Denzel at Zenith Motor Company/CA Autobank car finance

Aylesbury_Duck

justmeland said:

we cant afford the strip down or the repairs, we will soon not be able to afford to pay for an undriveable car and public transport/taxis, we haven't paid half the value, I just don't know what to do. Could the finance company make the dealership replace the car and we stay in the contract? I did a vehicle check and it shows two previous owners prior to us.

After 10 months and 10,000 miles in your nephew's hands, I'm afraid it's his responsibility to show the fault was inherent, and I'm also sorry to say that I doubt it is.  He bought a six year old car with 66k miles on it and has driven it an extra 10k miles since purchase.  I seriously doubt there was anything fundamentally wrong when he purchased it that would cause this failure a full 10k miles later.  I don't think you'll get anywhere with the roadworthy argument, because an MOT certificate is evidence of roadworthiness at the time of the MOT and I presume it came with an MOT certificate or has had an MOT since he purchased it?

I think your best course of action is to get a local, recommended independent garage to do the investigative work.  They'll be cheaper than a main dealer.  Without that investigation you can't take any action against the selling dealer or the finance company in the unlikely event they suggest a problem that was present when he bought the car.

The only other route is to sell it as it is and buy a much cheaper car with the proceeds.

Aylesbury_Duck

justmeland said:

I've emailed the delaership who is basically ignoring me to ask for a breakdown of the first repairs, I believe it was the drive shafts, which might show a correlation to the now dual mass flywheel failure

It's a long shot.  I strongly suspect the failure of the DMF is a result of 76k miles of wear, perhaps exacerbated by lots of urban stop-start driving, which would put a lot of stress through it and the clutch.  I've had clutches last 125k and 150k-and-counting, but that's a result of lots of motorway cruising and relatively few gear changes.  I also drive like a grandad, so I'm very slow, but smooth!