New (to me) car is smokey - where do I stand?
Discussion
I recently bought a car (not new, but new to me), and it's a bit smokey. It came with a full MOT from the garage / car dealer, however, it is embarrassingly smokey. It's a 2003 Volvo XC70 with the D5 diesel engine. It's black smoke, so it could be something as dumb as a split intercooler hose, OR it could be the turbo, shagged piston rings, intercooler or injectors. None of which are particularly cheap to replace.
The car has 183k miles, so I'd expect it to be a little smokey after stabbing the throttle sharply. However, it's smokey all the time. It's more apparent when at low speeds, and always smokes, no matter the throttle position, engine speed or engine load. I've had the car approximately 1 week.
Where do I stand with the garage and getting them to rectify the smokey-ness. It wasn't sold to me as a smokey car, or with any known problems.
Thanks,
Chaz.
The car has 183k miles, so I'd expect it to be a little smokey after stabbing the throttle sharply. However, it's smokey all the time. It's more apparent when at low speeds, and always smokes, no matter the throttle position, engine speed or engine load. I've had the car approximately 1 week.
Where do I stand with the garage and getting them to rectify the smokey-ness. It wasn't sold to me as a smokey car, or with any known problems.
Thanks,
Chaz.
Chaz9950 said:
Why does the mileage have anything to do with the smokey-ness of the car? It was sold as a fully working, fully legal car. And I strongly suspect should a policeman follow me, I'd be pulled over for driving a car which is unsuitable for use on public roads...
Yeah, it's that bad.
How long had you owned it before it went from 'a bit smokey' to 'mot failure'.Yeah, it's that bad.
A ten year old high mileage car isn't going to come with much if a guarantee/warantee unless it's a particularly mint/expensive model.
The mileage is relevant as it hints to the quality of the car which you knew about before you bought it.
That is to say, you knew it was a high mileage smokey diesel when you bought it - it was always likely to get worse.
1000foot said:
If it was smoking that badly , you wonder how it passed the mot smoke test................
If it's smoking that badly I suggest a visit to Specsavers as you didn't notice it on the test drive.When was the MOT, if it was a few months ago the vehicle may have deteriorated in that time.
Chaz9950 said:
Why does the mileage have anything to do with the smokey-ness of the car? It was sold as a fully working, fully legal car. And I strongly suspect should a policeman follow me, I'd be pulled over for driving a car which is unsuitable for use on public roads...
Yeah, it's that bad.
>Sigh<Yeah, it's that bad.
Was it smoking that badly when you bought it? If yes, why did you buy it?
If no, it's clearly a fault that has just developed, correct? Which means it wasn't there when it was MOT'd, correct?
The point about the mileage is at 183k you'd be hard pressed to claim recourse from whom you purchased the car as that would be deemed as a mileage at which point things (mechanically) may start going wrong.
Like smokiness.*
*Smokeyness? Ah, whichever
Prizam said:
Buys the cheapest XC70 he can find with over 180k on the clock...
Complains that its a smokey diesel.
Cheers for the constructive post...Complains that its a smokey diesel.
Anyway, I'm not scared of buying high-mileage cars, and it wouldn't worry me if it was a LITTLE smokey. But the fact is, it's a little bit anti-social to be driving around. I test-drove it in the pouring rain, so I couldn't really see, and in any case, it's not bad enough to see out of the rear-view mirror when the engine isn't fully warm.
I guess I'll take the inlet manifold / plenum off, clean out everything from the EGR valve, change all the filters and oils and see what happens. If it's still bad, I guess I'll make a call to the garage. Worst case is, they tell me to 'do one', best case is, they'll rectify. Don't ask, don't get, right?
Also, I have a 2006 BMW 520d, which has 160k miles on it. I've had it for about 40k miles, and it's not had an easy time at all... I don't exactly race it around, but it's certainly not driven on it's idle speed, and that doesn't smoke at all, ever. I've followed it (being driven hard) and it never smoked. On our smoke tester, it gave a reading of 0.00 (the machine isn't busted - it's just a clean car I guess).
So, I call BS to anyone who says ''it's an old motor - what did you expect??' - no matter the age of the diesel, it shouldn't be smokey. Our non-turbo, 30 year old crappy diesel work trucks don't smoke as much with 300k+ miles on!
So, I call BS to anyone who says ''it's an old motor - what did you expect??' - no matter the age of the diesel, it shouldn't be smokey. Our non-turbo, 30 year old crappy diesel work trucks don't smoke as much with 300k+ miles on!
We're not saying all old diesels are smokey.
What we're saying is that from a soga point of view an old high mileage diesel with unknown history might be smokey, and it's down to the buyer to make sure they are happy with the condition of the car before they buy it.
And, there's unlikely to be any comeback at all if it gets very smokey any more than a few weeks after buying it.
What we're saying is that from a soga point of view an old high mileage diesel with unknown history might be smokey, and it's down to the buyer to make sure they are happy with the condition of the car before they buy it.
And, there's unlikely to be any comeback at all if it gets very smokey any more than a few weeks after buying it.
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