Help with used car bought - dealer being difficult with warranty

seville_2003

Hello,
I'm needing some help regarding a used car i purchased just under 3 weeks ago. I am a key worker and need the car to get to a from work, I realise I should have done more due diligence before buying the car and am regretting that now, so there is no need to remind me.
I bought the car in Manchester and drove it back to my home in Edinburgh, a few days after buying it the coolant light kept coming on, I took it into a garage and they said it just needed filled up and the cap was loose. A few days later the temperature light kept showing up after driving for a reasonable distance. I took it to a garage which specialises in my car this time and they immediately said the car has a faulty coolant fan causing the engine to overheat - so quite a serious issue. And it will cost about £300 for the part alone.

The car came with a 1 month mechanical warranty - I called the dealer immediately and right away he was trying to get his excuses in:
- If you were able to drive the car back to Edinburgh from Manchester it must have happened afterwards (my mechanic said this is nonsense because when you are driving on a motorway long distance this issue doesn't occur - the overheating happens when driving in a build up of traffic and slowly, he said it's clear its been a long term issue with the car)
-He also right away said - Oh mechanical warranty wouldn't cover that anyway, it only covers gearboxes etc (not sounding too sure)
Anyway he said he will contact the "warranty people" and get back to me....

I just really want some help as to were I stand and the best way to approach it when I speak to him again. 
He mentioned briefly about bringing the car back down and they could fix it - but I don't want to drive it all the way to Manchester to get someone dodgy repairing it. Ideally I would like to buy the parts myself and get it repaired in a trusted garage here which has checked the car. 

Do you think this is possible and how should I approach it.
Is it the case I'm entitled to a refund within 30 days of purchasing a used car if it is faulty and I can prove this?

And if so just tell them I'll be returning the car and expecting a refund if they cannot fix this issue for me?

Any help would be much appreciated, Thankyou

AdrianC

You've omitted perhaps the single most important piece of information. How much, how old, what? All your rights are tempered by reasonable expectations for used goods of that age/type/price. In short, would it be reasonable for the fan to have died if you'd had the car from new?

What does the warranty documentation say about what's covered and what's not?

£300 for a fan sounds way OTT. Labour is unlikely to be high, unless the car is something very odd, and even in the unlikely event that you can't find a far more reasonable new one, you can almost certainly source a good used one. But your symptoms don't sound like just the fan, anyway.

And, yes, you are required to return to the supplier. After all, you chose to buy from a distance.

The_Rainmaker

In the current climate I think you are going to struggle here.  You really should get the car back to him, but will he be trading in 6 months time?

I would get the car thoroughly checked over and if there were no other faults then I think (purely because of lockdown) to take it on the chin and have it fixed.  Anything else is going to take a lot of time plus petrol and travel to sort, do you want to deal with all that hassle?

What car is it and what age?

seville_2003

sorry, it's a audi, the car is 10 years old. I noticed the issue the second day I had the car and got it checked immediately. The smell of coolant was there also. The mechanic who checked it said it was obvious this has been an issue which the car had before it was bought. 
£300 was to buy direct from the dealer which is currently closed. I realise I could get a cheaper on second hand. The point being though even if the car is 10 years old surely I should be covered by a mechanical warranty if it is overheating due to a faulty fan which has clearly been a lingering issue on the car.
All the warranty says is this : "1 month warranty given on mechanical faults from the date of sale"

seville_2003

The_Rainmaker said:

In the current climate I think you are going to struggle here.  You really should get the car back to him, but will he be trading in 6 months time?

I would get the car thoroughly checked over and if there were no other faults then I think (purely because of lockdown) to take it on the chin and have it fixed.  Anything else is going to take a lot of time plus petrol and travel to sort, do you want to deal with all that hassle?

What car is it and what age?

tbh you're right I may have to just to just take it on the chin. I was going to suggest me buying the parts and getting quotes to get it fixed. Whether the dealer would go with this I doubt it..

angrycrow

I am struggling to see how your mechanic can say the fault was present pre sale. Could you ask him to give you Fridays lottery numbers. 
What happened to the BMW 1 series you bought 4 weeks ago.

You have three choices return the car to Manchester for repair, you will be responsible for transport costs. Return the car to Manchester and reject it, you will be responsible for transport costs and you will have to find a new car. Take it as a life lesson not to buy older prestige cars with expensive matainance costs and have the fan replaced locally. An aftermarket fan will be much cheaper than the main dealer option and is likely to be available immediately. 

EdGasketTheSecond

angrycrow said:

I am struggling to see how your mechanic can say the fault was present pre sale.

You can tell from dried coolant marks all around the expansion tank where it has overflowed in previous overheating episodes.

I hope the fan was tested properly by wiring directly to the battery? When I had overheating issue on a car I bought it was a combination of incorrectly plugged connectors, a blown thermal fuse, and a mismatch between the ecu and the coolant sensor; the fan and relays were the only bits that worked fine (but you had to directly connect 12v to it to find that out).

seville_2003

EdGasketTheSecond said:

angrycrow said:

I am struggling to see how your mechanic can say the fault was present pre sale.

You can tell from dried coolant marks all around the expansion tank where it has overflowed in previous overheating episodes.

I hope the fan was tested properly by wiring directly to the battery? When I had overheating issue on a car I bought it was a combination of incorrectly plugged connectors, a blown thermal fuse, and a mismatch between the ecu and the coolant sensor; the fan and relays were the only bits that worked fine (but you had to directly connect 12v to it to find that out).

this is exactly what the mechanic said, large amounts of dried coolant marks, also the smell. And it was a garage which specialises in this type of car and is pretty well respected, so I do trust their opinion.

born_again

seville_2003 said:

sorry, it's a audi, The point being though even if the car is 10 years old surely I should be covered by a mechanical warranty if it is overheating due to a faulty fan which has clearly been a lingering issue on the car.
All the warranty says is this : "1 month warranty given on mechanical faults from the date of sale"

 It is one the dealer is providing off his own back at a guess. Not even one of the "waste of £xxx ones"
They are like a chocolate fireguard.