Faulty ebay car 'private sale'?

YouMust_2

I guess I've lost before i've started here but hey i'll try!

bought a car off ebay,
I checked it out, looked great, drove awesome,
did the normal coolant/oil checks and all over body check and test drive. paid my money and off i went. 1.5 hours in to my lazy motorway drive home i get. 'bing bong' and check coolant level message. fortunately a service stop was only .5 miles away.
pulled over and the expansion tank was 1/4 full. i bought some more coolant and filled the tank. I messaged the seller saying 'i just had to fill her up with water whats up with that?' and got home with no more issues.
turn the car on in the morning bing bong check coolant

over the next 2 days it's really gotten bad misfires splutters and is almost un drivable

took it to a garage who have confirmed a blown head gasket/s (V6 diesel) and pointed out the splatter/water marks from the expansion tank due to being over pressurised looked like that sealant stuff.

so the guy filled the water with this gunk to work long enough for me to buy it.

my car broke (terminal) so i had to get a loan to buy a car (need to get to work!) and now thats just as broken as the old one.
i paid £900 for the car had a vague quote of 1200 and a solid quote of £1950!! for repair

messaged the seller who says 'he knows nothing about it and he didn't have it long'

in his ebay description it says runs/drives really nice and never let him down. no mention of him having it a short time.

do i have any chance of getting my money back?
i still need a car, im so totally stuck and screwed.
I'm going to be paying provident for years !

DUTR

YouMust wrote: »

I guess I've lost before i've started here but hey i'll try!

bought a car off ebay,
I checked it out, looked great, drove awesome,

snip

do i have any chance of getting my money back?
i still need a car, im so totally stuck and screwed.
I'm going to be paying provident for years !

1) Slim to nil
2) Next time you buy , go with 4 eyes not just two.
3) Who's provident?

RS2000.

Link to the ebay advert will help.

robbies_gal

not really caveat emptor should have taken someone with u to check the engine

forgotmyname

No mention of having it a short time. But no mention of owning it for many years either. The V5C would have shown how long they had owned it if you failed to ask.

A £900 car will need a lot of caution when buying. Its quite easy to buy one that needs double that to bring it upto a reliable standard.

Cheap car with a V6 engine = potential money pit. If you want cheap and reliable you need simple and basic with as few parts as possible.

You assume the seller filled it with gunk, Possible the seller bought it like that and had no issues until you bought it.
I came back from a holiday once and sold my car. The gearbox failed on it weeks later. Odd that i had done several thousand miles in it over the few weeks we were on holiday with it.

These things happen.

If your buying a cheap car you need a backup plan/funds to replace it or repair it.

loskie

the expansion tank should not be filled, otherwise there is no room for expansion. It should be just above the minimum level when the engine is cold.

macman

The vendor does not have to tell you anything about the vehicle, he merely has to truthfully answer any questions you might ask. If you failed to ask any questions, such as 'does the vehicle have any faults that you know of?', you have no comeback.
There is nothing in that description that can be considered untruthful, as it 'did run', and 'drove nice'. And you can't prove it never let him down. He does not have to tell you how long he owned it, it's up to you to ask. A glance at the V5C would have told you that.
Unless it's something rare, why go 100 miles or more to buy a banger?

zappahey

YouMust wrote: »

took it to a garage who have confirmed a blown head gasket/s (V6 diesel)

V6 diesel? It's not a SAAB 9-5, is it?

If so, it's likely to be a lot worse than head gasket.

DTDfanBoy

Change the coolant, then stick it in an auction and let history repeat

wiltsguy_2

private sell, whcih means unless you can prove the seller knew the head gasket was blown - you are screwed. The best way would be to appeal to the sellers good nature, if that doesn't work, do as the post above said and put it into a motor auction, or on ebay and tell people the gasket has gone and recover some money!

Foxy-Stoat_3

You sure the HG is gone, maybe blocked radiator, weak or siezed theromstate, leak somewhere.

If it ran well 1.5 hours down the motor way and the coolant was just low, then I would say you have a leak and if you keep driving it then your HG may well go.

Get it checked over by someone else, unless they carried out a proper sniffer/compression test rather than the normal "AA Breakdown diagnositc Head Gasket problem".