what are my rights concerning a vehicle falsely described?

bex783

I bought a rover 416 on August 14th, the car was described as having a new head gasket and cam belt. Two weeks later the car has seized, due to head gasket failure! I have asked the woman for the reciepts for the work which she has none, but gave me the garage number where she had the work done. I have phoned the garage who convieniently knew all the details of the car they worked on 2years ago! (the woman phoned them as soon as i got off the phone to her). They say the car had a reconditioned head put on in January 06, would this be classed as new? Also i had another potential buyer call me this morning asking if i had bought it off of this certain lady, he informed me he had looked at the car before me and noticed a leak that she had tried to conceal, claiming she knew nothing about it and reffering back to the 'new head gasket'. I confronted her with this this morning and told her if she had been honest i may now have a car and not be out of pockect, her reply was, yes!
Is there anything I can do about it or is it just a lost cause

anewman

Unfortunately if it's a private sale I think you'll have a hard time getting anything back. It seems like this woman know's this. I would possibly consider pestering her a little for a refund, she may give in eventually to get rid of you.

Reconditioned heads are much cheaper than new one's. If reconditioned correctly and they have no cracks or warping they are pretty much as good as new cylinder heads at a much lower cost. As it had been replaced then it will have had a new head gasket at that time.

Unfortunately a head gasket is a time consuming job, and garages charge for time. One possibility if to try source a head gasket yourself from maybe ebay or elsewhere and ask for labour only charges on head gasket replacement.

Rave

If it's a K-series engine they are notorious for blowing head gaskets. There are several interrelated reasons why they do it, and if they're not all fixed at the same time then merely replacing the head and gasket is no guarantee that it won't blow again soon. It is entirely possible that the head was replaced in 2006 and has since gone again.

To effect a permanent fix, as I understand it, you need to make sure that
a) the liners are protruding from the block by the correct amount- this is crucial, but due to Rover cost cutting some engines were shipped with the liners flush or recessed
b) the replacement headgasket used is the latest type, with 5 or 6 layers (I forget exactly)
c) that the plastic dowels used to locate the head are replaced with steel ones.

If you want to keep the car and get it running, I'd recommending finding a specialist who's familiar with the problems and getting them to fix it properly, because once it's done the K-Series is a fine engine.

If the woman knew about the head gasket being faulty when she sold you the car and lied about it, then I guess she is guilty of misrepresentation. It'll be difficult to prove though, and I would guess that if she won't co-operate then you'd have to take her to the small claims court, with no guarantee of success (sorry, IANAL).

bex783

I didn't think there was much hope, I'll just have to keep pestering her. I can't do anything with the car as it has now seized, which is a shame because for the whole two weeks i had it, it seemed to be a good little runner! Thanks for your help

Rave

Well, I wouldn't have thought it would be that expensive to just get the engine swapped for another running one. K-Series powered cars must be ten-a-penny in breakers. Ask people you know to recommend a good independent local garage, and then go and speak to them. I guess whether or not it's worth swapping the engine depends on how much you paid for the car.

My sympathies BTW- both for being ripped off and for having a non-running car you don't know what to do about.