Car bought from a dealer developing a fault

severity

Hi everyone, and happy holidays.

On 18th of July I bought a used car (59 plate Audi A3 1.9TDIe Sportback) from a dealer. Paid 200 on a credit card, 3500 by bank transfer. Great condition, but clocked at just shy over 120k miles. Pricey, but I thought it wasn't too bad considering the general condition of the car was pretty much flawless, plus it came with 9 months warranty. At the time I didn't know that they might as well offer 10 years, since it's pretty much unusable.

Fast forward to the end of December, and the car has some issues which are unnerving. There's some intermittent rattling from the front when I'm going really slow in first or second gear (when the car just drives by itself, without pressing the accelerator). Happens mostly when going downhill or uphill, this seems to trigger the rattle the most. Pressing the accelerator either removes the rattle, or drowns it in noise.

On top of that, I've also had three occasions when I'm slowing into first gear that it for whatever reason becomes impossible to actually "slot" the gear in, as if it's blocked, leaving me in situations where I actually had to go to second gear, immediately back to neutral and then first gear to actually continue driving. On that note, the first and second gear in general feel "notched", where there seems to be some small resistance to put the car in those gear. Funnily enough, if I go to first gear, I will have this "notched", "not smooth" feeling. However, if I do that, but keep pressing the clutch, go to neutral, I can then go to any gear smoothly, without any issues. I don't know what that is about, but I'm sure it's not normal

As there's warranty on the car, I wanted to use it, only to find out that even though they've sold me the car with warranty, the company (AU warranties) does not cover cars which have more than 120000 miles, and the car had a bit more than that when it was purchased. Of course, the dealer washes their hands away from me.

Do I have any rights here, or is it business as usual, and I've simply been taken for an expensive ride? Either via credit card, or the 6 months protection by consumer rights because I bought the car from a dealer?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your time and comments!

Shaun_of_the_Dead

severity wrote: »

Hi everyone, and happy holidays.

On 18th of July I bought a used car (59 plate Audi A3 1.9TDIe Sportback) from a dealer. Paid 200 on a credit card, 3500 by bank transfer. Great condition, but clocked at just shy over 120k miles. Pricey, but I thought it wasn't too bad considering the general condition of the car was pretty much flawless, plus it came with 9 months warranty. At the time I didn't know that they might as well offer 10 years, since it's pretty much unusable.

Fast forward to the end of December, and the car has some issues which are unnerving. There's some intermittent rattling from the front when I'm going really slow in first or second gear (when the car just drives by itself, without pressing the accelerator). Happens mostly when going downhill or uphill, this seems to trigger the rattle the most. Pressing the accelerator either removes the rattle, or drowns it in noise.

On top of that, I've also had three occasions when I'm slowing into first gear that it for whatever reason becomes impossible to actually "slot" the gear in, as if it's blocked, leaving me in situations where I actually had to go to second gear, immediately back to neutral and then first gear to actually continue driving. On that note, the first and second gear in general feel "notched", where there seems to be some small resistance to put the car in those gear. Funnily enough, if I go to first gear, I will have this "notched", "not smooth" feeling. However, if I do that, but keep pressing the clutch, go to neutral, I can then go to any gear smoothly, without any issues. I don't know what that is about, but I'm sure it's not normal

As there's warranty on the car, I wanted to use it, only to find out that even though they've sold me the car with warranty, the company (AU warranties) does not cover cars which have more than 120000 miles, and the car had a bit more than that when it was purchased. Of course, the dealer washes their hands away from me.

Do I have any rights here, or is it business as usual, and I've simply been taken for an expensive ride? Either via credit card, or the 6 months protection by consumer rights because I bought the car from a dealer?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your time and comments!

When did the fault develop?

I'm not sure why you need to select 1st gear while the car is moving.

foxy-stoat

Rattling is probably an exhaust heat shield.....as for trying to shift it into first while moving, doubt any warranty or goodwill will cover that.

Have you had it up on ramps or has a mechanic looked at it?

Notchy gear changes either sycros or clutch related - also useless trying to claim on any warranty at this level.

severity

Sorry, badly written. I don't go into first gear while moving, where this happened to me was on the slip road which gets busy, so I have to slow down to a stop, and then move when there's an opening, hence going into first gear which then refused to engage.

To answer other questions: the rattling developed about a month ago, and the dodgy gears about 20 days ago.

I haven't had it at a mechanic, as the dealer was my first port of call.

AdrianC

severity wrote: »

On 18th of July I bought a used car (59 plate Audi A3 1.9TDIe Sportback) from a dealer. Paid 200 on a credit card, 3500 by bank transfer. Great condition, but clocked at just shy over 120k miles.

Ten year old car, fairly hefty mileage and lowish price, damn near six months since you bought it.

Pricey, but I thought it wasn't too bad considering the general condition of the car was pretty much flawless, plus it came with 9 months warranty. At the time I didn't know that they might as well offer 10 years, since it's pretty much unusable.
...
As there's warranty on the car, I wanted to use it, only to find out that even though they've sold me the car with warranty, the company (AU warranties) does not cover cars which have more than 120000 miles, and the car had a bit more than that when it was purchased. Of course, the dealer washes their hands away from me.

I suspect the warranty is a blanket thing for all their stock. As your car is higher mileage than the warranty company will cover, you got no warranty.

The time to check such things is before purchase.

Even if your car had been eligible, the maximum claim on their "standard" warranty is £500, and the list of items covered is unlikely to sort your particular issues.
https://www.auwarranties.co.uk/images/AU%20Warranties%20Standard%20-%20New%20Edition%2026_07_2018.pdf

...or the 6 months protection by consumer rights because I bought the car from a dealer?

It really isn't that simple or blanket.
Your rights for used goods are tempered by reasonable expectations for goods of that age, price and apparent condition.

So the question is whether a bit of a rattle and a slight balk in certain gearchanges is reasonable to expect from a 10yo, 120k car for which you paid at most 15% of the price of a new equivalent...? Remember, the average age of a car in the UK when scrapped is just under 14yrs.

Six months simply changes the onus for proving the issues were there at the time of purchase. Before that time, the supplier has to prove they weren't. After that time, the customer has to prove they were. You're on the cusp, with issues that you acknowledge weren't there when you purchased but have developed recently.

loskie

could just be the gear selector linkage worn, dirty, loose and a simple fix.
Not a particularly old or high miles car but could also be time for a new clutch, that wouldn't be covered by many or any warranties even on a new car it is limited.
take it to a local independent VAG specialist and get them to look at it.
You may be worrying over nothing, old cars need mending and maintenance.