5 weeks in - head gasket knackered
Discussion
I was driving my Chim a couple of weeks back and heard a loud bang on the motorway which turned out to be a blown cylinder head gasket.
I'd had the car for exactly 5 weeks and covered about 400 miles.
The dealer I bought it from is not interested in helping and had their solicitor hand me a two sentence brushoff letter when I requested they put it right. It's been off the road for two weeks now so I'm now getting the car repaired at my expense.
There was no warranty sold with it but there was no disclaimer either, and I paid over the odds for the car on the basis that it was a good example.
62k miles, 15 years old. The fault didn't exist at the point of sale, but the gasket was obviously on the brink of failure.
I turn to you guys for sage advice. Any suggestions as to the best course of action?
I'd had the car for exactly 5 weeks and covered about 400 miles.
The dealer I bought it from is not interested in helping and had their solicitor hand me a two sentence brushoff letter when I requested they put it right. It's been off the road for two weeks now so I'm now getting the car repaired at my expense.
There was no warranty sold with it but there was no disclaimer either, and I paid over the odds for the car on the basis that it was a good example.
62k miles, 15 years old. The fault didn't exist at the point of sale, but the gasket was obviously on the brink of failure.
I turn to you guys for sage advice. Any suggestions as to the best course of action?
See the following:http:
//www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/know-your-rights/SGAknowyourrights/
You've 6-months of "rights".
Suggest you also find your local Citizen Advice Office and persue your claims through them and their advice - Possibly Small Claims Court.
Is a little worrying the Seller passed a Solicitor's Letter to you that quickly !!
HTH
//www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/know-your-rights/SGAknowyourrights/
You've 6-months of "rights".
Suggest you also find your local Citizen Advice Office and persue your claims through them and their advice - Possibly Small Claims Court.
Is a little worrying the Seller passed a Solicitor's Letter to you that quickly !!
HTH
I'd say that as much as you won't want to hear this it seems you might just have to bite the bullet and get it fixed.
5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Have you actually discussed the problem with the dealer or just exchanged letters? Most garages are much more likely to help if you call and discuss the matter civily.
ETA: I stand to be corrected if the above is true
5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Have you actually discussed the problem with the dealer or just exchanged letters? Most garages are much more likely to help if you call and discuss the matter civily.
ETA: I stand to be corrected if the above is true
Edited by Barreti on Monday 15th March 16:26
The first thing I did was ring the guy. He was a bit evasive and wouldn't commit to anything over the phone. He said I'd need get a diagnosis (from a garage) done to determine whether the gasket had given up on its own or there had been a contributory factor such as leaking radiator.
Having had that done, the garage said the gasket itself (compression to air) had failed with no other cause. I called the dealer and he said he'd need to see it in writing and would pass it to his solicitor.
When I said involving a solicitor seemed a bit OTT he said "I'm a used car dealer, I can't just pay out every time someone says there's something wrong with a car". I thought fair enough, play it his way, so I sent him a well worded letter giving him 14 days to respond and sat on my hands in the meantime.
His solicitor replied after a week with the brush off letter. I'm a bit annoyed that the guy isn't just dealing with it himself like a man and telling me to f**k off instead. The legal facade is just an insult and there's obviously no good will on his part.
I've sought legal advice from few places and am probably going to take it to small claims. Just wondered if anyone here had any thoughts or relevant experience - should this guy take responsibility when something goes wrong so soon with the cars he sells or am I just pissing in the wind?
@SILICONE KID - I'm not called MrShifty in real life
Having had that done, the garage said the gasket itself (compression to air) had failed with no other cause. I called the dealer and he said he'd need to see it in writing and would pass it to his solicitor.
When I said involving a solicitor seemed a bit OTT he said "I'm a used car dealer, I can't just pay out every time someone says there's something wrong with a car". I thought fair enough, play it his way, so I sent him a well worded letter giving him 14 days to respond and sat on my hands in the meantime.
His solicitor replied after a week with the brush off letter. I'm a bit annoyed that the guy isn't just dealing with it himself like a man and telling me to f**k off instead. The legal facade is just an insult and there's obviously no good will on his part.
I've sought legal advice from few places and am probably going to take it to small claims. Just wondered if anyone here had any thoughts or relevant experience - should this guy take responsibility when something goes wrong so soon with the cars he sells or am I just pissing in the wind?
@SILICONE KID - I'm not called MrShifty in real life
I have a similar problem regarding my power rack .It was reconditioned by a company in Yorkshire .Afer 5 minutes driving it started pi
ing out the gaitor. I then sent it back and re fitted for the second time and guess what it Pissed out again .They don`t want to know and they have not offered to give me my money back . its cost me another £150 on top for re fitting and all i have to show for it is a very slippy garage floor .
im sick of it ..
ing out the gaitor. I then sent it back and re fitted for the second time and guess what it Pissed out again .They don`t want to know and they have not offered to give me my money back . its cost me another £150 on top for re fitting and all i have to show for it is a very slippy garage floor .im sick of it ..
