Need advice re: course of action after buying a bent car

[Osinjak]

Dan_M5 said:

You've messed with it. Any issues should of been bought up with the dealer straight away.

Oh go away. And it's 'have' not 'of' although kudos for bought instead of brought, it's usually the other way around.

[TroubledSoul]

V8LM said:

In what way is the gearbox not working as a gearbox?

If you struggle to engage a gear would you suggest that's fully working? Or are you just trolling?

Thanks to those that have offered help and useful advice. I'm going to find out what this will all cost to put right and will see how the seller reacts when I send him a quote. I'll update the thread when I have more info. Cheers

[surveyor_101]

Matt_N said:

I know it's all in hindsight, but does a breaker selling a car not ring alarm bells in the first place?

£2k under asking no it was just bargin week.

[teabelly]

How bent is bent? If it's category B write off bent then that's possibly into criminal territory but as you bought from a breaker then it makes it less cut and dried. A breaker you'd expect to be selling write offs and project cars. It's down to what they said at the time on the condition of it and what you said you were going to use it for and how much work you expected to do on it.

[dingg]

TroubledSoul said:

Thanks to those that have offered help and useful advice. I'm going to find out what this will all cost to put right and will see how the seller reacts when I send him a quote. I'll update the thread when I have more info. Cheers

if he's a typical car breaker his second word will be off - unless he's really handy and sticks a right in there as well after the fk

good luck

[anonymous-user]

Good luck with your claim, OP - do please let us know how it pans out.

Just one question regarding the 'banana' chassis: was there no evidence of the car 'pulling' to one side or wandering in any way during the test drive? If you didn't notice anything, perhaps the dealer-scrappie wasn't aware of it, either??

[AlfaRSpider]

Osinjak said:

Dan_M5 said:

You've messed with it. Any issues should of been bought up with the dealer straight away.

Oh go away. And it's 'have' not 'of' although kudos for bought instead of brought, it's usually the other way around.

Nope, should have been "brought"

[AlfaRSpider]

OP, If I were in your position, I'd be furious (more so with the dealer rather than myself). As mentioned before I think you will only have a case if this can be proven 100% to have been a trade seller rather than private. Do you have documented proof of that. Invoice with VAT number, perhaps?

[pinchmeimdreamin]

I think the OP will struggle because of the amount of work he has already had carried out on the car.
He should have gone straight back to the Dealer/Scrap yard.

[QuickQuack]

cmaguire said:

Nice to see lots sticking the boot in. I think a lot of people seem to revel in other's misfortune in some smug sort of way. Keep up the good work.

As to the car. If the guy took it to break, then unless it's a special edition (Type r etc) which you haven't mentioned then he'll have paid significantly less than £6500. I expect he paid nearer £3000 and didn't look too hard to find fault with it but probably knows it's got something to hide.
The gearbox will strengthen your case but the fact the car is bent is the biggest issue. If it were me I would go to a specialist I trust (there are plenty of specialists around as you probably know) and get a valuation based on current knowledge. I would then go back to the seller for a solution.
If he doesn't play ball I would consult a solicitor.

+1 It's blindingly obvious that it's a trade sale. I don't think you would have much difficulty in getting your way in court if it comes to it, especially as the car was advertised specifically as having a "fully working gearbox" and it blatantly isn't a fully working gearbox. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Matt_N]

Durzel said:

He said it was too good to break though? I very much doubt this a well worn sales tactic.

I did say it's all well in hindsight, but seriously, you'd take the word of a place that normal buys cars to break that all is ok?

I do hope the OP guys some resolve though as the car has clearly been mis-sold.

[Osinjak]

AlfaRSpider said:

Nope, should have been "brought"

I know, you goon.

[themanwithnoname]

I don't suppose that breaker was based somewhere on this part of the map was it?

[surveyor_101]

Clues in what the op was told, this car was for breaking but it's to good, would you like to buy it as a going concern, Spairs or repair.

It was never a sale car, now the list f repairs has exceeded the Op's expectations he wants out?

