Faulty ebay car 'private sale'?

lunabuna

arcon5 wrote: »

So all that time ago when you owned an 8 year old car did you ever have the issue looked at rather than just putting up with it

I had it looked at multiple times at a few different garages. Some tinkering went on but it seemed very hard to replicate the problem. It would go in, they'd say nothing wrong with it. I'd take it home and a week later, there it was again. Back to the garage and round and round it went. It was suggested an "idle motor???" might be the problem at one point. That was replaced but the issue was still there. It basically happened when the engine was warm, so about half an hour after setting off, whenever the revs dropped or the clutch was put down. It was coming up to its MOT and when it failed (can't remember what for), I got rid and chalked it up to experience (this is based on a hazy memory of course!) I've since been told 7 to 8 years old is when lots of things start to go wrong on cars, not sure how true that is.
At the time I barely had the money to spend on the car in the first place so couldn't afford major repairs to retake the MOT. Survived on a cycle and buses for a year whilst saving up for a replacement.
I learnt a lot from the experience though such as not to buy when desperate if possible, definitely not to buy from Arthur Daley style garages or believe when they say its a car that's never had any problems and also to expect problems! Breakdown cover has been a must purchase with every car since then!
Although, not to hijack the thread, if any amateur car detectives have any suggestions what it might have been, I'd be intrigued to know what you think even after all this time.

forgotmyname

Did the OP delete some posts also?

xHannahx

macman wrote: »

The OP has not actually told us what car it is, and isn't likely to be back, since we didn't tell him what he wanted to hear.

The fact it's a V6 diesel narrows it down especially at that price. V6 diesels were used by very few manufacturers. A quick look on eBay reveals nearly all the V6 diesels advertised sub £1000 are as spares and repair, except GM based V6 diesel cars.
The GM V6 diesel is well known for the issues mentioned above in the mechanic world.
If the issues are as described the oil cap and dipstick would of been obvious from milky froth that the problems existed well before failure.

The quoted repair cost stands out as too high, as the HG should not cost that much to repair. £300 labour plus the cost of the parts is what I'd deem reasonable for HG replacement unless you're approaching a main dealer.

EdGasket

Try some K Seal before forking out on a head gasket job. Many recommendations for it though don't just put it in the header tank, drain out some coolant and add it directly into the radiator or top hose so that all of it is circulating around the engine.

maxmycardagain

Id check to see if the seller was private or trade, if he didnt disclose he is a trader or is a "back street" trader then a case might be possible via the county court or he may prefer to refund the buyer rather than have HMRC and/or trading standards come calling, or the DSS

start digging

maxmycardagain

xHannahx wrote: »

The quoted repair cost stands out as too high, as the HG should not cost that much to repair. £300 labour plus the cost of the parts is what I'd deem reasonable for HG replacement unless you're approaching a main dealer.

Some heads cant be skimmed, my local garage was telling me about sodium filled valve seats?....a new head would cost.....er......no, forget it

Joe_Horner

maxmycardagain wrote: »

Id check to see if the seller was private or trade, if he didnt disclose he is a trader or is a "back street" trader then a case might be possible via the county court or he may prefer to refund the buyer rather than have HMRC and/or trading standards come calling, or the DSS

start digging

This as the only realistic comeback. First and easiest check is ebay history - is he "changing" his car every 5 minutes on there?

Even as a private sale you could probably fight it - "running well" doesn't include having to fill with coolant after 1.5 hours of motorway, where they tend to run cool. But you'd have a long, uphill (and expensive) battle to try that way, with no guarantee of actually getting any money back in the end even if you won.

The same thing about no guarantees applies if he was a trader, but you at least have the leverage of informing trading standards / local council (running car sales from home - likely due business rates and possibly breaking tenancy conditions if he's renting)) / DSS / HMRC / all of the above.


eta: for all those wh'll no doubt come along and say it's not worth it: If the OP decided it was worth the effort and there were signs of the guy trading then this is exactly the sort of trader who needs to be put out of business for the good of everyone. That won't happen as long as everyone throws their hands in the air and says what can you do

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

In the end there is a reason why a car has a sub £1000 trade price - they have a reputation.

While people here will moan about modern standards, look at the number of VW Golfs from around the 2000 era on the road, and have a look at their price - 14 years old and still commanding prices well over £1000. Then you get a Merc C Class - supposedly a quality car but with body work and other common problems are essentially scrap value.

The sub-£1000 price is a clue that you are taking pot luck. Don't buy unless you know the seller (and are prepared not to fall out over problems that emerge that the seller wasn't aware of or simply didn't think of as they've lived with them so long) or you have someone who knows what they are looking at, or of course you are a mechanic who knows what they are doing.

There are bargains out there, but knowing whether you are buying one is another matter.

Strider590

Has OP had the engine running and done the obvious checks?

It could just be a faulty expansion tank cap spewing out water when the engine gets hot.

It doesn't sound to me like this has been investigated properly.

Joe_Horner

Good point, Strider.

I fell into the assumption trap that this would obviously have been checked, either by the Op or by the garage that's looked at it. But just because it would have been in my world (and, I guess, yours!) doesn't mean it has been here.

Especially with an engine that may have a reputation for this sort of thing, it's easy to jump to the wrong conclusion without checking the basics first.

OP, a quick and dirty check for a head gasket problem is to make sure the coolant's topped up (plain water will do), fit the cap, then start the car from cold and let it run for no more than a minute or so. Then release the expansion bottle cap.

If you hear pressure escaping then there's a problem because the engine won't be warm enough to have created any, so it must have come from a cylinder. If there's no pressure then it's unlikely that the HG has failed (at least between a cylinder and the cooling system) because they'll usually pressurise almost instantly if that's happened.

That's not 100% foolproof but it's a very good starting point that you can try yourself to see if there may be more investigation needed.