Bought a used car 2 months ago, now the dual mass flywheels faulty!

MyNamesJakeee

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could help me on the issue ive experienced lately with my 2007 BMW 520d (60,000 miles).

I bought the car a little over two months ago (14/05/16) from a local car dealership for £6,500. Its been a brilliant car until recently a tapping/vibrating noise started coming from when i depressed the clutch to around half way while in neutral.

I returned the car today to the dealership who got his mechanic to have a quick look over it. He came to the conclusion that the Dual Mass Flywheel has become faulty and is causing the noise. I then asked what he was going to do about it concidering I had only owned the car around two months and had only put around 1000 motorway miles on it.
He straight away told me that he doesnt cover any issues in relation to 'wear and tear' and that the flywheel is a wear and tear component. I understand that a car of 100,000+/- miles may experience problems such as DMF and clutch failure, but on a BMW with only 60,000 miles on the clock, I believe it is a completely unreasonable 'fair use' time period.
I payed £6,500 for this car and would expect to have no major fault (other than brakes, tyres etc) only two months into owning the car.

I have contacted the Citizens Advice Beauru and they have advised that this I have a leg to stand on as it is not of 'satisfactory quality' and that I am entitled to a repair.

All i want it the car to be repaired, and for me not to foot the bill of around £1,100 to rectify the problem.

Could someone advise me on what to do next, and if you think I will end up having to pay for the repair or is the dealer liable.

I took it to two independant garages as the dealers contact who he uses for repairs is not avaiable for another week to even inspect the car.

I dont want to drive the car incase it causes further damage, so I was wondering if i payed to get the repair done, could i later claim it in court. I believe this will end up going to court anyway due to the attitude of the salesman.

All help is very much appreciated!

Many thanks
Jake

ps
Also forgot to mention that it has full service history and has been well looked after by the looks of things, this just seems an unlucky thing to happen

AdrianC

Yep, it is an unlucky thing to happen.

But he's absolutely right in saying that no warranty in the world will cover wear and tear on a 60k, 9yo car. And a DMF failure after 9yrs and 60k is wear and tear.

Your consumer rights - for any used product - also allow for reasonable wear and tear. The fact you've had two months use before the symptoms became clear would suggest that the fault was not pre-existing. In any event, if he stands his ground, your recourse would be through the courts.

forgotmyname

You can make a court claim but will you win? For a start it has not failed, its worn. The clutch and flywheel still work and may do for many miles yet.

Sister ignored hers rattling for a long time and killed 2 or 3 starter motors because of it.

60k is low but it depends on the driving style, it may have done 60k of constant stop/start heavy city traffic, crawl 1 car length and stop, repeat.

The clutch may have been used more times than a car with 300k miles on the clock.

Its not unlucky its wear and tear.

bigadaj

In many ways mileage is nowhere near as important as people think, it might be more accurate to have a dial recording engine hours like tractors and plant have.

bengalknights

As others state on a car of this age it is wear and tear and not a fault you could try the courts but they would probably consider it the same.

Had it been a brand new vehicle with 6000 miles you probably would have got it covered by the garage.

MyNamesJakeee

My argument would be that the problem was there when he sold me the car and that he sold it to me in a condition deemed as unsatisfactory quality. The SOGA states that they must provide proof that the problem was not there at the point of sale which is impossible.

So do you think ive a leg to stand on or cut my losses.

Thanks again

wba31

MyNamesJakeee wrote: »

My argument would be that the problem was there when he sold me the car and that he sold it to me in a condition deemed as unsatisfactory quality. The SOGA states that they must provide proof that the problem was not there at the point of sale which is impossible.

So do you think ive a leg to stand on or cut my losses.

Thanks again

But was the problem there when you bought it? did you notice the issue when you test drove the vehicle? You chose to purchase the vehicle in the condition in which it was offered.

Personally think cut your losses and just get it sorted. I had clutch and DMF replaced through A1 Clutches on my Civic for £700 in Feb, if you're near the Midlands I recommend them as they offered a 2 year warranty on clutch and 1 year on flywheel as part of service...

foxy-stoat

MyNamesJakeee wrote: »

My argument would be that the problem was there when he sold me the car and that he sold it to me in a condition deemed as unsatisfactory quality. The SOGA states that they must provide proof that the problem was not there at the point of sale which is impossible.

So do you think ive a leg to stand on or cut my losses.

Thanks again

If it wasnt making noises on day one or two of the purchase then you have a leg to stand on - you could of gone back....but 2 months down the line its started to make noises after you have driven it for 1000 miles, best you have hope for is goodwill.

Look at it this way, if it started to make noises after driving it 10,000 miles after a years ownership you would be paying for the repair without trying to go back to the dealer - so if it hadnt started making noises today it would of done at some point in the future - worse case is that you will have to pay for the repair a little sooner.

Its a 9 year old diesel thats only covered 6500 miles a year - not good for a modern diesel engine.

It will probably continue to drive fine for another year+ so I would save for the repair and keep driving it.

BeenThroughItAll

MyNamesJakeee wrote: »

My argument would be that the problem was there when he sold me the car and that he sold it to me in a condition deemed as unsatisfactory quality. The SOGA states that they must provide proof that the problem was not there at the point of sale which is impossible.

So do you think ive a leg to stand on or cut my losses.

Thanks again

The point is, this is not a 'problem' insomuch as it is a faulty part - it is simply a worn out part.


If you'd bought a car and a fuse blew, or a tyre wore down, then you'd have no recourse under warranty. Things wear out - there is no warranty in the world which will cover the natural process of wearing out.


DMF failure can happen at any time, depending on usage and driving style. My wife's 34,000mi Saab cabriolet needed its DMF replacing when we bought it, as I could feel through the pedal it was exhibiting movement between the masses. I've come across lower mileage vehicles with duff DMFs too - cars that are repeatedly used in start/stop traffic, or those that are repeatedly started and restarted are particularly susceptible.


A huge amount of DMF stress is caused on startup and shutdown of the engine, so get yours replaced and then to give it its best shot of long-term survival, start and stop the car with the clutch pedal depressed.

Retrogamer

Sounds like the DMF has just started to display signs of wear but hasn't actually failed as such. My last car was an Ibiza FR TDi which had 97k on it when i got it and a slight wobble at idle from the DMF. I sold the car over 2 years later with 123k miles on it and it still had the same worn DMF.

bigjl

You can ruin a DMF fairly quickly.

Starting the engine without depressing the clutch for example or keeping the car in too high a gear at low revs causing the DMF to overheat.

I doubt you have much of a case as it's an old car and a DMF is a wear and tear item like a clutch or brakes as has already been mentioned above.

At least a clutch and DMF change is a bit simpler on a RWD car.