Used car broken

Sarahf

Hi, after a bit of advice please. Bought a used car in March from a second hand dealer, had it a couple weeks and the springs went and although it was under warranty, this repair wasn't covered but as it was wear and tear we accepted and just put it down to experience. However yesterday I went to go to work (I am a key worker) and it started and cut out, I can not move it and it says gearbox fault. I have phoned the warranty company and they have said they can't tell me if its covered until the fault has been diagnosed which means getting it to a garage at my own expense (which may be reimbursed depending on if the fault is covered by the warranty). I am waiting on the owner of the sales garage coming back to me ( we travelled about an hour to get the car) as I have said that they need to fix it somehow for me but where do I stand if they refuse??
Sorry for the long post. Any help greatly appreciated.

AdrianC

Your breakdown cover should do the "getting it to the garage" bit.

How old a car are we talking about, what price, what apparent condition? The warranty is on top of your statutory rights, but those rights may not cover everything, depending on how old etc.

Sarahf

My breakdown cover doesn't cover as on my drive and only starts from 1/4 mile away from home. It's a 2009 x type sovereign, we paid £4495 for it and in good condition, apparently well looked after, full service history etc.

AdrianC

So your breakdown cover doesn't have "homestart"?

As far as statutory rights go - it's an 11yo car, 15% of new price... Not at all unreasonable to expect this kind of fault to pop up, and you'll be hard pushed to get anywhere beyond the warranty, I'm afraid. Sorry.

Ectophile

AdrianC said:

So your breakdown cover doesn't have "homestart"?

As far as statutory rights go - it's an 11yo car, 15% of new price... Not at all unreasonable to expect this kind of fault to pop up, and you'll be hard pushed to get anywhere beyond the warranty, I'm afraid. Sorry.

I know it's an old car, but a car that simply won't go anywhere two months after it's bought is hardly of merchantable quality.  You don't lose all your rights just because the thing you've bought is second-hand.

AdrianC

No, you don't. But those rights are tempered for reasonable expectations for used goods of that age, price and apparent quality.

So... if they'd had the car from new, would it be reasonable to expect that kind of fault to pop up at this age? Yes.

It's also clear that the fault wasn't present at the time of purchase - because the OP's been driving around in it for two months.

fred246

Sarahf you really need to read up the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You are now on the 30 days to 6 months section. If a defect is found after 30 days, but within six months, buyers are entitled to request a repair, replacement or refund. The law assumes the fault was there at the time of delivery, unless the seller can prove it wasn’t. Used car warranties are pretty useless. Their only function is to make you buy the car. The idea is that the seller convinces you that the purchase is safe because you have a 'warranty'. However the warranty normally won't pay up. Sellers will tell you the warranty people will sort it and the warranty people will tell you the seller needs to sort it. Stick with the consumer rights act and get the seller to sort it out. I would phone the seller and see if they will come and sort it out but I think at the end of the day you are probably responsible for getting it back to the seller. Unfortunately the person on this forum who always answers first always gives wrong information.

facade

The legendary "gearbox fault" on the x-type can be virtually anything, from an actual gearbox fault to throttle sensor. The interweb reckons that a common cause is water damage to ecu connections.

But the car should still start and drive in limp mode with gearbox fault on the display.

Is it a discharged battery? Charge it and see if it makes a difference

AdrianC

fred246 said:

Sarahf you really need to read up the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You are now on the 30 days to 6 months section. If a defect is found after 30 days, but within six months, buyers are entitled to request a repair, replacement or refund. The law assumes the fault was there at the time of delivery, unless the seller can prove it wasn’t.

...tempered by reasonable expectations for used goods of that age, price and apparent condition.

And the seller can easily demonstrate the fault wasn't present - the car was being driven around for two months without any issue, post-purchase.

fred246

The Consumer Rights Act has been written to give rights to consumers. If you pay good money for a car you expect something that is roadworthy and works. A dealer can't just purchase a faulty car and pass it on to a consumer. So a fault is deemed to have been there at purchase unless the dealer can prove otherwise. An intermittent fault wouldn't be apparent all the time so you can't just say that because it has only just shown up that it wasn't there at purchase. I suspect some interesting arguments in court over this. Until it is diagnosed and mended you can't really say and even then you could argue over a lot of faults.

EdGasketTheSecond

You can bet once they have the car and 'inspect' it, there will be a reason why it is not covered under warranty and the dealer will argue was working alright when sold. A legal case would be a gamble.