Chargeback Faulty Car help?!!

kal79454

Hi,

So I bought a spare car recently. A fiat punto (£490) and it was fine when I got it. Looked fine anyways.

It's been 12 days now and yesterday the exhaust snapped. Took it to the garage and they said I need the following parts:

Camshaft seal, crank seal, timing belt, shock absorber, calalytic converter, etc.

Basically a good £350 and after everything including labour works out to be about £500-600.

In other words I've been ripped off. I'm not a mechanic. If it looks fine and drives fine, I buy it.

I've spoken to the dealership and they've said sorry. At a car at that price, we can't do anything.

What's my best course of action now. If I chargeback what do I say.

Am I in the wrong? Does sales of good act not apply? All I wanted was to be sold a car that isn't faulty.

I paid by Barclaycard Visa credit card. What are the chances of a successful chargeback? Any advice?

Regards

mchale

kal79454 wrote: »

I'm not a mechanic. Any advice?

Regards

Take a mechanic with you next time to look it over before you buy it.

bobbymotors

£490?


If it has an MOT and drives ok then that's about all you can expect. If you wanted a fault free car, buy a new one, not a £490 banger.

colino

Can you name that repairing garage? (You know, the one where you went to, to get a bangers wear and tear exhaust attended to).
Was the conversation:
"How much to fix this exhaust?"
"I don't know, but other irrelevant items that I cannot check visually, like timing belt and cat are definitely gone". "Wibble".

kal79454

@Colino Do you think it doesn't really need that much work? Or are they just trying to get cash out of me. They said the shock absorber has oil or something on it that can cause an accident?

They started saying other things and servicing and what not that's needed.

One garage said it's weldable the broken exhaust and should cost £40-50. This guy said it's not and that he needs to order a new replacement part.

Do you reckon I should just get it welded and drive it till it breaks?

For what it's worth. Its a Nigerian bloke in the garage and hardly had any tools. And he wanted money for checking it afterwards too. Which was the time I just drove off. Can't tell me it costs £10 to check it after it's done lol. Checkings normally free.

Regards

pulliptears

TBH on a Punto of that age (assuming it has some age for £450) I'm more amazed that the head gasket isn't on its way.

BeenThroughItAll

kal79454 wrote: »

For what it's worth. Its a Nigerian bloke in the garage and hardly had any tools. And he wanted money for checking it afterwards too. Which was the time I just drove off. Can't tell me it costs £10 to check it after it's done lol. Checkings normally free.

Blimey, nice bit of casual racism chucked in there for free.

iolanthe07

If you pay a junk price you're likely to get a junk car. You really can't expect much for under 500 quid!

EssexExile

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Blimey, nice bit of casual racism chucked in there for free.

Sexism too, said it was a bloke.

Good grief.

FairFuelUK

Did you sign a "Sold as Seen" agreement. If you signed an agreement that includes that clause you're scuppered.

Retrogamer

kal79454 wrote: »

Hi,

So I bought a spare car recently. A fiat punto (£490) and it was fine when I got it. Looked fine anyways.

It's been 12 days now and yesterday the exhaust snapped. Took it to the garage and they said I need the following parts:

Camshaft seal, crank seal, timing belt, shock absorber, calalytic converter, etc.

I assume they have said camshaft seal and crank seal as they may be weeping oil. Not a big deal if not that severe. I had a 106 that had a leaking rocker cover gasket and crank seal. Still lasted 3 years and 40k miles without getting any worse.

Timing belt might be looking a little tired but it's a service item so unless it was advertised as being recently serviced with that belt changed i'd disregard it.

Shock absorber - Depends why it needs replaced. is it worn? Is it leaking?

Cat - Depends why it needs replaced also. Is it not working as it should be? Is it leaking? Rusty?

For the price you paid for the car i don't think you have much comeback. The cars price will have been to reflect it's condition & age.
No one would go out and pay £3k for a used low mileage car if they thought they could get one in perfect condition needing no work for £600 instead.

I'd get the exhaust fixed, spend minimum money on it (just oil & oil filters for servicing) then drive it into the ground.