Worried I've bought dodgy car :-(

bigjl

s_b wrote: »

i had 2 cars last year that were becoming landmarks so both were sold on my business account ebay, full details, no faults, at 99 p start ,they both did about £800 a piece many bids but neither buyer came and both made feeble excuses why, i wasnt in the mood to relist so ended about £25 out of pocket and a wasted week replying to idiots,i would never sell a car on auction there again only as a fixed price sale

Autotrader is the only place I have reliably found buyers for a car.

But I am so sick of idiots and tyre kickers that my last two cars that I got rid of I sold to WBAC and WWAC.

No hastle, no tyre kickers and got pretty much what I wanted for them, yes I could have held out for another few quid, but it was worth it due to the lack of hastle.

s_b

bigjl wrote: »

Autotrader is the only place I have reliably found buyers for a car.

But I am so sick of idiots and tyre kickers that my last two cars that I got rid of I sold to WBAC and WWAC.

No hastle, no tyre kickers and got pretty much what I wanted for them, yes I could have held out for another few quid, but it was worth it due to the lack of hastle.

unfortunately autotrader have lost the plot since they sold out to the suits last year
their days are numbered unfortunately and good because they just treat us dealers as spawn

mrsvanderkamp_2

bigjl wrote: »

You do realise that a similar problem could easily occur on a brand new car?

Or £10000 car?

You haven't even given the bloke a chance to look at the car and you seem to have pretty much decided the car is at fault.

Well evidently the car DOES have a fault....all I'm saying is that I am very worried that my son has spent all his savings on a car that MAY not be fit for purpose....my original post asked for people's views and that is what I am getting. As stated initially, I was after some reassurance, it wasn't my intention to start a thread bashing secondhand car sellers. In all honesty you are making me feel better in as much as no one perceives the seller to have been underhand which is really what I wanted to hear..

It's all well and good as a seller of cars and therefore someone who knows something about them to get tetchy with "annoying buyers" but you must appreciate that poor old joe public who is about to spend his life savings on something will naturally become quite worried when something about which they know nothing goes wrong? They don't have your wisdom to know "oh it's just x, y or z, don't worry, easy fixed..." I imagine you may feel the same when your computer or TV develops a fault and you have no idea why or whether it's likely to be expensive and /or terminal?

Iceweasel

In my opinion you need to make the selling dealer your first port of call.

I agree that he needs to be given a chance to fix it first.

Going to another well trusted garage for them to check it first is not the best way forward with this.

If they do the slightest thing to it you may well end up being told that the seller washes his hands of it as he didn't get to see it first.

Loads of folks come on here having had some even minor fault repaired and then seek the original seller to foot the bill.

There is a clear order of doing things with faults that develop - best stick to it.

If the seller can't fix it to your satisfaction, then by all means get someone else to look at it.

bigjl

mrsvanderkamp wrote: »

Well evidently the car DOES have a fault....all I'm saying is that I am very worried that my son has spent all his savings on a car that MAY not be fit for purpose....my original post asked for people's views and that is what I am getting. As stated initially, I was after some reassurance, it wasn't my intention to start a thread bashing secondhand car sellers. In all honesty you are making me feel better in as much as no one perceives the seller to have been underhand which is really what I wanted to hear..

It's all well and good as a seller of cars and therefore someone who knows something about them to get tetchy with "annoying buyers" but you must appreciate that poor old joe public who is about to spend his life savings on something will naturally become quite worried when something about which they know nothing goes wrong? They don't have your wisdom to know "oh it's just x, y or z, don't worry, easy fixed..." I imagine you may feel the same when your computer or TV develops a fault and you have no idea why or whether it's likely to be expensive and /or terminal?

So you have had it diagnosed.

What did the garage smart was the problem? What did the seller say he would do about it?

bigjl

s_b wrote: »

unfortunately autotrader have lost the plot since they sold out to the suits last year
their days are numbered unfortunately and good because they just treat us dealers as spawn

The thing is where does that leave you?

Does Exchange & Mary even exist anymore?

Gumtree? Probably similar to Loot back in the day.

Is eBay the only option?

mrsvanderkamp_2

bigjl wrote: »

So you have had it diagnosed.

What did the garage smart was the problem? What did the seller say he would do about it?

No, I haven't had it diagnosed....what I mean is that a car with the engine management light illuminated surely means there is a fault somewhere? I had already planned to take it to the garage after the bank holiday to get the cambelt done so whilst it is there (and before I potentially waste money on the cambelt ) I will ask the mechanic to give it a once over and to diagnose the fault. At that point I will be better able to establish whether it was simply bad luck that the issue arose so soon after purchase, in which case I would not expect the seller to foot the bill, or whether the car has a catalogue of issues, which may mean that I need to contact the seller as obviously I bought the car on the basis that it was (reasonably) sound and did not require major repair works to make it safe to drive.

s_b

as i advised
you get selling dealer to suggest you go to local garage or return to base
third parties muddy the waters

Iceweasel

I can only repeat that if you take it to another garage/dealer - (even for unrelated work such as a cam-belt) - before you at least speak to the seller, then your claim for the engine warning light or anything else for that matter against the original seller could go down the toilet.

bigjl

A £10 OBD dongle off eBay and an App like Torque or similar to read the codes makes more sense than going off on a tangent thinking you have a dodgy car.

Sensors fail, there is nothing anybody can do about it, not the buyer, not the seller. The MIL is on, the car runs rough so has likely gone into a get you home mode of some sort as it is not getting some of the data it needs to work correctly.

The seller will almost certainly have access to an OBD reader or have a usual goo to mechanic that will look at it for him.

Or you could just assume the dealer is a criminal....