Engine light came on 5 mins after buying from a trade seller

Chibisan

Had a search online, the trade seller had a good reputation and has been around for a long time. Car looks fine, full service history from the main dealer. MOT passed few days ago. Signed the papers, done a online bank transfer. There was some dent and one of the headlamp wasn't working so he gave us some discount. I checked the engine, it was cold and it started fine. I took it for a test drive and it sounded and felt fine for its age.

Literally 5 minutes after I purchased and drove off with the car, the engine light came on. I called the trade seller, explained the problem and he said it might be that the car has been sat there for 2 weeks. Drive it home and then if problem still persist tomorrow, take it to a garage and they will pay for the repair costs. I agreed but changed my mind because it is a 50 mile drive home. Don't want to drive it with the engine light on if I don't know what the fault is.

I called them again, thinking they would probably block my number. This was late evening, after 7pm. They answered and said they would call back later, they will get the machine that detects what the error code is and meet them at their place. So the error code came out and they claim it was just a sensor problem. They say they will get it fixed and personally deliver the car to my house.

They said they can fix the fault and that they are not that type of people that would scam their customers. They will get it to a mechanic on Monday, get the sensor fixed. Show us the receipt and show us the part that has been replaced.

However knowing nothing about cars and hearing about all the car boy dealers. I'm now worried that the car I just purchased is not road worthy. I said I wanted a refund and their jaws dropped. The younger guy got a bit aggressive and said I can't get a refund, there isn't a serious problem with the car and I can't expect to get a perfect 10 year old car without any fault. I explained to him that I read about the consumer rights that came out last year. Saying that I got 7 days to refund it if there is any fault. He said I've signed pre delivery checklist and ensured everything was fine. I can't get the car refunded because of that.

The other trade seller stepped in and said they can get me a refund if I really want. He said he would lose money because it means that the car would take an additional owner since I've signed the v5c form. But the full year of road tax that I just paid would go into the new buyer name and that they can't do anything about it. Is that true?

My partner came with me and she said they seem nice people. They could've ignored our calls after they sold us the car.

I'm not sure what my rights are, maybe I'm just being too paranoid? Since the car is old like 13 years old. I checked the MOT history and run HPI, it all came out clear. They even offered to get it fix and deliver it to my home. I think perhaps I am overreacting?

straighttalker

Take it to an independent garage preferably a specialist for the make of vehicle you've bought and they'll hopefully be able to tell what's wrong by using their diagnostics equipment. I'd get them to ring the selling dealer to go through what's required and get it authorised before any work starts.

You could dump the car back with the selling dealer and get him to sort it out but it depends on how much hassle you want and how far you want to drive.

chrisw

You are massively overreacting. It appears to be a minor fault in an otherwise decent car and the dealer is bending over backwards to help you.

If you got your money back you'd have to buy another 13 year old car with who knows what wrong with it.

Let them fix it and move on.

loskie

defective headlight? You do know that this is illegal? Engine light may just be a lambda sensor, no big issue. Sounds like garage is being reasonable but get them to fix the light too. You were foolish to knowingly accept that fault.

dlm

I've been in the motor trade for most of my life - peiople BEG for dealers like that!

At the end of the day, it would never have test driven, passed MOT - or even GOT to the testing station with the engine light remaining out if the problem existed then.

It was just unlucky that it pinged on as you drove down the road. They offered to work with you to get it read, and repaired at no cost to you - and you ask for a refund?? I would be quite shocked too.

You agreed to the headlight bulb not being working; it may be a five minute thing they didn't have time to do before yhou collected and you agreed to do it yourself. You took on that issue; IF that is beyond your abilities (and it can be with some cars need extensive strip-down for headlights), then you could have negotiated for them to do it at your cost. Chances are, they would have thrown it in for free.

You should listen to your partner, (or buy a Honda)

rich13348

1. If the car was not roadworthy it would not have passed its MoT and as they are having to get a garage to do all the work it suggests they cannot do it themselves so MoT should be genuine.

2. The younger seller is correct in that you cannot expect to get a 10 year car that won't develop a fault. However you can expect the seller to fix any faults that occur in a reasonable time.

3. If you have signed the V5C and they have sent it off then it will add another owner on to the car. You will not lose your full years tax though as when you get the new V5C through the post you will have to trade it back in to the motor trade using the top yellow tear off strip that you send to the DVLA this automatically triggers a refund of the remain full months to pay. So in all likelyhood you would get 10 or 11 months of tax back.

4. Yes you are overreacting, the came out after office hours, checked the car, promised to get it fixed and delivered to you and show you a receipt of the work and the faulty sensor. That's good for anyone. And beyond that you could take the car to another independent garage and have them check the work that was done and if you are not happy, still get a refund.

Hoof_Hearted

Give them a chance to disconnect the engine management bulb and everything will be OK.

Ebe_Scrooge

Chibisan wrote: »

But the full year of road tax that I just paid would go into the new buyer name and that they can't do anything about it. Is that true?

Wrong - try reading up on the (relatively) new tax procedures https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-refund


As others have said it sounds like the dealer is being perfectly reasonable. They're right in that a 10 year old car is likely to have some minor faults, but they've offered to rectify them, and it sounds like they've bent over backwards to make it as convenient as possible for you.

Norman_Castle

Chibisan wrote: »

So the error code came out and they claim it was just a sensor problem. They say they will get it fixed and personally deliver the car to my house.

They said they can fix the fault and that they are not that type of people that would scam their customers. They will get it to a mechanic on Monday, get the sensor fixed. Show us the receipt and show us the part that has been replaced.

Let them fix the sensor they think is faulty and if the fault reappears expect them to resolve the fault. If its a serious fault they cannot or will not resolve then consider using your consumer rights.

Chibisan

dlm wrote: »

You should listen to your partner, (or buy a Honda)

Actually I listened to my partner advice and the advices here hence why I bought a Honda and not a Mercedes

Thanks. I'm just too paranoid and ignorant. Because I was puzzled how it passed the MOT just a few days ago if the engine light was on and the headlight lamp was broken. The guy did fix the lamp on the spot after pulling the wires around but broke again shortly after I've driven off.

I will take your advice and take it to another garage to inspect it. Hopefully it will all be good! I will definitely have to apologies to them for being so ignorant if it was as they promised and it is roadworthy.

bigjl

Chibisan wrote: »

Actually I listened to my partner advice and the advices here hence why I bought a Honda and not a Mercedes

Thanks. I'm just too paranoid and ignorant. Because I was puzzled how it passed the MOT just a few days ago if the engine light was on and the headlight lamp was broken. The guy did fix the lamp on the spot after pulling the wires around but broke again shortly after I've driven off.

I will take your advice and take it to another garage to inspect it. Hopefully it will all be good! I will definitely have to apologies to them for being so ignorant if it was as they promised and it is roadworthy.

Why would an engine management light make it unroadworthy? They are often caused by a minor sensor issue, sometimes if you nearly stall a cara few times it will put up the engine management light (Petrol Vauxhalls sometimes do that)

As far as the bulb wiring goes that happens on lots of older cars and can be due to crack handed bulb replacements.

Still doesn't make the car unroadworthy.