Bought used car from a dealer with a fault!

jubz0800

I bought a car for £950 last week from a local used dealer, upon inspection etc I was happy to purchase it but I did not opt into get warranty for an additional fee. But this is where it goes wrong, the car started to excessively leak engine oil and left a big dark patch on my drive. I took it to the garage and they said the head gaskett has been leaking and needed to be replaced which will cost £300 in total. I rang the dealer told him the problem and his response was that I saw the car upon inspection, there was no oil leak then and therefore could not offer to pay for the repair. I have read that under the consumer act 2015 I should be entitled to a refund/repair regardless of warranty as im still within 30 days can anyone shed some light on this?

DUTR

vehicle age? 

jubz0800

Its a citroen c3 2006 1.4 71k on the clock

AdrianC

A 14yo sub-£1k car...?

Your reasonable expectations are... limited.

Within 30 days you have the right to a refund, if you can show the fault is beyond reasonable expectations for a car of that age/price/apparent condition. It's clear that's not happening voluntarily, from his initial response. So you would have to physically return the car and launch a small claim for the money.

Beyond 30 days, the supplier has the right to refund/replace/repair... but, again, it's clear he's unwilling to do so.

As far as any warranty goes, I suspect they'd just walk away... It's either pre-existing (so not covered), or within expected wear and tear (so not covered). The chances of a warranty on a <£1k car being anything but a waste of paper are... slender.

jubz0800

So nothing can be done even if i file a small claims court? The dealer has clearly rejected to pay for the repair, i thought the consumer act was designed to protect consumers so that law in theory selling dreams to consumers

jubz0800

So even if i had bought warranty from this dealer they wouldnt even repair the oil leak anyway?

AdrianC

jubz0800 said:

So nothing can be done even if i file a small claims court?

Yes... You might win and be awarded your money back.

The dealer has clearly rejected to pay for the repair, i thought the consumer act was designed to protect consumers so that law in theory selling dreams to consumers

It does. But to hold a supplier responsible for absolutely everything that could possibly go wrong with a car so near the end of its life would be unreasonable. So the rights are tempered by reasonable expectations for used goods of that age/price/apparent condition. Those reasonable expectations are considerably higher for a near-new car being sold as immaculate than for a 14yo <£1k shed, for obvious reasons.

Generally, it's not worth buying <£2k cars from traders, because the consumer protection is so limited, but also because the basic overheads for retailing are so high relative to the value of the car. It's far better value to buy privately. If the trader paid more than a few hundred quid at auction for that car, he's made a loss on it.

jubz0800

If i dont win the case what costs would i have to pay the trader?

jubz0800

How can I show an oil leak would be beyond reasonable expectations in court?

AdrianC

jubz0800 said:

If i dont win the case what costs would i have to pay the trader?

None.

Just the cost of the small claim. £25 up to £300 (if you're claiming for the cost of the repair), £60 up to £1,000 (if you're claiming for a refund).
https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim
https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees

BTW, are you sure it's the HG? A head gasket failure wouldn't necessarily pee oil out. It'd usually spill coolant into the cylinders. A surprisingly substantial oil leak can come from a cheap and simple split hose from engine breather to oil filter.

jubz0800

The garage gave me two options, they can either tighten the head bolts but no guarantee of it leaking again or replace the head gaskett, yes they even showed me where the leak was orginating from, when i first showed the problem they said it would be a camshaft or crankshaft seal at the least, but now they are saying its the HG