Edited by SILICONE KID on Monday 15th March 20:18
MrShifty,
I'm a solicitor. You do have rights, but you will need to enforce those rights by issuing a claim against the dealer if he doesn't voluntarily accept the position. By the sound of the problem, it will be dealt with in the small claims court - neither of you will be able to claim any legal fees as a result.
I would get the problem fixed so you have a specific figure to claim (and a working car!). And be patient for as long as you can - the system is much better than it used to be but still slow. Once you have a figure, I'd consider making him an offer in writing before you launch into a formal claim.
I'm a solicitor. You do have rights, but you will need to enforce those rights by issuing a claim against the dealer if he doesn't voluntarily accept the position. By the sound of the problem, it will be dealt with in the small claims court - neither of you will be able to claim any legal fees as a result.
I would get the problem fixed so you have a specific figure to claim (and a working car!). And be patient for as long as you can - the system is much better than it used to be but still slow. Once you have a figure, I'd consider making him an offer in writing before you launch into a formal claim.
Barreti said:
5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Not true, when you buy a car from a dealer there is a 3 month window where any faults that ocurr are assumed to have been present at point of sale and therefore the dealer must rectify at their cost (I think Sale of goods act but check with CAB). This is your right under law, it doesnt matter if they have included (or indeed sold you) a warranty or not, it is still their responsibility to fix.I have used the above argument successfully on a reluctant dealer in the past for £1000 of repairs.
Give them an opportunity to rectify the problem, talk to citizens advice then dash out a quick letter outlining their responsibility. Include a timeline in the letter (something like 'if a response is not received within 1 week I will.....) and clearly state what will happen next - If it was me I would be telling them they have a week to respond to the letter accepting responsibility to repair the vehicle and to have the vehicle repair completed within 1 month, and if they dont you will have the repairs made yourself athen use the small claims to recover costs from them. This is reasonable. If they dont respond or refuse to do the repair get it fixed then straight to small claims.
From what I understand it would have been very difficult to tell the condition of the head gasket without taking the engine apart so I doubt the dealer or the previous owner would/could have known about it prior to the sale. My practical knowledge of engines is extremely limited though so I'd happily stand corrected on that one...
The solicitor in question definitely exists - it's this one: http://www.lawgistics.co.uk/index.php?option=com_c...
I think it all hinges on whether or not the gasket being on the verge of failing at the point of sale (which it must have been for me to only get 400 miles out of it) makes the car not fit for purpose/of satisfactory quality. Any thoughts?
The solicitor in question definitely exists - it's this one: http://www.lawgistics.co.uk/index.php?option=com_c...
I think it all hinges on whether or not the gasket being on the verge of failing at the point of sale (which it must have been for me to only get 400 miles out of it) makes the car not fit for purpose/of satisfactory quality. Any thoughts?
MrShifty said:
From what I understand it would have been very difficult to tell the condition of the head gasket without taking the engine apart so I doubt the dealer or the previous owner would/could have known about it prior to the sale. My practical knowledge of engines is extremely limited though so I'd happily stand corrected on that one...
It doesnt matter. From my previous post: there is a 3 month window where any faults that ocurr are assumed to have been present at point of sale and therefore the dealer must rectify at their cost .This applies even if its something thats not visibile. For it to fail so quickly it was clearly a fault already present and therefore its up to the dealer to rectify. This is one of the reasons you buy from a dealer, they have a liability beyond the sale. If it was a private sale then all bets are off but in this case its a dealer.
bigdods said:
Barreti said:
5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Not true, when you buy a car from a dealer there is a 3 month window where any faults that ocurr are assumed to have been present at point of sale and therefore the dealer must rectify at their cost (I think Sale of goods act but check with CAB). This is your right under law, it doesnt matter if they have included (or indeed sold you) a warranty or not, it is still their responsibility to fix.
Edited by Barreti on Tuesday 16th March 10:13
Barreti said:
bigdods said:
Barreti said:
5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Not true, when you buy a car from a dealer there is a 3 month window where any faults that ocurr are assumed to have been present at point of sale and therefore the dealer must rectify at their cost (I think Sale of goods act but check with CAB). This is your right under law, it doesnt matter if they have included (or indeed sold you) a warranty or not, it is still their responsibility to fix.Barreti said:
I'd say that as much as you won't want to hear this it seems you might just have to bite the bullet and get it fixed.
5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Have you actually discussed the problem with the dealer or just exchanged letters? Most garages are much more likely to help if you call and discuss the matter civily.
ETA: I stand to be corrected if the above is true
Legally I would agree with you, but shouldn't the car still be of merchantable quality and fit for purpose and all that malarkey? What is the advantage of buying from a dealer if they are not prepared to even offer something on the labour costs? 5 weeks / 400 miles and no warranty means you are only able to throw yourself on the mercy of the dealer in the hope he will do something as a goodwill gesture, and sadly that seems to have been answered with the solicitors letter you received.
Have you actually discussed the problem with the dealer or just exchanged letters? Most garages are much more likely to help if you call and discuss the matter civily.
ETA: I stand to be corrected if the above is true
Edited by Barreti on Monday 15th March 16:26
I suppose the dealer will just quote back 'Caveat Emptor' which to be honest is what you would expect from a private seller.
Was the dealer a reputable name or just a Joe bloggs sole prop?
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