Good Condition, Tyre condition Good, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels, Electric Windows, In Car Entertainment. 5 seats, CALLS AFTER 6 PM,
£795 ono

They have said that they will be able to procure the full advert only if I submit a claim through trading standards but for the time being this is hopefully enough to show that the car was advertised as being in satisfactory condition.

Thank you.

barrab

colino wrote: »

What, "dealership" sold you a 15 year old car, known for age related cooling system faults, with 155,000+ miles, knocked nearly 20% of their asking price, and just to make sure you knew they weren't a real dealership, requested contact after 6pm?
Bug him for your money back, he might still have it and be scared of bad, local publicity.

I will of course be on his case first thing tomorrow morning. I know BMW have faults with the cooling system but given the solid service history of the car (with the added luxury of actual paperwork), I really didn't think it would be a problem - especially not to the point of having a blown head gasket.

He seemed like a reputable guy. The advert is unclear - he operated normal office hours but then there is a number to call in the event of an inquiry after 6pm which I presume Autotrader have ommitted from the archived version.

Thanks.

shaun_from_Africa

barrab wrote: »

I managed to get the original advert text from autotrader:

They have said that they will be able to procure the full advert only if I submit a claim through trading standards but for the time being this is hopefully enough to show that the car was advertised as being in satisfactory condition.

Here you go barrab:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QSucCRe3clwJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/bmw/3-series/used-bmw-3-series-1-9-316i-se-4dr-telford-fpa-201503242021453+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


Make sure you print it out asap in case it gets removed from Google cache.


The dealer also appears to have a Facebook page, something that posting on often gets results if other avenues have been tried and ignored.


https://www.facebook.com/se.telford?fref=photo

patman99

If a dealer puts 'Sold As Seen' on a receipt, they are attampting to remove your statutory rights.
In this case, the wording means nothing and if he fails to give you a refend, they won't stand up in Court.

It's like when dealers stick 'Sold to trade' on the receipt. If they are selling to a member of the public, the wording has no meaning.
In fact, East Coast Salvage got done for using this tactic to get shot of cars they knew had issues.

xHannahx

I've seen a lot where a dealer writes sold as scrap on sub £500 cars.
They can clearly see you coming as a nice target to rip off....£500 for a head gasket repair on such a small engine is a rip off in its own right. Look to pay £300 tops.
Citizens advise website says the car should be of a condition matched to its age and mileage. It could be argued that a 15 year old high miler BMW could be expected to have coolant system issues