Faulty Used Car Query
Discussion
OP, if the rest of the car is sound, just do as others on here have said and get a decent recon box put in at a reputable place.
Not the same car, but my fiancée had a 99 Polo that ate the gearbox on the car's tenth birthday. I'm surprised it lasted that long as she has terrible clutch control.
Anyway, we took it to a decent local garage and they sourced and fitted a replacement for under £400. We sold the car not long after and still see it being driven around now.
Not the same car, but my fiancée had a 99 Polo that ate the gearbox on the car's tenth birthday. I'm surprised it lasted that long as she has terrible clutch control.
Anyway, we took it to a decent local garage and they sourced and fitted a replacement for under £400. We sold the car not long after and still see it being driven around now.Sheepshanks said:
There's a letter in HJ's weekly round-up from someone who wonders if he should pursue BMW as the turbo in his low mileage 530d has failed. He bought the car in 2001.
But you may be surprised at what some marques will do.I had an old '97 plate Saab 900 that was well out of warranty. In about 2005 they did a bunch of work on it FOC, and some heavily subsidised (I paid labour, they paid for parts)... there is no harm in asking if it has a full dealer service history, but it's more a surprise bonus than anything you are entitled to.
Vaud said:
Sheepshanks said:
There's a letter in HJ's weekly round-up from someone who wonders if he should pursue BMW as the turbo in his low mileage 530d has failed. He bought the car in 2001.
But you may be surprised at what some marques will do.I had an old '97 plate Saab 900 that was well out of warranty. In about 2005 they did a bunch of work on it FOC, and some heavily subsidised (I paid labour, they paid for parts)... there is no harm in asking if it has a full dealer service history, but it's more a surprise bonus than anything you are entitled to.
But the BMW is 15yrs old. HJ suggested the writer was trolling!
Vaud said:
But you may be surprised at what some marques will do.
I had an old '97 plate Saab 900 that was well out of warranty. In about 2005 they did a bunch of work on it FOC.......
That wouldn't be work to prevent the possibility of the throttle binding?, and the possible unintentional deployment of passenger air bag was it?I had an old '97 plate Saab 900 that was well out of warranty. In about 2005 they did a bunch of work on it FOC.......
If so, they had no option but to carry out repairs FOC as part of official government recalls, regardless of the cars age.
If they were carrying out ordinary, non-recall work FOC though, and heavily subsidising the cost of repairs, then it's no wonder they went bust!
passatman83 said:
In February 2015 I paid £3400 for a a 2006 VW Passat 2.0TDI SE Estate with 118k from a local family run used car dealer.
Car was in great condition, just what I need, with full VWSH etc. Since then I've had it serviced twice, cambelt done and all other required bits and bobs.
On Wednesday the gearbox went, the car is now undrivable, and I'm looking at quite a big bill to get it on the road. I'm self employed, and need a car, so I've hired one for 2 weeks so I can continue earning.
Questions is, do I have a case for the car dying a bit prematurely? It's now done 142k, I know that's fairly high, but these cars do run on if looked after (and I've looked after it).
Has anyone else on PH had a similar experience? The car had 3 months warranty on it when I boughtit, obviously this has run out now. However something doesn't sit right with me that this car has only lasted me 14 months.
The crux of this is - and as i had it explained to me very well by Trading Standards - "had you bought the vehicle new, would it be unreasonable for this part to fail at this point in its life?" The answer here is a clear "no, it wouldnt be unreasonable for a 10 year old car with 142,000 miles on it to suffer from a gearbox failure".Car was in great condition, just what I need, with full VWSH etc. Since then I've had it serviced twice, cambelt done and all other required bits and bobs.
On Wednesday the gearbox went, the car is now undrivable, and I'm looking at quite a big bill to get it on the road. I'm self employed, and need a car, so I've hired one for 2 weeks so I can continue earning.
Questions is, do I have a case for the car dying a bit prematurely? It's now done 142k, I know that's fairly high, but these cars do run on if looked after (and I've looked after it).
