Anyone got stung with buying a used car?
Discussion
Bought a Nissan 350z a few years back , noticed the oil pressure was a little lower than it should be but it was low mileage and was due a service and also past experience told me that Nissan oil sensors are often pretty pony , however the pressure was indeed low, it turned out to be a failure of a gasket inside the engine , not terminal but a significant bill £2k+ , annoying as the car was just out of warranty but came clean to a Nissan dealer and took the hit trading it on for a 370z (with warranty)
HTP99 said:
a classic case of being asked for advice and said advice being totally ignored.
I regularly get asked for car buying advice from family members. I've started to write it down and get them to sign a copy. Obviously just as a joke and not for any legal reasons, but it's nice to have it to look back on six months after they've completely ignored the advice and are complaining about the car I 'helped them to buy'.A couple I know got scammed out of about £17,000 for a Golf GTi Anniversary edition a few years ago.
It was horrendous. They paid cash for it, private sale, HPI checked it, it had the V5 with it etc.
Got it home and they hadn't had it long before the police and finance company came knocking and took it back off them.
Absolutely awful for them, they had been saving up and wanted to treat themselves to a nice car and this was something they really wanted. £17,000 was a LOT of money to them.
It was a few years ago now and they still haven't recovered from the experience or the loss of money.
It was horrendous. They paid cash for it, private sale, HPI checked it, it had the V5 with it etc.
Got it home and they hadn't had it long before the police and finance company came knocking and took it back off them.
Absolutely awful for them, they had been saving up and wanted to treat themselves to a nice car and this was something they really wanted. £17,000 was a LOT of money to them.
It was a few years ago now and they still haven't recovered from the experience or the loss of money.
Yes. My girlfriend at the time had just moved in. Her horrible 1974 Beetle decided to pack in for the umteenth time and we needed a car pronto. I broke all the rules with this one. I viewed it with a mate who knew nothing about cars and was more interested in when I could take it than the details, I trusted folk back then. It was quite highly spec'd for what it was. Anyway, ignoring the odd mark here and there, then missing several really big warning signs, I left a deposit on the £2000 asking price.
The warning signs;
Being naive I contacted the Police, they would help, right? What followed would form my opinion of that bunch for the rest of my life. Initially I was interviewed, for what I never understood It was as if I had something to do with it! Then there was a wait of approximately 4 weeks before an inspection at a local station. On the day I drove to the station quite willingly and handed over the keys to the Police mechanic before heading off to the waiting room. IIRC it was about an hour, no tea, no coffee, no nothing...later that some desk officer said
'The car is stolen and we are impounding the vehicle. Can you collect your personal items. You are free to go'
How the f
k I was 'free to go' was up for some debate. My car removed, my girlfriend 25 miles away who needed to be picked up from work within the hour and me standing outside a Pollice station in the rain with various cassettes, cuddly toys and assorted crap. The cheeky bds suggested I get a cab, or call someone, my option was to complain and not stop complaining until they drove me home.
I contacted the other guys who rank just a smidgen higher on the st scale than the Police to discuss my options. Insurance companies are a very clever bunch. They take a premium to insure you against a loss, supposedly it is a risk that they pay very clever people to work out. At least that is how my early 20's mind was telling me how the industry worked? With this car being a ringer they just laughed and said tough st. So, the Police and the insurance companies, total sthouses and not to be trusted. It gets worse, much worse.
The seller was approached in the meantime and he made all sorts of comments, he didn't know, was selling for a mate, etc, etc. I recorded all the conversations and passed them to the useless sods as it was going to go to court. The Police said they'd raid his place, it never happened.
A letter came through from the CPS asking me if I would testify against this piece of crap, I jumped at the chance. Surely this would mean the money, inconvenience and hell we had gone through would be compensated, life would be normal again, we'd have a replacement car and could forget about the whole thing.
