Diesel car sold to me as petrol car

neilmcl

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Disagree, you had the car a week and did not realise it was a diesel. Surly the diesel clatter, possible a label on or inside the filler cap, as the rest as already stated above.

Doesn't matter how long they've owned the car for. If the car was clearly advertised and sold as a petrol car and it isn't then it's clearly not as described and the OP will be covered by their statutory consumer rights and will be entitled to a refund.

spadoosh

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Erm, the OP said that the car "conked out on the motorway" and went on to say they were "needlessly put in a dangerous situation".


They're right. Breaking down on a motorway is, indeed, a dangerous situation.

tho wrote: »

You described a break down as not dangerous, just inconvenient. If it's on your drive I agree. The hard shoulder of a motorway on the other hand is one of the most dangerous places you can be, never mind if it conks out in the fast lane.

Mercdriver wrote: »

Think about it. You are driving in the right hand lane overtaking two lanes of traffic and your engine cuts out. Is that not a dangerous situation?

Think about dangers that exist outside the Cambridgeshire jungle before you try to lecture others about driving and risks.

I do agree with you however on the overuse of the "What if my toddler/baby/dog/kittens/nuns was/were with me.

Danger is the possibility of suffering harm or injury. The chances of suffering harm or injury from breaking down on the motorway is quite small. Therefore i think there is a risk of danger but the act in itself is not dangerous.

Its a bit like saying riding a bike is dangerous. Or simply driving a car is dangerous. Or we shouldnt have plug sockets becuase they are dangerous.

Tammykitty

For those of you saying you should know by the letters on the car - not everyone is that clued up about cars.


For some people cars are about getting from A to B, not about what's under the bonnet, and how powerful it is etc.


I remember doing an accountancy exam where there was a question about company car tax, and it listed the car a Volkswagen Passat TDI (or something similar), and the fact that it was Diesel was meant to be taken into consideration when answering the question.
However lots of people didn't know the TDI label meant it was diesel and treated it as petrol.


The exam board stated that the question should have been more explicit and to award full points for either petrol or Diesel answers as its unfair to expect people to understand the "badges" of cars
The common person on the street does not necessarily understand badges


They also don't necessarily know the sounds of an engine, especially in a new car.


I have just bought a diesel and even though my last car was a diesel it has a completely different sound.

DoaM

Merc ... I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. OP thought they were buying a Petrol and wanted a Petrol, and all the paperwork said Petrol. They ended up with a Diesel.

Wow - did I really take that long to respond? My reply is with respect to post #28.

silverwhistle

Herzlos wrote: »

We're certainly being a bit harsh on the guy here. If it's his first car sale, from a large chain dealer, he's presumably expecting some level of competence / professionalism that doesn't exist.

Yes, if he was buying from a small back street dealer you might expect more care needed.

At least the OP and the dealer have both accepted they've dropped a bit of a clanger. This board gives less sympathy to those who don't seem to accept their own responsibility, and there's been a lot of those recently.

What is interesting is that being diesel used to be a plus point and they'd cost more. Perhaps this is all a reflection of changing public perceptions on diesel. It would be good to know where the confusion arose in this case..

Mercdriver

DoaM wrote: »

Merc ... I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. OP thought they were buying a Petrol and wanted a Petrol, and all the paperwork said Petrol. They ended up with a Diesel.

Wow - did I really take that long to respond? My reply is with respect to post #28.

No, I know that's what he was saying, but OP stated he was chalking it down to experience. That suggested to me that he is accepting a fix by the dealer. That's his perogative. I was suggesting that he look at his mileage and possibly be more demanding for what he was initially looking for - a petrol if a diesel isn't suitable for his driving style and mileage.

motorguy

pete9804 wrote: »

I've learned two things today: (1) it seems you always need to do more due diligence than you think, possibly even than you are aware of and (2) never admit to human frailty on the internet!!

Yup. Sounds about right. When making a sizeable financial purchase its generally best not to "assume" anything and do your due diligence.

I guess its perfectly reasonable that whilst the salesperson knew it was a diesel unless the subject came up that you were expecting a petrol car (as per the advert) then it wouldnt have been flagged on their part.

They've accepted responsibility and resolved the issue though so all good. Lesson learned on both sides i'd imagine.

pete9804

Beenthrough:
Good for you. You didn't suggest that all the pre-sales information you received stated otherwise though, so not exactly the same; although "due diligence" lesson is the same of course. I edited my post to be less snarky; too late it appears.

And please don't assume you can read people's inner motivations and thoughts ("seduced by shininess") - I did plenty of research on the type of car I wanted, just fell at the final hurdle of not assuming basic information provided prior to sale was incorrect.

pete9804

To clarify, the car will be being refunded and I'll remain on the hunt for a petrol one.

With regard to providing all the pertinent facts up front; the problem people have when they get into difficulties like I have done, is that they *don't know* what the pertinent facts might be (like how I didn't check under the bonnet to confirm the fuel type!!) - otherwise we probably wouldn't have got into that trouble in the first place!

Sure, to provide advice people need details but it's very easy to ask for various clarifications in a *polite way* rather than some "well how about this you moron??" interrogatory list of this that and the other.

DoaM

Mercdriver wrote: »

No, I know that's what he was saying, but OP stated he was chalking it down to experience. That suggested to me that he is accepting a fix by the dealer. That's his perogative. I was suggesting that he look at his mileage and possibly be more demanding for what he was initially looking for - a petrol if a diesel isn't suitable for his driving style and mileage.

Gotcha ... it didn't read that way to me.