Has anyone else on PH had a similar experience? The car had 3 months warranty on it when I boughtit, obviously this has run out now. However something doesn't sit right with me that this car has only lasted me 14 months.
passatman83 said:
In February 2015 I paid £3400 for a a 2006 VW Passat 2.0TDI SE Estate with 118k from a local family run used car dealer.
Car was in great condition, just what I need, with full VWSH etc. Since then I've had it serviced twice, cambelt done and all other required bits and bobs.
On Wednesday the gearbox went, the car is now undrivable, and I'm looking at quite a big bill to get it on the road. I'm self employed, and need a car, so I've hired one for 2 weeks so I can continue earning.
Questions is, do I have a case for the car dying a bit prematurely? It's now done 142k, I know that's fairly high, but these cars do run on if looked after (and I've looked after it).
Has anyone else on PH had a similar experience? The car had 3 months warranty on it when I boughtit, obviously this has run out now. However something doesn't sit right with me that this car has only lasted me 14 months.
OP - you would have been better (and cheaper) leasing something like a Golf for a couple of years if reliable+cheap transport the name of the game for you? Purchase cost, service, tax etc would have stung you more than a 2 year "rental" deal providing your not too fussed in exact specification.Car was in great condition, just what I need, with full VWSH etc. Since then I've had it serviced twice, cambelt done and all other required bits and bobs.
On Wednesday the gearbox went, the car is now undrivable, and I'm looking at quite a big bill to get it on the road. I'm self employed, and need a car, so I've hired one for 2 weeks so I can continue earning.
Questions is, do I have a case for the car dying a bit prematurely? It's now done 142k, I know that's fairly high, but these cars do run on if looked after (and I've looked after it).
Has anyone else on PH had a similar experience? The car had 3 months warranty on it when I boughtit, obviously this has run out now. However something doesn't sit right with me that this car has only lasted me 14 months.
Helicopter123 said:
OP - you would have been better (and cheaper) leasing something like a Golf for a couple of years if reliable+cheap transport the name of the game for you? Purchase cost, service, tax etc would have stung you more than a 2 year "rental" deal providing your not too fussed in exact specification.
Yes - The OP should have seen into the future, and should have known that the gearbox was so obviously going to fail on this car! 
Had the OP leased a car for a couple of years instead, then they would have ended up paying out a similar amount of money, and at the end of the lease would have nothing to show for their money.
If the OP wasn't fussed then buying a £500~£1000 junker that you could just dump and buy another one if it went seriously wrong would make more sense!
From the purchasing point of view I can understand the OP's thinking, especially if, despite the mileage, the car was still in excellent cosmetic condition, drove superbly at the time of purchase, and had obviously been looked after with the FSH from VW.
The high mileage does increase the risk of something failing on the car, and in this case, unfortunately that is what has happened.
If the OP gets a good second-hand gearbox fitted, then chances are the car will be fine for a good few more years to come, and if the OP decides to sell it in a couple of years then they'll at least get some money back from it!
CRA1G said:
Just out of interest OP says he's self employed i wonder what business he provides.?
I'm a (very busy) freelance drummer and drum teacher. Hence the Passat Estate being an ideal car for me, and also why I didn't go down the route of buying something very very cheap, as I have to make sure I'm able to be at the places I say I will be.As an update, the car is now with a local garage and I've sourced a secondhand gearbox with 3 months warranty which is being fitted this week.
I have a feeling I'll be part exchanging the Passat asap.
Gearbox cost £400, fitting will be £250-300, hire car will be £250ish. Cancelled work will have lost me around £800.
You live and learn, next time I will buy a new car, as they never go wrong.
As a little side note, this all happened at exactly the same time my relationship completely broke down - women and cars are pretty much programmed to muck me about.
Really appreciate the helpful posts, obviously I knew that I would not be getting this done for nothng, the car is 10 years old! However I am aware that when you buy something you do have certain rights, which is why I thought I'd ask on here. I don't post much (and probably won't now), but I am a big fan of the forum, and always enjoy reading through the posts.
passatman83 said:
CRA1G said:
Just out of interest OP says he's self employed i wonder what business he provides.?
