Used Car problems soon after purchase

Mark12380

I hope you can help me...

This week I purchased a second hand car from an used car dealer here in Northern Ireland who had a history of good reviews on facebook / google and is a genuinely nice bloke.

There is a 3 month, 3000 mile warranty on all purchases.

The car was nothing fancy, a 9 year old Mazda 2 with 66k on the clock, just a wee runabout. I done alot of research and am happy I paid a reasonable sum for the vehicle.

However, the day after purchase I noticed an obvious clunking sound from the rear drivers side when going over speed bumps. Thinking this was a suspension problem I felt around the spring and it broke as soon as I touched it. I've contacted the dealer by email and advised him of the fault . He advised a broken spring can happen at anytime and he doesn't feel he is at fault. I told him that I felt that the presale checks on the car should have identified this as a problem (the presale checks were part of the car ad). The dealer is of the view that this is not something an inspection could have picked up, but with the spring in such poor condition, I disagreed.

I've got a price from a local garage to repair the car and the dealer has agreed to reimburse me the cost of the repair. I've emailed him saying that if the garage finds anymore faults with the vehicle, that I would be returning it. This, oddly, seems to have upset him despite it being the correct legal position?? But in the circumstances, where I have had a problem with the car so soon after purchase, I feel this is reasonable approach.

When I purchased the car be told me he would post the second key out to me, but in a recent call, suggested their might be a possibility that there is no second key. I told him this would be an issue as I wouldn't have bought the car if I was only getting one key. He said that if he said he would post me a second key, there must be one and he would get back to me. I'm now fully aware this may be another issue with the car...

Things got pretty heated in our most recent conversation, it seems we are both convinced the other person is wrong.

In short, if my local mechanic fixes the car and says it's in a reasonable condition for it age, I'm happy to leave it at that on the assumption that the dealer reimburses me and the second key turns up. However, if the mechanic finds other faults with the car or there is no second key, I would be inclined to return the car. Would I be on good ground legally?

Is a broken spring something that could /should have been picked by by the dealer before the vehicle was sold to me? The dealer told me the key would be posted out, but if there isn't one can I argue that the car is unsuitable, or not as described by the seller?

This seller has a good reputation and has won awards in the past, and it seems like what has happened is unusual for him. Despite all that has gone on, I'm confident he didn't intentionally mislead me but rather seems to have made genuine mistakes when selling this car to me.

The vehicle is going in for repairs on Tuesday so can update you then....

Hope you can help.....

DUTR

What about YOUR pre inspection checks?
Yes your following statement to the dealer does appear initially that ideally you want to reject the car and the fight that goes with it.

loskie

OP why is this posted twice?

motorguy

Mark12380 wrote: »

I hope you can help me...

This week I purchased a second hand car from an used car dealer here in Northern Ireland who had a history of good reviews on facebook / google and is a genuinely nice bloke.

There is a 3 month, 3000 mile warranty on all purchases.

The car was nothing fancy, a 9 year old Mazda 2 with 66k on the clock, just a wee runabout. I done alot of research and am happy I paid a reasonable sum for the vehicle.

However, the day after purchase I noticed an obvious clunking sound from the rear drivers side when going over speed bumps. Thinking this was a suspension problem I felt around the spring and it broke as soon as I touched it. I've contacted the dealer by email and advised him of the fault . He advised a broken spring can happen at anytime and he doesn't feel he is at fault. I told him that I felt that the presale checks on the car should have identified this as a problem (the presale checks were part of the car ad). The dealer is of the view that this is not something an inspection could have picked up, but with the spring in such poor condition, I disagreed.

I've got a price from a local garage to repair the car and the dealer has agreed to reimburse me the cost of the repair. I've emailed him saying that if the garage finds anymore faults with the vehicle, that I would be returning it. This, oddly, seems to have upset him despite it being the correct legal position?? But in the circumstances, where I have had a problem with the car so soon after purchase, I feel this is reasonable approach.

When I purchased the car be told me he would post the second key out to me, but in a recent call, suggested their might be a possibility that there is no second key. I told him this would be an issue as I wouldn't have bought the car if I was only getting one key. He said that if he said he would post me a second key, there must be one and he would get back to me. I'm now fully aware this may be another issue with the car...

