What is minimum warranty offered by dealers?

gord115

My son is going to look at a used car at a dealer.
Anyone know what the law states is the minimum warranty offered by dealer?
Is it 30 days or 3 months?
Google not helpful at all.
Thanks in advance

ontheroad1970

Most after market warranties are worthless.  Look up The Consumer protection legislation from 2015, but be in mind that coverage is tempered by age and condition at purchase time.  Make sure that your son does a thorough test drive and take along someone if possible that knows what they are about with cars.  Buy on condition, not age or mileage.  Look for invoices for work done.

Get the right car and you will be unlikely to need the hassle of a warranty.  

Thesaltmustflow

I was given 3 months warranty on the used car I bought from a dealer. I asked him why it wasn't 12 months and he said 3 months warranty is standard on all used vehicles, don't know whether this is the Law and it was in bought in Scotland so could be different there anyway but that's what I can tell you. 

As @ontheroad1970 says do your due diligence and thorough checks etc and hopefully you won't need any warranty, that's what I did.

daveyjp

A "used car off a dealer" could be a 4 year old Bentley at a main dealer for £90k, or a 15 year old Mini from a  'Frank Butcher' at £4,000.

Which it is affects the value of a warranty,

There does come a point where buying off a dealer in the hope of getting some sort of useful warranty just isn't worth it.  The warranty will have more loopholes than a knitted jumper.

A well looked after private sale car with plenty of history can offer much better value.

The only older car I'd consider from a non franchised dealer would be a less than ten year under 100,000 mile Toyota.  Toyota now extend the warranty on any Toyota for up to ten years and 100,000 miles as long as the main dealer carries out repairs and a service to reactivate the warranty.

neilmcl

gord115 said:

My son is going to look at a used car at a dealer.
Anyone know what the law states is the minimum warranty offered by dealer?
Is it 30 days or 3 months?
Google not helpful at all.
Thanks in advance

There is no minimum warranty period. Legally a seller doesn't have to provide any.

Advocado

gord115 said:

My son is going to look at a used car at a dealer.
Anyone know what the law states is the minimum warranty offered by dealer?
Is it 30 days or 3 months?
Google not helpful at all.
Thanks in advance

Legally, as it's a used car, the dealer doesn't have to offer any warranty at all - the honus is on you to ensure you're happy with it before making the purchase. 

If they do offer one, read it carefully before making the purchase as it's unlikely to be anywhere near as good as the protection you get when buying new.

The only legal comeback you would have if there was any problem is if the car was incorrectly advertised or they misled you (ie, lie about its history or something).  But bear in mind, that's not the same as not telling you something, so it's important you ask all the right questions.

user1977

gord115 said:

Anyone know what the law states is the minimum warranty offered by dealer?
Google not helpful at all.

If you can't find it on Google, that's likely to be because you're searching for something which doesn't exist.

gord115

Surely if we bought the car from a dealer and the engine blew up on the way home we would have  some comeback?

daveyjp

gord115 said:

Surely if we bought the car from a dealer and the engine blew up on the way home we would have  some comeback?

The second post gives you the act which gives you those rights as a consumer.

TELLIT01

gord115 said:

Surely if we bought the car from a dealer and the engine blew up on the way home we would have  some comeback?

Purchases from a dealer should be covered by the Sale of Goods Act, i.e. they must be of merchantable quality / fit for purpose.  If the engine blew up on the way home it clearly isn't.  There is no protection on a private sale.

ontheroad1970

Although the Sale of Goods Act still exists and hasn't been replaced by The Consumer Goods Act 2015, the latter is more specific in nature and generally more useful.  You have a right to reject in the first 30 days, or after if a fault has been notified to the dealer inside the first 30 days.  After the this and within the first 6 months the retailer has the right to repair, once, after that rejection can usually take place.  It won't cover anything that is wear and tear.