[steve-5snwi]

I'm not sure you will have much recourse with the seller, they are a car breaker and not a car dealer, they sell cars for spares or repairs or even parts.

The gearbox you might be able to challenge but I thought you said it crunched at high revs, given that most people wouldn't thrash the nuts off it to see if it crunched. The same could be said about the chassis, given you admit you know your way around these cars and yet you missed it and it was only a specialest who put it on a ramp and noticed.

It might just be worth asking the seller if they were aware of its past history and how they come about it. Good luck but you might find you will have to cut your losses and break it or sell it for spares. If something is too cheap then there is usually a reason.

[drdel]

Seems strange for a seller to specifically mention the gearbox is fully working. Why; why not say the car runs well (or something similar and general)?

Of course if the OP only found the syncro was weak at high revs & under 'racing'if might be driver inexperience/poor racing technique.

[andymc]

you do have form?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I knew I recognised the user name, in all honesty I wouldn't let you out at night let alone to buy a car

[RWD cossie wil]

cmaguire said:

Nice to see lots sticking the boot in. I think a lot of people seem to revel in other's misfortune in some smug sort of way. Keep up the good work.

As to the car. If the guy took it to break, then unless it's a special edition (Type r etc) which you haven't mentioned then he'll have paid significantly less than £6500. I expect he paid nearer £3000 and didn't look too hard to find fault with it but probably knows it's got something to hide.
The gearbox will strengthen your case but the fact the car is bent is the biggest issue. If it were me I would go to a specialist I trust (there are plenty of specialists around as you probably know) and get a valuation based on current knowledge. I would then go back to the seller for a solution.
If he doesn't play ball I would consult a solicitor.

No one is sticking the boot in, but would you buy a house without all the required legal & common sense checks? & if you did would you then moan it's soaking, subsiding, subject to numerous restrictive covenants, still on charge with another lender etc?

No of course you wouldn't! If you buy a car for any significant amount of money, if you are not 100% happy that you know what you are looking at/happy to inspect, or willing to take a punt, THEN GET IT CHECKED BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!!!!!!!

It's so much easier to sort out problems/ walk away from the car before you purchase it than try to sort it out weeks after you have had it?

The mind boggles!

[Vaud]

OP, you don't help yourself.

After 4 years+ of advice on many cars, you are still looking for the bargain that others have missed and don't do a full inspection before purchase. I have sympathy for those bitten the first time. I have sympathy when a problem is very well covered up by a dealer see that it even gets past an expert.

I would suggest that specialist/high end used car ownership is not for you, unless you can find a good indy friend.

I don't want to sound like I'm sticking the boot in, but the definition of madness is doing the same thing time and again expecting a different result. If you don't have the inspections skills, mitigate your risk by paying an expert £100 for a decent inspection, then act.

[TroubledSoul]

Oh bore off andymc.

Generally I just get worried about things so I ask advice. I definitely should have just been less sensitive on many occasions in the past and have learnt a lot about managing my expectations with old cars. Mainly from being abused on here whenever I've asked "should this be like this" or "are dealers supposed to sort that" etc.

I spent £17k on my main car to avoid such issues as I was a bit fed up of the process and bought that as approved used, it's been faultless. Older cars don't really have that luxury available and yes, I miss stuff. Sometimes my heart rules my head despite best efforts. I even accept I've done silly things many times and will accept my medicine as far as that goes. I hold my hands up.

None of that alters the fact that this car was mis-sold on the gearbox and the trader failed to disclose any accident damage does it?

It's all well and good trying to belittle people but none of those old posts have any relevance to this situation. I might be the dumbest person alive, but it doesn't change the seller being in the wrong here. Either try and help or honestly, don't bother.

I am happy to buy rough cars when spending less money because I fix most things myself. When something comes up that wasn't described and I think it's major then yeah, I'll kick up a fuss. If I don't think it's an unreasonable issue then I won't.

What about the cars I haven't posted anything like that about? The E46 I recently sold after doing a bunch of work to make it nice? The 330cd a few years ago? The numerous MR2s, the other three Subarus? All had issues but they were reasonable issues to occur on older cars so no problem.