Things got pretty heated in our most recent conversation, it seems we are both convinced the other person is wrong.

In short, if my local mechanic fixes the car and says it's in a reasonable condition for it age, I'm happy to leave it at that on the assumption that the dealer reimburses me and the second key turns up. However, if the mechanic finds other faults with the car or there is no second key, I would be inclined to return the car. Would I be on good ground legally?

Is a broken spring something that could /should have been picked by by the dealer before the vehicle was sold to me? The dealer told me the key would be posted out, but if there isn't one can I argue that the car is unsuitable, or not as described by the seller?

This seller has a good reputation and has won awards in the past, and it seems like what has happened is unusual for him. Despite all that has gone on, I'm confident he didn't intentionally mislead me but rather seems to have made genuine mistakes when selling this car to me.

The vehicle is going in for repairs on Tuesday so can update you then....

Hope you can help.....

I think you are being unreasonable. Its an old car, springs CAN break at any time. Springs either work, or they are broken. No dealer is going to replace a spring that "looks" old, as they will all look old.

And your going over speed bumps could have broken it.

And yes, your mechanic will find issues - its his job to and most will then do lots of sucking through their teeth and try to put the fear of god in to you.

Its a 9 year old car, so you need to adopt a pragmatic approach to this. No car of this age will be perfect.

Oh and the time to get it inspected was BEFORE not AFTER you've bought it.

motorguy

Top lurking by the O/P mind you - 12 years from registering to posting.

Mark12380

Thanks for the replies and sorry for posting twice�� Long time member, first time poster and all that...

The suspension issue is pretty much sorted, he has agreed to reimburse me for the cost of repairs as per the warranty. As I said in the post, if the car is in reasonable condition for its age, that's fine. I'm not expecting a 9 year old car to not have issues. I'm only going to take it further if something serious or dangerous is found and I know that's unlikely... I'm certainly not trying to cause any trouble.

I've known my mechanic for a long time, he won't be interested in finding faults which aren't there. Even if he did, the dealer's own mechanic would want to look at to confirm these and I'm not interested in going down that road at all.

This issue is more now about the second key and if it doesn't turn up..

motorguy

Mark12380 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies and sorry for posting twice�� Long time member, first time poster and all that...

The suspension issue is pretty much sorted, he has agreed to reimburse me for the cost of repairs as per the warranty. As I said in the post, if the car is in reasonable condition for its age, that's fine. I'm not expecting a 9 year old car to not have issues. I'm only going to take it further if something serious or dangerous is found and I know that's unlikely... I'm certainly not trying to cause any trouble.

I've known my mechanic for a long time, he won't be interested in finding faults which aren't there. Even if he did, the dealer's own mechanic would want to look at to confirm these and I'm not interested in going down that road at all.

This issue is more now about the second key and if it doesn't turn up..

I think if you know and trust the mechanic enough to give you an objective view then great, and you're taking a pragmatic approach RE: only pursuing an issue if theres something serious or dangerous.

My personal experience RE: second keys are unless they are there at the time of sale and / or have it in writing from the seller they are going to get you one, chances are you wont get it.

loskie

My post from earlier on brought over from your closed thread:


you are being totally unreasonable, it's an old car there will be faults. The dealer has done the right thing by agreeing to cover the broken spring.

fred246

A 9 year old car with 66k on the clock has only just been run in. My cars are in perfect condition at that age with no faults whatsoever. I do service them myself though which makes a massive difference.

Mark12380

Hi

Thanks for the reply, as above, I'll only be returning the car if there is a serious or dangerous problem, I don't think this is unreasonable??

I'll not be looking to cause any trouble or be unreasonable. Perhaps my post on the issue could have been worded better...

I agree that the dealer has done the right thing by replacing the spring, as it was under warranty anyway.

Hope this clarifies?

motorguy

fred246 wrote: »

A 9 year old car with 66k on the clock has only just been run in. My cars are in perfect condition at that age with no faults whatsoever. I do service them myself though which makes a massive difference.

As usual setting expectations at odds with reality.