Will apple fix my (2nd hand) iMac defective GPU.

Jimmy_Boy

So... recently purchased an iMac 27" Mid 2011 Core i7 3.4Ghz with 6970M 2GB GPU from eBay for a good price. Just five days after buying it, it died on me. The boot screen went blue then no further, and subsequent retries the boot screen is now green, then pixelates, goes white and then goes no further.

I now see this (can't post links, replace "x" with "t") :
hxtps://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203787

I think my mac could fall into this defect, but will Apple honour this for a 2nd hand machine, or is it only available to the original purchaser?

(I know it could be argued I should take it up with the ebay seller, but too much time has passed now, and he did say there was a potential gpu issue as he had it freeze on him a couple times, but this was in a hot office rendering for days on end. So I decided to take a gamble and it didn't pay off, so I take responsibility for that)

Neil_Jones

Probably not if truth be told. As a general rule of thumb any warranty is for the original purchaser only, it quite often says this in the documentation with most new devices when you buy them.

You can contact them and see what they say but if I'm perfectly honest, it may involve the words "away" and "go", not in that particular order.

Fightsback

Don't tell them it was second hand (or third hand), it was a gift from a deceased relative.

Jimmy_Boy

Thanks.

The thing that made me think it MAY be possible is because of a situation a friend had a while ago, albeit a completely different item, I thought the principle may apply.

He purchased a BMW E46 (he was 4th owner), the arches started to rust and he took it to BMW who replaced and sprayed the wings free of charge due to this 'defect'.

datostar

Apple Care is definitely transferrable to a new buyer so if the original purchaser took that out and it's still within time (3 yrs) you should be covered. Click on the Apple logo top left, go to 'About this Mac' then the 'support' tab and check the status. Even if not it's worth checking with Apple. Apparently they'll sometimes take in the old machine and offer a deal on a refurb.

bod1467

Given the OP says "mid 2011" then I doubt Apple Care will still be in force.

theonlywayisup

Op, it is always worth going back to the seller, especially if they are a business, they may help.

Alternatively, book an Apple appointment online and go in for a quote. I've taken stuff in that has been outside of Applecare and they've repaired free of charge (I am the original purchaser).

Edit - in fact having now read your link, I would definitely book the appointment and take it from there. You don't get charged for simply taking it in for evaluation. They generally extend their timescales to cover 6 years IME.

Jimmy_Boy

datostar wrote: »

AClick on the Apple logo top left, go to 'About this Mac' then the 'support' tab and check the status.

Cant do that as machine won't boot. Was reading through some of the legal literature on the apple website applicable to UK law and it did mention something about a 6 year cover for items (outside of apples own AppleCare.)

I'll try and book an appointment of sorts.

How forthcoming with the truth should I be? Should I make no mention on me being the 2nd owner, or should I say straight away that I am the 2nd owner ?

Thanks for the advice so far.

Haffiana

I have taken in Macs and iPhones into the Apple store for other people. They are not in the slightest interested in who the machine belongs to or who bought it. They can tell its warranty status from the serial No. If it is entitled to a free repair they will repair it. If it isn't, they will tell you how much it will cost to fix it.

Chino

Jimmy_Boy wrote: »

Should I make no mention on me being the 2nd owner, or should I say straight away that I am the 2nd owner ?

Unless you're asked outright, why say anything about the machine's past ownership?

You might be asked when the machine was first purchased ("Apple will replace the video card free of charge for four years after the first retail sale of the computer."), so you might want to think about having a ready (if approximate) answer to that question.

almillar

If you're sure that your serial number matches this replacement programme, you're fine. This has nothing to do with AppleCare or anything, this is Apple admitting to a part fault - just book an appointment at the Genius bar and take your computer down there. They'll test it (not switching on being a GOOD thing in this instance!) and if it fails they'll accept it and repair it. I've had similar done on my MacBook Pro (which I bought off eBay in 2011) twice.