Faulty Used Car

tonys_3

I think you did the right thing by going to the CAB straight away.If you are a member of the AA or RAC,they have legal departments that will give you free help and advice.

However the fact that you do not have a receipt makes your claim much more difficult
since you cannot prove that you paid for the car.And if you can't do that,you cannot prove that you are the owner. If the seller turns round and says that he lent you the car for a week's trial and now wants it back-what do you do?If you paid cash,then you cannot prove how much you paid him either.It's a total mess.
Check with Swansea and see if he has informed them of the change in ownership.
Did you get the logbook?How long did he own the car?If a short time,is he a dealer?
Did you ask him why he was selling the car?

sweetnest

However the fact that you do not have a receipt makes your claim much more difficult
since you cannot prove that you paid for the car.And if you can't do that,you cannot prove that you are the owner. If the seller turns round and says that he lent you the car for a week's trial and now wants it back-what do you do?If you paid cash,then you cannot prove how much you paid him either.It's a total mess.
Check with Swansea and see if he has informed them of the change in ownership.
Did you get the logbook?How long did he own the car?If a short time,is he a dealer?
Did you ask him why he was selling the car?[/QUOTE]


Tony

the seller has the log book as he was going to send it off, he has had the car for 2 years and he sold it as he had to get a bigger car for his dogs. He did buy another car before selling this one though, which i thought was rather strange.

The more i think about this the more of a head ache i am getting, just wish i`d never wasted my money in the first place....never again, this is the first time we have bought privately and that`s only because we just sold our nice honda accord and it took us ages to sell it, couldn`t understand why we didn`t have much interest as it had full history very low mileage etc etc, now i know why, people are weary of buying away from a dealer.

Still, can`t do anything until the seller gets our letter tomorrow and then we`ll take it from there, probably end up selling it at a loss and learning from our mistakes

tonys_3

Oh dear sweetnest it's worse than I thought.When you bought the car you should have taken the log book at the same time-minus a tear off part which the seller should send to Swansea.You should also send the logbook to the DLVC to be registered in your name.
As it stands,he has the logbook,you have no receipt.If he wants to be difficult,you have no recourse at law at all and he could well demand the return of his car.

sweetnest

thanks Tonys for your concern .. my husband has done the log book excatly as quoted from the DVLA web site below....

How do I tell you I am the new keeper of a used vehicle?

The law requires both the seller and the buyer of a vehicle to sign a joint declaration on the Registration Document (V5)/Certificate (V5C). The legal responsibility to notify DVLA of the changes rest with the seller of the vehicle (the registered keeper at time of sale). When you purchase a vehicle the seller should tear off the green slip (V5/2 or V5C/2) of the Registration Document/Certificate and hand it to the buyer. The V5/2 or V5C/2 may be used as evidence of keepership when purchasing a vehicle licence up to two months from the date of sale.


Just wondering now if we`ll get a phone call from the seller today as he would have the letter !

rdwarr

Are you sure it was a private seller? Many traders can appear to be so (like some on eBay). Have a look through this wee's paper to see if he has any more cars for sale - if so it's a whole new ball game.

Vic_980

tonys wrote:

Oh dear sweetnest it's worse than I thought.When you bought the car you should have taken the log book at the same time-minus a tear off part which the seller should send to Swansea.You should also send the logbook to the DLVC to be registered in your name.
As it stands,he has the logbook,you have no receipt.If he wants to be difficult,you have no recourse at law at all and he could well demand the return of his car.

This is no longer the case. The V5 (log book) has changed now - the seller keeps the main part of the log book and fills in your details then sends it to Swansea. You countersign the declaration of sale in part 8 of the V5. You only actually keep the tear off slip (section 10). You have to make sure that the seller fills in your details and they are responsible for sending the V5 to the DVLA.

The system was changed in this way to stop people buying cars then not registering them in their name, then for example using them to commit crime.

As long as you have section 10 of the V5 then you have proof that the car has changed hands.

However, it is always wise to obtain a receipt as well, stating how much you have actually paid for the car. This is doubly important when paying by cash.

Dave_G_5

It sounds like the log book has been done correctly. What is more concerning is the list of faults that the garage has come up with. When your husband filled up the water in the expansion tank, did you then look for any leaks under the car? If you can't see any leaks (including with the engine running) then the head gasket has probably gone. Another check is to remove the dipstick and look for white mayonaise type substance, and you might also mind some under the oil filler cap. Both of these would point to a faulty head gasket, but your radiator, hoses, and thermostat could be ok. How does the garage know that the thermostat is faulty without either removing it and testing it (which they won't have done) or repairing the head gasket first? It sounds like the garage may be taking you for a ride, I strongly suggest you get a second oppinion form somewhere else. Any garage that carries out MoT tests can check for a blown head gasket by putting the pipe they normally put up your exhaust to check the emmisions, over the coolant in the expansion tank to check for exhaust fumes in there. If they find them then the head gasket is gone (will take them about 2 mins to check!).

Hope this helps.

sweetnest

Hi, no leaks at all under the car, oil and caps cleans, just stuff around the expansion tank

We are in the process of getting a second opinion done, hopefully we`ll have a phone call today from a distant cousin of mine who used to be a good mechanic

In any case, we have also found a number for a mobile mechanic which charges from £120 inc VAT for a new head gasket, depending on what my cousin says then we will use this mechanic to do the work (or indeed my cousin can do it if he`s feeling generous)

I think we are losing faith in our original mechanic because at the end of the day, he knew we bought this car to last us 12/18 months as a run around only doing about 10 miles a week, surely he could just do what is actually gone and hope the rest will last us, the way we look at it, even if we had to spend £200 on repairs, we still got a good car for £850 to last us a year plus i wouldn`t have blamed the seller, but when my mechanic told me the faults and told me to contact the seller etc etc, well, i think it got blown right out of proportion

Will keep you all informed and THANKS for everyone`s input, it`s been most helpful

Dave_G_5

I'm glad you are getting a second opinion, just hope it doesn't cost too much to get it sorted.

AlanCollier

Make sure your mechanic fixes the root cause of the head gasket failure, it's often the water pump. Also make sure he uses the latest OE gasket kit with metal dowels.

--Alan