On the day I was there with my father. The first thing I was told was that this guy had 40 odd convictions for motor theft, but I couldn't mention it. I also couldn't mention the fact that they had brought this guy from prison to stand trial, on a count of vehicle theft! Good start. On the stand I was questioned by this horrible woman who tried to make out I was in with the whole thing, it was quite surreal. I was warned once by the judge for mentioning that there was only one criminal in the room, the trial was almost stopped. I felt like the one in the wrong, it was a pretty raw and disgusting experience and left me wondering why the hell I had bothered? After the trial and before the sentencing I was walking around outside and the lovely lady who been giving me all this crap walked passed me. I asked her how the hell she slept at night defending these guys, not even a flinch. Let's add Solicitors to the st list from this point forward. My name and address was read out in court with all of his family there, a family well known in the area, I was livid. The fact I had to sit in the same room with them and defend myself made me itch.
So. Fast forward to the sentence itself. They gave him 24 months, to run concurrently with the 24 months he was already serving...yes, that meant he served 24 months in total. fking brilliant. The Police were delighted with the ruling, claimed it was a success and thanked me for my help. What happened next though was just the icing on the cake.
Throughout the process 'my' car was impounded it had been stated that whilst I couldn't sell it, if it was not under a claim for salvage or repossession it remained mine. I was assured that it would be returned, it wasn't a great thing but it was something at least. It made the loan that had been taken out for it in the first place was at least serving a purpose other than smacking me in the face for 36 months, reminding me what a pillock I had been!
After the stress of the trial we went away for a long weekend. The Tuesday we came back I called the Police and was told the car had been sold for salvage. It was gone. The DC was nowhere to be found, assigned to another case they said. I took it to the IPCC, or whatever it was called at the time. A further few months of going over e v e r y t h i n g again and I was given an apology. Oh, I was also sent £50 compensation, that gave me a warm glow inside!
So in closing all I have to say is;
20+ years ago. Blimey.
The warning signs;
- The windows had been etched really poorly.
- The steering wheel was at a jaunty angle, when questioned a 'friend' from within the house shouted across 'It's got a fking MOT aint it?'
- Odd marks on the wings, some rattle can overspray in strange places
- A much higher spec than the logbook would suggest
Being naive I contacted the Police, they would help, right? What followed would form my opinion of that bunch for the rest of my life. Initially I was interviewed, for what I never understood It was as if I had something to do with it! Then there was a wait of approximately 4 weeks before an inspection at a local station. On the day I drove to the station quite willingly and handed over the keys to the Police mechanic before heading off to the waiting room. IIRC it was about an hour, no tea, no coffee, no nothing...later that some desk officer said
'The car is stolen and we are impounding the vehicle. Can you collect your personal items. You are free to go'
How the f
k I was 'free to go' was up for some debate. My car removed, my girlfriend 25 miles away who needed to be picked up from work within the hour and me standing outside a Pollice station in the rain with various cassettes, cuddly toys and assorted crap. The cheeky bds suggested I get a cab, or call someone, my option was to complain and not stop complaining until they drove me home. I contacted the other guys who rank just a smidgen higher on the s
t scale than the Police to discuss my options. Insurance companies are a very clever bunch. They take a premium to insure you against a loss, supposedly it is a risk that they pay very clever people to work out. At least that is how my early 20's mind was telling me how the industry worked? With this car being a ringer they just laughed and said tough st. So, the Police and the insurance companies, total sthouses and not to be trusted. It gets worse, much worse. The seller was approached in the meantime and he made all sorts of comments, he didn't know, was selling for a mate, etc, etc. I recorded all the conversations and passed them to the useless sods as it was going to go to court. The Police said they'd raid his place, it never happened.
A letter came through from the CPS asking me if I would testify against this piece of crap, I jumped at the chance. Surely this would mean the money, inconvenience and hell we had gone through would be compensated, life would be normal again, we'd have a replacement car and could forget about the whole thing.
