Consumer rights on used cars?

davidwood681

Did your mechanic imply the dealers mechanic must have known about the gearbox as it had been ''festering for a while'' yet missed the piston ring and cat problems when you let him inspect it lol

GunJack

Check out the Bangernomcs thread on here...it's long, but well worth a read, especially the last couple of year's-worth. It'll give you a good idea of what's possible (to go along with your OH's experence of his Pug

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3803929/your-bangernomics-successes&page=73

AdrianC

murtle1981 wrote: »

Bought myself a lovely VW Polo, 03 plate
Got it home, everything fine. Car was immaculate and never missed a beat.

That's about the upper bound of what's reasonable to expect from a 15yo car.

However 3 weeks later a heard a thump from underneath then a light appeared on dash. Noticed a leak from somewhere underneath too.

So you hit something in the road... Then what light?

So, with me having been offered no warranty

Warranty wouldn't cover it anyway, if you did hit something.

and the car garage being a 2 hour drive away

Which you knew when you chose to buy from them...

I took it to the local mechanic.

You drove it...?

Anyway, at that point, the supplier can just put their hands up and walk away. Any legal rights require talking to them before letting other people work on it. From that point on, they can point to any of the other issues as being due to your mechanic's incompetence - or arising from the impact damage from whatever you hit.

needed a new cat converter as the old one was severly corroded- been like that a while to be in the state it was.

It's a 15yo car. Exhausts rot...

Under the consumer rughts act 2015, you as a consumer have the right to take a car back even a used one, if the car im question has been misrepresented at point of sale ie, faults have been present since the day of purchase or before, even underlying faults. You are also within your rights to ask for a refund, have it repaired or in some cases replaced. Its not up to the consumer to prove that the issues were present at the time of purchase, its up to the dealer to prove that they werent.
Woman at CAB said this applies to any car, no matter the age. As im still a consumer and the dealer is still a trader.
Is this right?

Kinda... The bit she forgot to mention is that everything is tempered by reasonable expectations for the age/price/apparent condition of the goods.

And those reasonable expectations are very low for a 15yo car.

Been arguing with a guy on a forum and he says its a load of crap and that Im deluded!

So you thought you'd try another bunch on another forum...?

alan_d

I've run many older / cheap cars most of my life.

Basic rules, some of which are covered above:

• Low mileage is worse than higher
• Service history is important, but a folder of receipts is far better than a few stamps in a book
• You'll generally get more car for your money buying privately
• Research the make / model you're interested in before going to view it, to know what common faults to look for
• If it's an engine with a cam belt, check the replacement interval and when it was last done. If due soon negotiate price and plan to change ASAP
• I prefer to view a car with a cold engine which hasn't yet been started that day - look for smoke on start-up and rattles. Often these disappear when warmed up.
• Where possible, try to buy with a long MOT, good tyre tread / condition and without 'minor' faults - on some cars a minor fault eg radio not working can cost loads to fix
• I'm generally wary of cars which have had loads of owners, especially in the last few years - it suggests that there may be intermittent expensive problems and rather than fix it gets sold on
• Things WILL go wrong - cars are complicated machines with loads of stuff that wears out. Put some money aside each month for maintenance

murtle1981

Tarambor wrote: »

Yes, yes it is bad. It is absolutely terrible. It means that car has only done around 5000 miles a year so has either done nothing but short journeys around town or spent lots of time stood or both. Neither are good for a car. Long time stood means things start to seize up, oil seals start to dry up, bearings lose the protective film of oil on them. Short journeys and town driving rapidly wear out a car. As you're finding out things like the exhaust rust faster because it never gets hot enough to evaporate the moisture in it, the engine suffers premature wear because the oil gets contaminated with petrol due to the car running pretty much mostly on cold start and the oil doesn't get hot enough to burn off the moisture in it so emulsifies and stops lubricating as well and because it hasn't gone far people don't feel the need to service it.

Low mileage cars should be avoided like the plague.

If you're going to buy a cheap older car you want to be looking at ones with at least 100,000-130,000 miles on that've been used and done regular long journeys, not 15 year old ones with 70k on which have spent most of their life doing the school run.

Im glad youve cleared this up for me!
Been having the same conversation with my so called "petrol head " friend. He says low mileage but i totally get where youre coming from. Like us, if we dont exercise we cease up right?

Looks like my post has been dissected well by another member ^^^^^
:doh::doh:. Sorry but im a new driver, dont know much about cars really (not many new drivers do!) so im not very mechanically minded. But theres no need for the snidy comments.(not you Tarambor)

Just to confirm, no i didnt hit something in the road. The road was perfectly clear. The thud i heard was the sound of my gear box dropping all its load on the road.
And the light that came on was something to do with the electrics. When put on diagnosis it was the brake switch?? But when the gear box was fixed, that light went off and i didnt have a problem with the brakes lights.

