Money back…reject
I got my son a 16 plate Corsa today off a cad dealer in Leicestershire
He drive it 2 miles and a sign saying stop the car engine overheating came up
He lifted the bonnet and steam came out fluid all over the floor.
He’s really upset. What rights do we have against the seller ?
Cheers
Did you pay for it (or pay the deposit for it) by credit card at all?
Too many dodgy car "dealers" are just buying from auction and moving them on without checking them properly. I have experience of this myself. All sorts of "promises" prior to purchase but poor preparation and abysmal after sales. Small claims court ended up sorting my problems.
As others have said, if he's registered as a business you have right to reject for full refund.
If he's a private individual that just happens to call himself something that sounds like a business on facebook then it might be more problematic.
Have you actually been back in touch with him?
That’s very disappointing. Hope your son can get swift resolution.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/re...unds-exchange/
Are there any reviews online about the dealer? Going by the sounds of your experience, there will be others out there who have had the same.
If you are. Ot mechanically minded when it comes to cars, it’s definitely worth getting any potential purchase inspected by the AA or some other independent party.
Also, where possible, use a credit card for any high risk purchase.
Good luck.
before anything vanishes online
take some screen grabs 'now' of his adverts with him describing himself as a 'trader' as he may try to evade any claim by saying it was a private transaction.
this way you will be able to exercise your rights as a consumer.
Cheers all for the advice.
To be fair to the seller he’s gonna get the car collected in the morning on a trailer and take it to his local garage in Leicester and get the problems fixed n
He’s gonna cover all the costs. My son said he’s happy to go with that. So fingers crossed
It’s 6 years old a 1.4 Corsa. Done 60 odd thousand miles.
Get a refund, we had a similar thing a few years ago my wife was set on getting it fixed, I wasn’t pleased but she had her heart set on the car, the garages mate fixed the car next week it came back, we took it to main dealers and it was knackered needed two new wiring looms, we got a refund in the end, and moved on.
Seriously, reject the thing. There are so many good used cars out there for your budget. Why risk a never ending cycle of repair and stress.
Buy him a Honda Civic then forget about it.
Yep experienced cases where these go sideways as they’re a plastic trader who evaporate at first sign of trouble.
To buy and sell means he will need ‘motor traders insurance policy’ to not only insure each vehicle and add them to MID but also to enable moving said cars around untaxed so will need to obtain ‘trade plates’ and you need to prove to DVLA you’re a real trader by providing copy of insurance to get plates.(unless your an independent car mover).
Does vendor / trader have premises or was he ‘from home or car park’ ?
The fact its let go after “2” miles is concerning as you would presume its been idling or driven whilst in vendors custody so odd not to exhibit issue prior but .
He’s offered to fix which is encouraging but I would want to know the full extent of diagnosis and defect.
I hope it works out as you say not a fabulous start to 1st car experience.
Are they based in Wigston ?
Might not be but Companies House might enlighten if it is.
Last edited by TKH; 6th July 2022 at 06:56.
Thanks. Not Wigston.
Based in an office in meridian business park next to bmw sytner Leicester
They don’t have a website. Just advertise on Facebook
https://postimg.cc/gallery/kgCKFhw
Good to have Len
As premises and advert undeniably confirm doing business as a trader so you have full recourse should you be unhappy with any resolution.
Lets hope its something simple like a dodgy thermostat ,sender unit or duff fan “fingers crossed”
Keep us informed I hope junior has his joy and faith restored.
Interesting. 1 Meridian South is a huge DHL warehouse. Sytner are on Meridian East.
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/how-to-...nsumer-rights/
I hope you get a satisfactory resolution
I know you want to give the seller a chance, but I just wouldn't risk this now it's overheated and blown.
Why would you for the sake of a few more weeks' wait for the right car?
Always try to pay at least a deposit with CC. Doing this saved my dad several thousand a few years ago when a car turned out to be a wrong'un.
And in light of what has happened ask for the warranty to be extended to a year and keep a close eye on the coolant levels. Also ask for a leak down test to be done by the garage fixing it to see if there is any head / head gasket damage.
Last edited by Jeremy67; 8th July 2022 at 10:43.
The leak/steam would be something I’d be asking more about as well. May just have been the pressure popped a hose, radiator cap has leaked.. or maybe the radiator has started to give up, but I’d be asking about that.
I had similar on a Lotus Elise… unknown to me the fan had given up, and I was idling away in my garage… went to make a cuppa and I returned just in time to witness a geyser which wouldn’t look out of place in Iceland.
If the engine has overheated (seems likely, given the steam) there's a risk of a blown head gasket and possibly warping of the head, my experience with cars is working on older ones but the principle's the same, some engines are more prone to gasket failure and head warping than others.
When the car is being fixed whoever does the work should give it a compression test, pressure test the cooling system, and look for evidence of gasket failure. If the engine's OK it's my belief it will stay OK and be none the worse for its ordeal.
After the overheating was the radiator still full? If it's simply a failed cooling fan most of the water should still be in the rad, if the water level was way down it's gone somewhere and that could indicate that the head gasket's failed.
Definitely need some evidence that the engine's OK after the dealer's fixed it in my opinion, test results would be more convincing than the dealer's word.
Things like head gasket damage should be evident pretty quickly, and hopefully the engine management system should pick up any other faults, but not with 100% certainty.
If your son is adamant he's keeping it forking out for a service and diagnostic check at a main dealer (or preferably an independent specialist) would be money well spent in my opinion.
The coolant bottle thing was half full still here’s some pics
https://postimg.cc/gallery/rKC91Y6
Coolant in bottle but overheating indicates to me the thermostat may be faulty , simple fix , will likely be fine
If the dealer and the garage who fix it do everything correctly, including compression testing and a full check on the cooling system, they should be able to return the car with confidence. The dealer doesn`t want it to go wrong again under warranty
Would it not detect a possible head warp/ leak ?
The fan failed on my fiesta a few months back - I instantly detected that horrible hot coolant smell in the cabin and then noticed the temp was rising
Could be just a rad fan but the engine will not like those sorts of heat without being cooled
Last edited by lewie; 8th July 2022 at 12:41.
I had a 3 year old focus that unbeknown to me had overheated and been repaired before I bought it and it was nothing but trouble
Hi Len
good to hear they have sorted.
make sure they run it fully up to temp before returning.
I hope your son gets enjoyment from his new car, stuff happens it's how its dealt with that matters.
Last edited by TKH; 8th July 2022 at 15:46.
Personally I wouldn't buy a car from a random dealer advertising on FB with 1 review, but hopefully it works out for you.
My sons been driving for a couple hours this afternoon and nooverheat problems as yet.
But he did say the horns now not working but it did on Tuesday. Any ideas ?
You would have thought that would have been captured at the pre-inspection, but that may give you a sign that one was never done. Further weak signals about the dealer.
It may seem minor, but the horn is a safety device and a MOT failure.
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