On the day I was there with my father. The first thing I was told was that this guy had 40 odd convictions for motor theft, but I couldn't mention it. I also couldn't mention the fact that they had brought this guy from prison to stand trial, on a count of vehicle theft! Good start. On the stand I was questioned by this horrible woman who tried to make out I was in with the whole thing, it was quite surreal. I was warned once by the judge for mentioning that there was only one criminal in the room, the trial was almost stopped. I felt like the one in the wrong, it was a pretty raw and disgusting experience and left me wondering why the hell I had bothered? After the trial and before the sentencing I was walking around outside and the lovely lady who been giving me all this crap walked passed me. I asked her how the hell she slept at night defending these guys, not even a flinch. Let's add Solicitors to the s
t list from this point forward. My name and address was read out in court with all of his family there, a family well known in the area, I was livid. The fact I had to sit in the same room with them and defend myself made me itch.So. Fast forward to the sentence itself. They gave him 24 months, to run concurrently with the 24 months he was already serving...yes, that meant he served 24 months in total. f
king brilliant. The Police were delighted with the ruling, claimed it was a success and thanked me for my help. What happened next though was just the icing on the cake.Throughout the process 'my' car was impounded it had been stated that whilst I couldn't sell it, if it was not under a claim for salvage or repossession it remained mine. I was assured that it would be returned, it wasn't a great thing but it was something at least. It made the loan that had been taken out for it in the first place was at least serving a purpose other than smacking me in the face for 36 months, reminding me what a pillock I had been!
After the stress of the trial we went away for a long weekend. The Tuesday we came back I called the Police and was told the car had been sold for salvage. It was gone. The DC was nowhere to be found, assigned to another case they said. I took it to the IPCC, or whatever it was called at the time. A further few months of going over e v e r y t h i n g again and I was given an apology. Oh, I was also sent £50 compensation, that gave me a warm glow inside!
So in closing all I have to say is;
- Don't be young and foolish
- Do not expect the Police to help you, they are fking hopeless
- Do not put any faith in the justice system, it is wired for defence solicitors and criminals to exploit, not the general public
- Insurance companies should be kept at arms length at all times, do not involve them in anything unless you absolutely have to do so
20+ years ago. Blimey.
I've bought a few with "issues" that were missed or ignored in the urge to get the deal done...
A Fiat 124 Special T with most of the rear floor missing!
A MG Midget with serious bulkhead corrosion issues...It actually wasn't mine, but I advised/bought it for a friend..
A Triumph Dolomite Sprint with just about every issue...rust, headgasket, warped head, propshaft donuts, diff...and more
Those were all bought without actually seeing/knowing about the issues...
More recently I bought a BMW E34 525iX Touring with a manual 'box, without viewing, on eBay based on a description that it was in good condition but not MoT'd.
It turned out that almost every gaiter needed replacement and the front lollypop bushes and rear subframe bushes needed doing...even so, it was still a good price.
I also bought a Datsun 260Z 2+2 that I knew required some welding and paint and a Sunbeam Alpine Mk5 that needed a full restoration...The Alpine was a non-moving wreck on a driveway in London...when we arrived to look at it (advertised at £200) there was someone else also viewing and we ended up bidding £300 to buy it!
A Fiat 124 Special T with most of the rear floor missing!
A MG Midget with serious bulkhead corrosion issues...It actually wasn't mine, but I advised/bought it for a friend..
A Triumph Dolomite Sprint with just about every issue...rust, headgasket, warped head, propshaft donuts, diff...and more
Those were all bought without actually seeing/knowing about the issues...
More recently I bought a BMW E34 525iX Touring with a manual 'box, without viewing, on eBay based on a description that it was in good condition but not MoT'd.
It turned out that almost every gaiter needed replacement and the front lollypop bushes and rear subframe bushes needed doing...even so, it was still a good price.
I also bought a Datsun 260Z 2+2 that I knew required some welding and paint and a Sunbeam Alpine Mk5 that needed a full restoration...The Alpine was a non-moving wreck on a driveway in London...when we arrived to look at it (advertised at £200) there was someone else also viewing and we ended up bidding £300 to buy it!
I bought a Rover 200 from an elderly guy for a pittance. Low mileage, excellent bodywork etc.
It was great apart from the fact that his dog seemed to have lived on the back seat, and stank.
I assumed the smell would go with a good shampoo and clean and hoover, but it never did. Even several years later, on hot days the smell on returning to the car was enough to make you gag.
It was great apart from the fact that his dog seemed to have lived on the back seat, and stank.
