Used Car - Oil Leak - Bought 10th October

Jammark

Hi all, 

Wondering if you can give some advice. 

Bought a used Range Rover for £24k from an independent garage on 10th October. 

On 12th October noticed an oil leak on driveway. Checked the on-board oil system and said add oil. Bought oil from Halfords topped up and have had to add twice since then. 

Small drip at the moment.

Contacted Land Rover on 12th October to book in for diagnostics. Earliest date could book in is 3rd November due to living in Wales in lockdown.

Partial amount was paid on credit card so have S75 to fall back on. Santander not been that helpful so far though. 

Car was sold with limited 12 month warranty. Will not cover oil leaks.

Spoke to garage initially and they said to get in touch again once knew what issue was.

Have tried to book in with another garage to try and get it seen earlier, contacted independent dealership again today to find out if they’re happy for me to go to an independent garage as opposed to main dealer and they’ve started with an attitude. Have said that oil leak was not there when bought car etc. 

Since we’ve had the car it’s been driven just over 300 miles and over 100 of them was getting the car back home. 

Have said to garage dealership about right to reject within 30 days they’ve said they also have rights and did not seem like they are going to be helpful with either the repair or rejecting.

tacpot12

Within the first six months, they have to show that the fault wasn't present when you bought the car. Ask to see their evidence that there was no oil leak. However, they also have some rights if the fault could be expected on a car of that age. I would assume that at £24K, the Range Rover isn't old enough that an oil leak would be expected. A car would usually have to get to 12-15 years old and 100,000miles plus for oil leaks to be a reasonable fault. 

The amount of oil that you are adding is a concern. The engine might have more problems than a slight oil leak. I would get an emissions test done to see if it can pass an MOT currently. If oil is leaking past piston rings or valve stem seals, this will show up in the emissions. It is also damage that could not have happened in 300 miles of use.

You need to give them the opportunity to repair or refund your money. The choice is yours. If it is any oil leak, and you like the car, let them repair it. If the emissions test finds oil in the exhaust, I would reject the car for a refund. It will take a long time to rebuild the engine. Put everything in writing, don't delay. Send a letter before action if they won't budge. 

born_again

Where is it leaking oil from?
Should be easy to trace it from the oil on the ground up to the car.

williamgriffin

How old is the car? For 24 grand I'd guess at 7 to 8 years old.

Also what engine does it have and mileage?

DiddyDavies

tacpot12 said:

Within the first six months, they have to show that the fault wasn't present when you bought the car.

That depends.
If the OP is requesting a repair to the car then yes, the dealer has to show that the fault wasn't present at the time of sale but if the OP is wishing to reject the vehicle for a refund then the onus is on them to prove that the defect was there when they made the purchase.

Jammark

Thanks for all your comments.
The car is 2013 and has done 115k miles.
Have had a look and appears the oil is leaking from the back of the engine.