Who would be responsible for the costs to fix a faulty second hand car in this scenario?

frank1978

I know as a buyer you have rights when buying a second hand car. But what happens during the first few montjhs of sale if the fault or damage occured from the driver himself driving it inappropriate such as high revving , flooring it not doing regular oil changes etc ?.   Does the second hand car dealer have to pay to fix it ?.

Grumpy_chap

frank1978 said:

I know as a buyer you have rights when buying a second hand car. But what happens during the first few montjhs of sale if the fault or damage occured from the driver himself driving it inappropriate such as high revving , flooring it not doing regular oil changes etc ?.   Does the second hand car dealer have to pay to fix it ?.

No more than if the driver smashes the car into a brick wall or ditches it in a river.

Why do you ask?

sevenhills

It would depend on what the guarantee states.

JohnnyB70

frank1978 said:

I know as a buyer you have rights when buying a second hand car. But what happens during the first few montjhs of sale if the fault or damage occured from the driver himself driving it inappropriate such as high revving , flooring it not doing regular oil changes etc ?.   Does the second hand car dealer have to pay to fix it ?.

No. Faults caused by the buyer are not the responsibility of the seller.

Grey_Critic

***No. Faults caused by the buyer are not the responsibility of the seller.***

The same applies to a new car - an example I had was a Transit Diesel that had the wrong oil. Serviced by a small haulage firm who used the cheapest oil he could buy and ignored the correct service intervals. It was like varnish when towed in.

I rejected his claim - he appealed to Ford who rejected the claim - he went to court and they said no to him as well.

DB1904

sevenhills said:

It would depend on what the guarantee states.

Have you ever seen guarantee that covers neglect and abuse?

photome

What have you done to it

chrisw

I don't think it's as clear cut. Cars should be able to withstand high revving and flooring it 'now and again', at least for a few months. Regular oil changes wouldn't be relevant in the first few months and a single late oil change shouldn't cause any real damage.


This is obviously different to a determined effort to deliberately cause damage or the wrong oil being used or levels neglected.

Shakin_Steve

Perhaps a bit more context from the OP would help.

Grumpy_chap

I wonder how many miles were covered in the few months of ownership.

[Deleted User]

frank1978 said:

I know as a buyer you have rights when buying a second hand car. But what happens during the first few montjhs of sale if the fault or damage occured from the driver himself driving it inappropriate such as high revving , flooring it not doing regular oil changes etc ?.   Does the second hand car dealer have to pay to fix it ?.

I'm fairly sure all cars now have a rev limiter so driving at "high revs" or "flooring it" is all within the capabilities of a car unless they do something silly like shifting down to a gear that puts the revs above the limit.

Although of course neither are recommended on a regular and long term basis if you want to prolong the life of the engine, but I would strongly recommend high revs and flooring a car on both the test drive and immediately after purchase to help reveal any faults sooner rather than later.

The only caveat to that is to wait until the engine has reached normal operating temperature before red-lining to avoid excess wear.