I assumed the smell would go with a good shampoo and clean and hoover, but it never did. Even several years later, on hot days the smell on returning to the car was enough to make you gag.
Not stung exactly, because it was and is a great bike and I still have it, but I'll never forget what happened shortly after buying my Aprilia SL1000 Falco *from an Aprilia dealership no less*... it had been owned by one of the lads in the workshop, super low mileage and really clean and well looked after (so I thought). I had subsequently noticed a very slight vibration when braking from high speeds and was thinking the discs were maybe slightly warped, annoying but not the end of the world. I was proceeding without much caution at leptons into 3 figures when I noticed that the top nut that connects the front suspension (and by extension, the front wheel) to the frame had ejected itself from the bike and the only thing keeping the front forks attached to the bike was the weight of the bike/rider and the washer which was still there flapping about on the threads. Needless to say, leathers were befouled...
Quite a few spring to mind,
1st Faux Pas - I was young, inexperienced and it was my first performance car. My friend had persuaded me to go French, a Renault Clio 1.8 16v. (the Willams shape). Paid decent money for it, low mileage, mint, loads of history.
Got it home, back to the very same friends house where his dad pipes up "that's my mates car, I was following that a few months back when it was t-boned by a Landrover" fk sake.
The years that followed included paint flaking showing a red rear quarter, head gasket failure, all engine mounts failing spectacularly and impressively blowing the gearbox and both driveshafts at the same time. Ended up putting about £10k into that car where it was eventually swapped for a 1.0 VW Polo
2nd wasn't that bad, but got carried away with a sale, a Black Polo GT, very low mileage and looked fabulous in the advert, mint photo's, description and history. Ensued a bidding war on the car and I mistakenly viewed that very night, in the rain so I didn't miss out to someone else.
Morning after, every panel was dented, scratched and well beyond a simple detail. Underside wasn't the best - I learned a valuable lesson, low mileage isn't everything. To be fair, the car drove great and I had a lot of fun with it - just paid over the odds for it.
3rd - Corrado G60. As a bit of history I had just had a car stolen and needed a mechanically reliable car pronto. Found an advert for a ex show winner (3rd place) which was taken off the road a few years back with the aim of getting 2nd or 1st place the following year, that never happened and after years of re-building the thing, he sold up. The car had been practically rebuilt, everything was brand new where the only thing letting it down was the bodywork, the only mileage out on the car was to the MOT station every year (for about 4 years).
2 hours into a 4 hour drive home and the water temps rise drastically and the headgasket pops, massive delay for the AA, getting dropped off at a closed service station till early hours in the morning where I was put on a trailer and driven home. 5am return.
Turns out a tiny bit of plastic had cracked off a water flange blocking a water channel in the head which popped the gasket and cracked the head. After lots of research into the chaps forum identity turns out he knew about the over heating a year or so previously and just removed the thermostat as a temp fix, cheers pal. To be fair on the chap, he sent me a spare engine as a way of apology which then turned out to be a group A engine with load of trick bits. Winner. After a few other cooling failures (all the radiator plastics were new, but never used so went brittle) were sorted the car was reliable as hell, but ended up breaking as it was more rotten than he had let on. Ended up breaking it for about three times than it owed me.
1st Faux Pas - I was young, inexperienced and it was my first performance car. My friend had persuaded me to go French, a Renault Clio 1.8 16v. (the Willams shape). Paid decent money for it, low mileage, mint, loads of history.
Got it home, back to the very same friends house where his dad pipes up "that's my mates car, I was following that a few months back when it was t-boned by a Landrover" f
k sake.The years that followed included paint flaking showing a red rear quarter, head gasket failure, all engine mounts failing spectacularly and impressively blowing the gearbox and both driveshafts at the same time. Ended up putting about £10k into that car where it was eventually swapped for a 1.0 VW Polo
2nd wasn't that bad, but got carried away with a sale, a Black Polo GT, very low mileage and looked fabulous in the advert, mint photo's, description and history. Ensued a bidding war on the car and I mistakenly viewed that very night, in the rain so I didn't miss out to someone else.
