Bought a death trap.

pinkichiban

An independent specialist.

pinkichiban

Please remember, I don't know much about car mechanics, hence asking here. We have sought out more than one independent source and both have said the car is unroadworthy.

Herzlos

pinkichiban said:

The breaks work, but after a week, a slight wobble vibration began on slower breaking, but no excessive noise.

The wobble could just be surface rust.
If the brakes work then they aren't on the metal - plus the noise would be unbearable.
Take the car for a 2nd opinion, preferably a grubby looking independent garage run by a grumpy old git - they rarely give you bad advice.

How does the car feel to drive?

pinkichiban

It was ok at first but the steering became heavier just before the service. 

Mickey666

Herzlos said:

pinkichiban said:

The breaks work, but after a week, a slight wobble vibration began on slower breaking, but no excessive noise.

The wobble could just be surface rust.
If the brakes work then they aren't on the metal - plus the noise would be unbearable.
Take the car for a 2nd opinion, preferably a grubby looking independent garage run by a grumpy old git - they rarely give you bad advice.

How does the car feel to drive?

Is no one reading this thread before commenting?

The OP has already had an independent Audi specialist examine the car and has also had advice from the RAC, how many more opinions do we think he should get.

Also, all these comments playing down the evidently poor condition of the car are from 'armchair experts' who have not even clapped eyes on the car.  Come on people, give the OP some support here instead of implying he's just a whinger who is feeling hard done by . . . . from his account, an Audi specialist and the RAC, he HAS been hard done by and is asking for advice on how best to deal with this whole sorry saga.

williamgriffin

Mickey666 said:

Herzlos said:

pinkichiban said:

The breaks work, but after a week, a slight wobble vibration began on slower breaking, but no excessive noise.

The wobble could just be surface rust.
If the brakes work then they aren't on the metal - plus the noise would be unbearable.
Take the car for a 2nd opinion, preferably a grubby looking independent garage run by a grumpy old git - they rarely give you bad advice.

How does the car feel to drive?

Is no one reading this thread before commenting?

The OP has already had an independent Audi specialist examine the car and has also had advice from the RAC, how many more opinions do we think he should get.

Also, all these comments playing down the evidently poor condition of the car are from 'armchair experts' who have not even clapped eyes on the car.  Come on people, give the OP some support here instead of implying he's just a whinger who is feeling hard done by . . . . from his account, an Audi specialist and the RAC, he HAS been hard done by and is asking for advice on how best to deal with this whole sorry saga.

That's a good question, is the RAC a second opinion? No where does it say they've seen the car. 

pinkichiban

The RAC was advice and an inspection is being arranged. I am trying to get the correct proof, if we are wrong and the car is considered acceptable for how it was advertised, I'll let you know how it goes... I do appreciate the advice even the harsh ones, do remember, I know we made some dumb mistakes in how we went about this, we were under time pressure and that was just our first mistake.

jimjames

pinkichiban said:

Please remember, I don't know much about car mechanics, hence asking here. We have sought out more than one independent source and both have said the car is unroadworthy.

Nothing in the details you posted originally suggested that it was unroadworthy but we've not seen the car. Replacing brake pads is not an expensive job. For future reference the alarm bells should ring instantly a garage says that a car they're selling needs a service. A private seller maybe but it's so easy for a garage to service a car it wouldn't be something they leave.

As already mentioned the process for returning the car is listed. I really would think long and hard whether you really want to risk throwing away £3k and the car. It might just be better to see if the garage will pay for the repairs required or at least a portion of them - but from a local garage instead.

For an unbiased second opinion it might be worth taking it for an MOT, that will cost you £40 or so and give you an actual verdict on whether it really is a death trap or whether the faults are ones that are not safety critical and are actually advisories. If it fails you also then have the evidence against the dealer which I don't believe the inspection you have had so far would really count. An MOT will also be vastly cheaper than paying for an RAC inspection. It may not give you what you want though if it doesn't support your death trap claim.

pinkichiban

We will seek further advice and we need to wait for the initial rush of anger and embarrassment to subside before we make any rash dumbass decisions. 

Mickey666

jimjames said:

For an unbiased second opinion it might be worth taking it for an MOT, that will cost you £40 or so and give you an actual verdict on whether it really is a death trap or whether the faults are ones that are not safety critical and are actually advisories. If it fails you also then have the evidence against the dealer which I don't believe the inspection you have had so far would really count. An MOT will also be vastly cheaper than paying for an RAC inspection. It may not give you what you want though if it doesn't support your death trap claim.

I wondered about an MoT.  It would certainly be an authoritative report on the roadworthiness of the vehicle.  The risk is that if it fails with serious faults then the test station may not release the vehicle to be driven away, giving the OP yet another headache.