Ive been absolutely torn apart on the other forum 1) because of my tiny budget 2) because I know nothing about cars and need advice buying as i dont want to get stung again with a nail and 3) to ask advice on my rights after buying incase anything goes wrong.
All i got was insulted because i have less than 2k to spend on a car. Msde to feel inferior about my financial situation to the point where i sat and cried out of pure anger at how people can be so cruel. And also because yes, i do wish i had more money for a better car.
So i came on here and everyone else has given me sound advice but theres always 1 isnt there?
Its advice what I needed not my post pulling apart and made oyt to be all my fault. I know now i shouldnylt have rushed into buying the polo- we live and learn. But i havent got mummy and daddys credit card to finance a brand new motor for me. So anything i buy is goung to be old and inexpensive and a complete risk but theres no need to rip me apart!!!

alan_d

murtle1981 wrote: »

All i got was insulted because i have less than 2k to spend on a car.

I find that somewhat crazy. There are plenty of good cars to be had for under a grand - especially if you buy privately.
EG, I recently sold a 2004 Volvo V70 D5 on 256k miles for £875. I only sold it because I bought a rare special edition car from a friend cheaply.
I'd had it for many years and put most of those miles on it. The buyer understood the history, and had no concerns about the mileage, and has even started a thread on Pistonheads about it, it's proving to be just as reliable for him as it was for me.

murtle1981

alan_d wrote: »

I've run many older / cheap cars most of my life.

Basic rules, some of which are covered above:

• Low mileage is worse than higher
• Service history is important, but a folder of receipts is far better than a few stamps in a book
• You'll generally get more car for your money buying privately
• Research the make / model you're interested in before going to view it, to know what common faults to look for
• If it's an engine with a cam belt, check the replacement interval and when it was last done. If due soon negotiate price and plan to change ASAP
• I prefer to view a car with a cold engine which hasn't yet been started that day - look for smoke on start-up and rattles. Often these disappear when warmed up.
• Where possible, try to buy with a long MOT, good tyre tread / condition and without 'minor' faults - on some cars a minor fault eg radio not working can cost loads to fix
• I'm generally wary of cars which have had loads of owners, especially in the last few years - it suggests that there may be intermittent expensive problems and rather than fix it gets sold on
• Things WILL go wrong - cars are complicated machines with loads of stuff that wears out. Put some money aside each month for maintenance

Thanks Alan!
I do MoT checks (history) on every vehicle ive looked at.
Found a lovely micra, exemplary mot history, 8 months test, very few advisories in 15 years, all been rectified and not followed to the next test. Lady owner for past 8 years, one owner before from new. Lots of receipts. Its a petrol, 107k on clock. Any good? Oh it also has timing chaim rather than belt but i know what to listen out for when i go to view

alan_d

murtle1981 wrote: »

Thanks Alan!
I do MoT checks (history) on every vehicle ive looked at.
Found a lovely micra, exemplary mot history, 8 months test, very few advisories in 15 years, all been rectified and not followed to the next test. Lady owner for past 8 years, one owner before from new. Lots of receipts. Its a petrol, 107k on clock. Any good? Oh it also has timing chaim rather than belt but i know what to listen out for when i go to view

That sounds like it's worth a viewing, yes.

AdrianC

murtle1981 wrote: »

Just to confirm, no i didnt hit something in the road. The road was perfectly clear. The thud i heard was the sound of my gear box dropping all its load on the road.

Gearboxes don't just "drop their load".

Either they let go massively internally, in which case you are not driving another foot. Or they get damaged externally.

So anything i buy is goung to be old and inexpensive and a complete risk but theres no need to rip me apart!!!

Nobody's "ripping you apart" for driving an old, inexpensive car. You just need to set your expectations. It's a 15yo car. It's one big bill from death.

mollycat

murtle1981 wrote: »

Ive been absolutely torn apart on the other forum 1) because of my tiny budget 2) because I know nothing about cars and need advice buying as i dont want to get stung again with a nail and 3) to ask advice on my rights after buying incase anything goes wrong.
All i got was insulted because i have less than 2k to spend on a car. Msde to feel inferior about my financial situation to the point where i sat and cried out of pure anger at how people can be so cruel.

Don't get upset and don't take any heed of people who have no buisiness making you feel inferior

Tiny budgets are fine

I've been given cars for free from mates, (MOT failures/too old etc etc), bought them from the scrappy for £50, bought cars that old and unfashionable that no one else is interested; and I've done just fine over the years.

Never even nearly got close to spending £2K.

If you're going to fish in this end of the pond though, you do need to to know what you are looking for/at or take a friend along that does. (a friendly mechanic for beer money perhaps?)

Gumtree is my favourite place for bargain motors.

Loads of good advice in the posts above; persevere and you will find you get the hang of it, (you already are at an advantage to most people by now knowing ultra low mileage is a bad rather than good thing ).

Onwards and upwards.....