Morning after, every panel was dented, scratched and well beyond a simple detail. Underside wasn't the best - I learned a valuable lesson, low mileage isn't everything. To be fair, the car drove great and I had a lot of fun with it - just paid over the odds for it.
3rd - Corrado G60. As a bit of history I had just had a car stolen and needed a mechanically reliable car pronto. Found an advert for a ex show winner (3rd place) which was taken off the road a few years back with the aim of getting 2nd or 1st place the following year, that never happened and after years of re-building the thing, he sold up. The car had been practically rebuilt, everything was brand new where the only thing letting it down was the bodywork, the only mileage out on the car was to the MOT station every year (for about 4 years).
2 hours into a 4 hour drive home and the water temps rise drastically and the headgasket pops, massive delay for the AA, getting dropped off at a closed service station till early hours in the morning where I was put on a trailer and driven home. 5am return.
Turns out a tiny bit of plastic had cracked off a water flange blocking a water channel in the head which popped the gasket and cracked the head. After lots of research into the chaps forum identity turns out he knew about the over heating a year or so previously and just removed the thermostat as a temp fix, cheers pal. To be fair on the chap, he sent me a spare engine as a way of apology which then turned out to be a group A engine with load of trick bits. Winner. After a few other cooling failures (all the radiator plastics were new, but never used so went brittle) were sorted the car was reliable as hell, but ended up breaking as it was more rotten than he had let on. Ended up breaking it for about three times than it owed me.
Edited by pseudonym on Monday 23 January 12:30
Ahhh... my Boxster's thread. 
Bought a nice Boxster S from a local dealer a few years back. Drove the car and it went well enough, was decent condition and the dealer had fixed a few things before I picked it up. All good.
Didn't use the car much over the winter, so it was about 4 months later that I first noticed the HUGE explosions of white smoke out the back when giving it some. Thought I'd blown the engine. There then followed several months of trying to find the problem, AOS, oil/water heat exchanger, etc... It turned out to be a cracked cylinder head eventually - £2.5k to get a second hand cyclinder head fitted.
The irritating thing was that at least two previous owners had tried to fix it, must have realised it was uneconomical to do and had shifted the car on pronto. If I hadn't already spent some serious money and time on non-engine fixes and upgrades I'd have scrapped it myself.
To be fair I've still got the car, it still looks brand new and drives beautifully, but it owes me twice what I could ever sell it for!
Not really a lesson learnt, just one of those things that can happen, but I would very closely check the coolant tank contents on a Boxster if I was ever buying another!
Bought a nice Boxster S from a local dealer a few years back. Drove the car and it went well enough, was decent condition and the dealer had fixed a few things before I picked it up. All good.
Didn't use the car much over the winter, so it was about 4 months later that I first noticed the HUGE explosions of white smoke out the back when giving it some. Thought I'd blown the engine. There then followed several months of trying to find the problem, AOS, oil/water heat exchanger, etc... It turned out to be a cracked cylinder head eventually - £2.5k to get a second hand cyclinder head fitted.
The irritating thing was that at least two previous owners had tried to fix it, must have realised it was uneconomical to do and had shifted the car on pronto. If I hadn't already spent some serious money and time on non-engine fixes and upgrades I'd have scrapped it myself.
To be fair I've still got the car, it still looks brand new and drives beautifully, but it owes me twice what I could ever sell it for!
Not really a lesson learnt, just one of those things that can happen, but I would very closely check the coolant tank contents on a Boxster if I was ever buying another!
Almost got stung buying a two year old Japanese MPV. As I was about to commit I asked the dealer again about the car's provenance. He then coughed up that it was a personal import, bought by an armed forces person serving in Germany. Not a huge deal but it meant the manufacturer's warranty was inferior to a UK supplied vehicle. I backed out as he would not throw in a third year's warranty to compensate. Luckily found one privately for £2k less a few weeks later.
About ten years ago, I bought a mk2 Rev 1 Toyota MR2 turbo. I was living in Southampton at the time and travelled all the way to Cumbria to view the car. By the time I got there it was late, dark and cold - not ideal conditions for viewing a car. Heart got the better of my head and ended up buying it there and then.