I'm a (very busy) freelance drummer and drum teacher. Hence the Passat Estate being an ideal car for me, and also why I didn't go down the route of buying something very very cheap, as I have to make sure I'm able to be at the places I say I will be.As an update, the car is now with a local garage and I've sourced a secondhand gearbox with 3 months warranty which is being fitted this week.
I have a feeling I'll be part exchanging the Passat asap.
Gearbox cost £400, fitting will be £250-300, hire car will be £250ish. Cancelled work will have lost me around £800.
You live and learn, next time I will buy a new car, as they never go wrong.
As a little side note, this all happened at exactly the same time my relationship completely broke down - women and cars are pretty much programmed to muck me about.
Really appreciate the helpful posts, obviously I knew that I would not be getting this done for nothng, the car is 10 years old! However I am aware that when you buy something you do have certain rights, which is why I thought I'd ask on here. I don't post much (and probably won't now), but I am a big fan of the forum, and always enjoy reading through the posts.
SteBrown91 said:
daemon said:
Why get rid of the car if you've just got it sorted? You'll lose a fortune when you sell it and whats to say the next will be any better?
This - the car will probably be good for another 60-80k with only routine maintenance it will be fineCould anyone please help me .i bought an Audi A7 bitdi from a garage down London way. The car after a day or so driving I noticed was slipping and then revs dropping again so of this was a manual I knew it would be a clutch. But this was an auto so took it to Audi Newcastle who are great reset gearbox software and gave me it back .still was doing. Same slipping so in car went again and they dropped the oil discovered small metal prices in and said they were going to out a new gearbox in car .they HD car for about 2 weeks did this then called me to pick it up which I did .i took it about 10 seconds down the road and the engine management light came on .took it back they put a laptop to my car and it showed dpf sensor .said they would do it if I could wait an hour and half which I did .anyway was given the car back and went away .about 4 minutes down the road car lost all power of the turbo. Was doing very low speed turbo wasn't kicking in ( very dangerous as had just got into a1.sick as a chip rang Audi Newcastle who said bring it in and we'll see to it . I switched it off and then back on again and it was driving fine again .anyways Audi kept the car in for a couple days and I was informed that even though the diadnostix had showed something more serious when I took it in I can't remember something to yes I do it was the turbo actuator I'm sure they said was knackered. So I left it with them .they rang back couple days later said car was ready to pick up. And that infact it wasn't the actuator. It actually was some heat shield that Thier mechanic when putting the dpf sensor in hadn't straightened the heat shield properly and that was now corrected .now this is all within 2 months of having. A car with 12 months main manufacturers warranty remaining . Couple weeks later like a toxic smell coming in me and wife can smell and took it in to Audi . Was plastic wiring loom behind dash melted into some plastic. Took nearly 3 weeks to give me car back as this wasn't a part readily available on shelf .and I also must say when Audi rang me to say they wouldn't let me have the car back as it could have gone up in flames at anytime was a shock to me .so I decided to ring Audi uk saying its. A bad car please refund me or change car. They said they could do much as I had bought it from anothe very well established Maserati Audi dealer down London but because it isn't a direct Audi garage they really couldn't step in and help me with that garage .themselves not taking any blame but asking me to to to that garages dealer principal .had the car since Feb 2015 and am really sick now .that dealer principal was emailed and sent a letter 3 weeks agai and given 7 days to reply .told him I knew about the consumer law thing and he replied on the 6 th day saying sorry and his legal team would be in touch and heard nothing for 2 weeks now can anyone help I have pics and proof of all work carried out by Audi Newcastle who have been great . But the melted wiring loom behind the dash into the plastic holding the wires was the last straw .and Audi saying we won't give the car back without being repaired as it could catch fire anytime . Have told marshals I want to reject the car. Not getting much joy of them .audi uk don't seem much help .have threatened them with going to the press . Audi Newcastle by the way service manager and delete principal none of them had ever experienced the melted wiring loom incident ever in their experience. .please help dear good folk out there please .newcastle Westerhope guy
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