Head gasket has blown on new (used) car after 6 weeks !

ddthedog

Hoping someone can give me a bit of advice!!

So I brought a car from a dealership and after 6 weeks for £3000 the head gasket went. I have all the evidence that this was not user error. I sent this over to him and he said its just some bad luck for me and thats the risk you take buying a second hand car!! 

I have sent him a letter and email advising under the consumers right act 2015 Im entitled to a refund/repair but he has not replied. 

This has caused me so much financial hardship and I dont know what to do next. 

The car is in the garage and he said it will need a whole new engine which is more than the cost of the car. He has had it a week and i have no way of getting it back and hes not going to be happy keeping it there forever. I have had to pay for a hire car, 2 days off work, I have had to borrow money to get a new car and travel to get this. 

Can I claim back for these expenses at small claims court as he is ignoring my request for an offer of a resolution or is it just the value of the car? 

Also, what am I meant to do with the car? Do I need to have the garage store it until it goes to court (which is going to take months and I will have to pay them storage) or can I have a scrapped? I don't really know what the right thing to do is. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

ddthedog

Hoping someone can give me a bit of advice!!

So I brought a car from a dealership and after 6 weeks for £3000 the head gasket went. I have all the evidence that this was not user error. I sent this over to him and he said its just some bad luck for me and thats the risk you take buying a second hand car!! 

I have sent him a letter and email advising under the consumers right act 2015 Im entitled to a refund/repair but he has not replied. 

This has caused me so much financial hardship and I dont know what to do next. 

The car is in the garage and he said it will need a whole new engine which is more than the cost of the car. He has had it a week and i have no way of getting it back and hes not going to be happy keeping it there forever. I have had to pay for a hire car, 2 days off work, I have had to borrow money to get a new car and travel to get this. 

Can I claim back for these expenses at small claims court as he is ignoring my request for an offer of a resolution or is it just the value of the car? 

Also, what am I meant to do with the car? Do I need to have the garage store it until it goes to court (which is going to take months and I will have to pay them storage) or can I have a scrapped? I don't really know what the right thing to do is. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

soolin

I'll ask the Team to move this to a more appropriate board. 

It might help the regulars if you said how you paid as they are bound to ask.

ddthedog

Hello! I paid in cash have an invoice from the dealership confirm price and purchase date.

ddthedog

Confirming *

CliveOfIndia

ddthedog said:

I have all the evidence that this was not user error

What sort of evidence?

If you can prove that the head gasket was beginning to fail when you bought it, then you should be on solid ground.  Did you check the obvious things when you test drove it, like mayonnaise in the oil filler cap, white smoke from the exhaust, that kind of thing?

Yes of course you have more rights when buying from a garage than when buying privately, but it may be tricky to prove that it was an inherent fault when you bought it, or to identify what caused the gasket to fail after you bought it.

Mark_d

As you bought from a dealership, did you get a warranty?

What's the story with the head gasket?  If it was not user error, was the failure due to poor quality parts having been used?

If you can prove that it was not user error then I think you have a valid claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

tacpot12

Do you have home insurance? If you do, check to see if you have Legal Expenses cover. If you do, you can call the Legal Helpline provided by your insurer for professional legal advice. 

ddthedog

It had 30 days warranty on the invoice but citizens advice said it was not fit for purpose for I have a valid claim. 

The car was making a strange noise at the end of my road, no warning lights , no overheating. I parked up and turned the engine off and on again and it then came up with an engine light (still no over heating) went in to call my partner to see what suggested. Came back 10 mins later  and it was now showing over heating on the dial.  I have photos of all these stages on the dash which are time and location stamped. So I didn’t drive the car while it was overheating. 

My question is can I claim back my expenses with my claim to the small claims court and what should I do about the car in the mean time?

CliveOfIndia

ddthedog said:

So I didn’t drive the car while it was overheating.

To play devil's advocate, you didn't drive the car when the gauge was showing it to be overheating - it's not impossible for the gauge or sender unit to be faulty.  Not that you'd know that, of course, so that's absolutely not down to you.

Presumably you'd been doing the standard weekly checks such as oil and coolant level, tyre pressures, etc. ?  Had you noticed the coolant level dropping at all?

screech_78

How old is the car and how many miles were on the clock when you bought it?