What a mistake!
Car was an absolute pup. Firstly, a warning light appeared within several miles of my journey (turned out to be a fault with the catalytic converter/de-cat). Then when I took a closer look at everything the next day, I noticed the paintwork was in pretty poor condition. A few weeks later I noticed there was some pretty serious play in the turbo's shaft and general issues with the running of the engine. And to top it all off the suspension was absolutely knackered.
These days I'm much more thorough about checking the provenance of a car before purchasing (or at least I like to think I am).
What a mistake!
Car was an absolute pup. Firstly, a warning light appeared within several miles of my journey (turned out to be a fault with the catalytic converter/de-cat). Then when I took a closer look at everything the next day, I noticed the paintwork was in pretty poor condition. A few weeks later I noticed there was some pretty serious play in the turbo's shaft and general issues with the running of the engine. And to top it all off the suspension was absolutely knackered.
These days I'm much more thorough about checking the provenance of a car before purchasing (or at least I like to think I am).
Two experiences spring to mind:
First was when I was 19 and reckless and desperately wanted a Beetle; I'd always loved them since I was about 3-4 my mum said. Bought a 1967 1500 Cal-look from a guy in the next town that a friend vaguely knew. Bought it in the dark and he chucked in a load of spares; towel-rail bumpers, a spare bonnet, other bits and bobs. I used it as a daily driver but for one week every month it would be back at the local Beetle specialists having something fixed. It needed a lot of TLC in the form of welding mainly.
Coincidentally it used to belong to the owner but that was years and years before I ended up with it. I wasn't earning a fortune and it was too old and cost too much to run so I sold it 6 months later for what I paid (luckily). I did love it and I met some great people on the scene (especially the stunning Louise...) so it wasn't all bad.
Second was more recent, March last year. Bought a 2007 Audi A4 3.2 quattro S-line tiptronic for my wife. This was in budget and i think nearly every option box had been ticked; sat nav, Bose, Audi Exclusive interior in leather, DRLs, heated seats, Bluetooth, ipod connection, tiptronic auto with flappy paddles, adpative lighting, 'see you home' lighting function, multi-function steering wheel, voice control etc...
I couldn't find another like it so traipsed from Norfolk to Newcastle to buy it. Owner said he'd had a stainless steel exhaust put on which I thought would be a piece of cake to change back to stock... I was wrong. Not only had the exhaust place he used done a bad job, they'd cut the cats off too. Plus the underside was peppered with corrosion and heatshields, undertrays etc had been chewed through or werent there. The underneath had taken a hammering basically.
Audi wanted nearly £4500 for a new exhaust and none the high street places could get one on account of it being a rare(ish) model. I was on here moaning about it when somebody mentioned Longlife Exhausts. There is a franchise not too far away so for £3000 less than Audi wanted, it now has a decent exhaust complete with cats. It's now in the garage having new brake pipes all round, rear discs, lower suspension arms, new bushes, new shocks, two new year tyres... I do love it though.
First was when I was 19 and reckless and desperately wanted a Beetle; I'd always loved them since I was about 3-4 my mum said. Bought a 1967 1500 Cal-look from a guy in the next town that a friend vaguely knew. Bought it in the dark and he chucked in a load of spares; towel-rail bumpers, a spare bonnet, other bits and bobs. I used it as a daily driver but for one week every month it would be back at the local Beetle specialists having something fixed. It needed a lot of TLC in the form of welding mainly.
Coincidentally it used to belong to the owner but that was years and years before I ended up with it. I wasn't earning a fortune and it was too old and cost too much to run so I sold it 6 months later for what I paid (luckily). I did love it and I met some great people on the scene (especially the stunning Louise...) so it wasn't all bad.
Second was more recent, March last year. Bought a 2007 Audi A4 3.2 quattro S-line tiptronic for my wife. This was in budget and i think nearly every option box had been ticked; sat nav, Bose, Audi Exclusive interior in leather, DRLs, heated seats, Bluetooth, ipod connection, tiptronic auto with flappy paddles, adpative lighting, 'see you home' lighting function, multi-function steering wheel, voice control etc...
