Car inspection with finance company

AdrianC

angrycrow wrote: »

Facade has made a good point about oil use and oil capacity. My Peugeot 207 would burn a litre of oil per 1000 miles, I did 1000 miles a month. With a sump capacity of 4.5 litres if I had not checked and topped up the oil for 4 months the engine would have gone bang. Smaller sump on the c1 could spell real issues if oil use is high.

3,000 miles without checking the oil level...?

1,000 miles/litre is towards the upper end of what's considered normal oil consumption by most manufacturers - many are 1,000km/litre.

Bigphil1474

If his car was serviced 3 weeks before it went, then that's the maximum since it was last checked (assuming a proper service). The OP didn't say it was low on oil or had no oil in it, he said the RAC man said "I had a oil leak in car which has made the oil spray out underneath onto engine causing a hole in engine" Doesn't sound like a minor oil leak that has gone unnoticed for months.
OP, see what the finance company say, and make sure you give them a copy of the service receipt. To be honest, not sure why you would buy a 10 year old car on finance anyway, but each to their own.

AdrianC

Indeed.

And that oil leak is absolutely not the dealer's responsibility if it was caused by impact damage from road debris.

If it wasn't, then it may be the dealer's responsibility - but it's going to be hard work to prove that. You'll need to prove the cause, you'll need to rebuff the supplier's claim that the issue was not present at the time of sale, and you'll need to demonstrate why it's not a reasonable issue to expect on a 10yo car.

SHAFT

fred246 wrote: »

There aren't many episodes of "can't pay we'll take it away" that don't feature them visiting a second hand car dealer who has lost in court. If I was a judge and I saw case of someone buying car that packs up in 2 months Vs dodgy second hand car dealer I would have made up my mind before I even met those involved. Even if you don't check the oil a car should last 2 months.

Good job you're not a judge then if subconscious bias trumps evidence.

fred246

Under the consumer rights act 2015 the onus is on the dealer to prove the car was OK when it was sold. The law assumes it was faulty when bought unless the dealer can convince the judge otherwise. If the car was full of oil and had no leaks it would be fine after 2 months.

SHAFT

fred246 wrote: »

Under the consumer rights act 2015 the onus is on the dealer to prove the car was OK when it was sold. The law assumes it was faulty when bought unless the dealer can convince the judge otherwise. If the car was full of oil and had no leaks it would be fine after 2 months.

You don't care what the law says as you said you'd side with the consumer based on a tv programme.

AdrianC

SHAFT wrote: »

You don't care what the law says as you said you'd side with the consumer based on a tv programme.

Let's face it, that's more solid reasoning than Fred usually manages.