Consumer Rights on a faulty used car

Tillymint_77

Looking for some advice on anyone who has exercised their consumer rights on a used car:

Background: I bought a car from a dealer on October 23rd 2024. Within 6 months I had alerted him to a major engine issue which turned out to be blown head gasket. He didn't end up doing the repair till Feb 2025 (although he did not delay us in carrying it out). The dealer repaired this car at his cost and instead of fixing the engine he replaced it with a used engine as said it would be cheaper. At this point he was reasonable and dealt with the matter fairly quickly.

Once we got the car back it ran a lot better. We asked for details of the replacement engine so we could inform DVLA and he struggled to give us anything. The only paper trail I could get was an invoice stating the replacement engine had 57K miles on it (we'd initially bought the car with 42k miles). We watched the coolant levels carefully having had so many issues with it when we bought it. We had to add a lot of coolant within the first 6 weeks as levels dropped considerably and I got in touch with the dealer at this point to alert him to this fact. The levels then stabilised and it led us to the conclusion that when the engine was switched over it may not have been bled and there had been air locks. But we left it at this point as thought it was ok.

Then in September 2025 the engine started to overheat and we had bubbling coolant levels and levels dropping considerably. We now can't drive the car as not safe really and only manages about 10 miles before overheating. My mechanic has confirms combustion gases are present in the coolant so the engine has a leak.

I went back to the dealer on the advice from my mechanic who said under consumer rights act the repair isn't satisfactory, and the dealer has 1 chance to repair otherwise we can request he refund us. The dealer immediately shut down the conversation (this was on whatsapp) and said 7 months had passed since he'd replaced the engine and he wouldn't do anything and then blocked me on whatsapp. He indicates we're out of our initial 6 months since purchase and he's not liable for the repair.

Having read up on the consumer rights act, I'm thinking we have a right to return this car based on the fact that the repair isn't satisfactory. It was a used engine and there's no evidence of any paperwork to suggest any checks on it, and it clearly isn't durable having developed a fault quickly.  Anyone any experience of a similar situation or any advice on proceeding with small claims court if we do decide to go down this route?

Baldytyke88

I had a similar issue with a lawnmower, it went faulty within 6 months and was fixed, it then went faulty again with the same fault after 18 months, they then replaced the mower.

Okell

Tillymint_77 said:

... I went back to the dealer on the advice from my mechanic who said under consumer rights act the repair isn't satisfactory, and the dealer has 1 chance to repair otherwise we can request he refund us...

Yes - after one failed attempt at a repair or replacement you are in theory entitled to a refund, but the retailer can make a deduction from your refund to account for the use of the car you have had.  See s24 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

However, because this second failure happened more than 6 months after purchase, the burden of proof is on you to establish that the original repair was unsatisfactory.  Will your mechanic back that up in writing and be prepared to say that in court?

Tillymint_77

@Okell The mechanic is happy to write a report. The repair was a used engine and is lacking in paperwork. I did notify the dealer that the coolant levels were fluctuating a lot shortly after the repair was done which does suggest it had issues early on. But then it did settle and drive ok for a while which doesn't help our case.
This is a bit of a grey area as I thought the 6 months related to the initial purchase. As we've had it repaired are we on the clock for 6 months since the repair? 

Alderbank

The Consumer Rights Act doesn't set any time limits with regard to a repair or replacement.
S24(5) simply says that if after one repair or one replacement the goods do not conform to the contract, you can reject the vehicle.

You weren't entitled to a brand new engine. 'Conform to contract' means in this case that the dealer returned you a car after repair with all the components in the reasonable condition you would expect for that model of car of similar age with a current mileage of about 50K.

If your independent mechanic can provide that report to say it was not in such condition when you got it back, with his reasoning for that conclusion, you should have a good case.

Tillymint_77

@Alderbank Thanks - that's helpful. The replacement engine added 15k miles and this was done without consulting us - we were told he'd let us know what he planned to do in terms of the repair, but then just told me he'd changed it. Then he failed to provide me the paperwork on the engine afterwards so I had to get my mechanic to get the engine number off it. All feels a bit shoddy in terms of taking appropriate care.

The mechanic report can confirm there is a leak but that is 7 months after the replacement was put in so I guess my concern is could they say we caused the damage in that time? 

Alderbank

I would say that the 15K discrepancy comes under the heading of 'reasonable'.
There will not be many identical spec S/H engines for sale with exactly the same mileage and if it has been correctly  serviced that would make no difference to its performance or life expectancy. Also, the seller has a duty to carry out the repair in a reasonable time - he can't keep searching eBay for ever.

You don't have to pay a mechanic to get the engine number off a block!
All you need is a pair of eyeballs (you might need an oily rag as well to wipe off 50K miles of road dirt). WBAC has a step-by-step guide. It begins 'Open the bonnet...' https://www.webuyanycar.com/guides/car-ownership/find-chassis-and-engine-numbers/

Some people consider that to be an essential step for all buyers before buying a used car - don't rely on numbers written on a bit of paper, check they match.

daveyjp

An indication of type and age of vehicle is always useful in cases like this, if only to identify if the engine concerned suffers headgasket failure on a regular basis.

Tillymint_77

@daveyjp It is a 2013 Corsa 1.2

Tillymint_77

@Alderbank - the engine number wasn't visible on this engine easily - we couldn't access it. I didn't specifically pay the mechanic to get the engine number - when it was in for the service I got him to get it whilst it was on the ramp.

We were fairly accepting of the mileage increase although it is a little frustrating, acknowledging there won't be that many engines of that age that could be sourced with 43k miles or so. Good to get a feel of what is considered reasonable in these repairs though. It was more the lack of paperwork afterwards and when I asked for information he wasn't able to produce what we needed for the V5C.