I couldn't find another like it so traipsed from Norfolk to Newcastle to buy it. Owner said he'd had a stainless steel exhaust put on which I thought would be a piece of cake to change back to stock... I was wrong. Not only had the exhaust place he used done a bad job, they'd cut the cats off too. Plus the underside was peppered with corrosion and heatshields, undertrays etc had been chewed through or werent there. The underneath had taken a hammering basically.
Audi wanted nearly £4500 for a new exhaust and none the high street places could get one on account of it being a rare(ish) model. I was on here moaning about it when somebody mentioned Longlife Exhausts. There is a franchise not too far away so for £3000 less than Audi wanted, it now has a decent exhaust complete with cats. It's now in the garage having new brake pipes all round, rear discs, lower suspension arms, new bushes, new shocks, two new year tyres... I do love it though.
Edited by DrSteveBrule on Monday 23 January 13:45
Edited by DrSteveBrule on Monday 23 January 13:49
Bought a 306 GTI-6 private, full service history, stacks of receipts and a active forum member, it seemed like the ideal car. I travelled half way across the country and bought it, however the drive home turned bad. After about 50 mile, a warning like came on the dash while I was in the outside lane of a busy motorway. By the time I got to the hard shoulder the engine had cut out. Long story short, the sump plug had fell out and the car had dumped its entire oil content over the outside lane of the M25. I got the car recovered and spoke with the seller who was shocked. He got in touch with the garage (I won't name) who carried out its last service and they argued the car could have messed with after they had it, but agreed to fit a replacement engine FOC if we sourced the engine. Seller and I went halfs on a new engine and was all sorted.
Kept that car for about 8 years, was ultra reliable after that and did various trackdays and ring trips. I then sold it to my best man who kept it for another few years, without issue. Now it's with someone who messages me on Facebook and still going strong, on 110k now I think.
Current car, Mondeo Ecoboost 240, turbo failed after 2 months but that was all sorted FOC under warranty. Car has full Ford history again though and only covered 49k at turbo failure. Now on 61k and no issues.
Kept that car for about 8 years, was ultra reliable after that and did various trackdays and ring trips. I then sold it to my best man who kept it for another few years, without issue. Now it's with someone who messages me on Facebook and still going strong, on 110k now I think.
Current car, Mondeo Ecoboost 240, turbo failed after 2 months but that was all sorted FOC under warranty. Car has full Ford history again though and only covered 49k at turbo failure. Now on 61k and no issues.
I bought a used 996 Carrera 2 from well-known indie in 2004.
I'll be honest, I took my eye off the ball here, I'd just split up from a long-term relationship, was busy moving house, didn't really research what I was buying as much as I should have. I was actually looking for 993s but couldn't find one at my money, so got talked into a 996 by said dealer. I didn't do my research as to problems with the model.
Within the first three months of ownership it dumped its coolant on my driveway, rear main oil seal went, and as a kicker the gearbox blew. Fortunately all of this was covered under warranty, but I couldn't get out of that car fast enough once it was back with me. Sold on at a loss but I had just fallen out of love with it.
Sadly I'd waited all my life to own a Porsche, but that experience tainted my trust in the brand forever. I'd have to be so rich that money was no object to persuade me back into some Stuttgart metal now. So yeah, stung by a lemon, not so much a seller.
I'll be honest, I took my eye off the ball here, I'd just split up from a long-term relationship, was busy moving house, didn't really research what I was buying as much as I should have. I was actually looking for 993s but couldn't find one at my money, so got talked into a 996 by said dealer. I didn't do my research as to problems with the model.
Within the first three months of ownership it dumped its coolant on my driveway, rear main oil seal went, and as a kicker the gearbox blew. Fortunately all of this was covered under warranty, but I couldn't get out of that car fast enough once it was back with me. Sold on at a loss but I had just fallen out of love with it.
Sadly I'd waited all my life to own a Porsche, but that experience tainted my trust in the brand forever. I'd have to be so rich that money was no object to persuade me back into some Stuttgart metal now. So yeah, stung by a lemon, not so much a seller.
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