Problems with used car from non-franchsied garage
Discussion
Hi All
I'm looking for somne advice / guidance.
In Jan 2013 I purchased a 2009 Audi A4 from a very large independant garage/car supermarket. The car had done 113k with Full Audi History and I paid just over £10k.
On the way home (about 350 miles) the oil light came on. I topped it up and over the next few weeks, it became apparant that the car had quite a thirst for oil, using 1l approx. every 400-500 miles. After a little research, it seemed that this particular engine (2.0 T FSI) does use oil so that kind of eased my concerns a little as i thought that as long as the problem didn't get worse that was something I could live with. Gradually over the last 7 months that I've owned the car, the problem has got worse and its now down to about 300 miles every 1l of oil.
I decided to book the car into my local Audi garage to see what could be done - They've diagnosed it as the bores being heavily scored, resulting in the need for a new engine, priced at roughly £8,5000 for parts and labour, including VAT. Although the car is well out of warranty with both age and mileage, initial talks have suggested they will meet around £5,600 of the cost, leaving approx. £2,900 to be paid.
The garage I bought the car from were awful to deal with, and thats part of the reason I've never contacted them again since I bought the car (that and the fact that they're 350 miles away from me). However, as the problem has got worse, I think I now need to approach them to see what can be done. I'm fully expecting them to ignore me/deny all responsibility because that seems like the kind of company they are from my initial dealings with them and other reviews I've read on-line.
I know that as I've had the car over 6 months, the onus would be on me to prove that the fault was present when I bought it. I don't have much in the way of proof though except for possibly the following 3 things: 1) Receipts for oil since I've pretty much owned the car (usually bought as several litres at a time), 2) Details of my postings on another forum which I've updated regularly on the problem from about 4 weeks after I bought the car and 3) an email I sent to Audi UK in April 2013 regarding the problem.
I'm really after some advice on how it may be best to proceed with this and all comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I'm looking for somne advice / guidance.
In Jan 2013 I purchased a 2009 Audi A4 from a very large independant garage/car supermarket. The car had done 113k with Full Audi History and I paid just over £10k.
On the way home (about 350 miles) the oil light came on. I topped it up and over the next few weeks, it became apparant that the car had quite a thirst for oil, using 1l approx. every 400-500 miles. After a little research, it seemed that this particular engine (2.0 T FSI) does use oil so that kind of eased my concerns a little as i thought that as long as the problem didn't get worse that was something I could live with. Gradually over the last 7 months that I've owned the car, the problem has got worse and its now down to about 300 miles every 1l of oil.
I decided to book the car into my local Audi garage to see what could be done - They've diagnosed it as the bores being heavily scored, resulting in the need for a new engine, priced at roughly £8,5000 for parts and labour, including VAT. Although the car is well out of warranty with both age and mileage, initial talks have suggested they will meet around £5,600 of the cost, leaving approx. £2,900 to be paid.
The garage I bought the car from were awful to deal with, and thats part of the reason I've never contacted them again since I bought the car (that and the fact that they're 350 miles away from me). However, as the problem has got worse, I think I now need to approach them to see what can be done. I'm fully expecting them to ignore me/deny all responsibility because that seems like the kind of company they are from my initial dealings with them and other reviews I've read on-line.
I know that as I've had the car over 6 months, the onus would be on me to prove that the fault was present when I bought it. I don't have much in the way of proof though except for possibly the following 3 things: 1) Receipts for oil since I've pretty much owned the car (usually bought as several litres at a time), 2) Details of my postings on another forum which I've updated regularly on the problem from about 4 weeks after I bought the car and 3) an email I sent to Audi UK in April 2013 regarding the problem.
I'm really after some advice on how it may be best to proceed with this and all comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
DubZeus said:
There's a good portal here: http://sogahub.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
Op - read up your rights and act accordingly.
Rudders16v said:
In Jan 2013 I purchased a 2009 Audi A4 from an independent garage.
The car had done 113k with Full Audi History and I paid just over £10k.
need for a new engine, priced at roughly £8,5000
IMO if you can get a new engine installed for £2,900 you've done well. I'd make sure you have full details of the faults/repair, get it fixed and then make a "small claims online" against the garage which sold it to you. Even if you don't win anything you've had no real hassle and end up with a brand new engine which should last you another 100,000+.The car had done 113k with Full Audi History and I paid just over £10k.
need for a new engine, priced at roughly £8,5000
There is some risk in this although as you're under the Small Claims threshold and costs are not ordinarily payable, the risk is not high.
A Court might take the view that satisfactory quality for a car with 113k on it means "it fits in the crusher it is clearly ready for."
I don't personally agree but given that the car was presumably as described and fit for purpose (i.e., it could legally and safely be driven on the road) then the only SOGA point you have is the question as to whether it is of satisfactory quality.
A Court might take the view that satisfactory quality for a car with 113k on it means "it fits in the crusher it is clearly ready for."
I don't personally agree but given that the car was presumably as described and fit for purpose (i.e., it could legally and safely be driven on the road) then the only SOGA point you have is the question as to whether it is of satisfactory quality.
I get your point about £2,900 being a good price when the total repair should be £8,500, but it's still a lot of money to spend. Do you think it'd be unrealistic for me to expect the garage to pay at least half of the cost along with me?
I certainly wouldn't want to go ahead with the repair and then take action incase I didn't get anywhere. As it stands at the moment, I'd rather sell the car as it is (it still drives well and has no 'obvious' problem), and then buy a replacement for similar money - although obviously this doesn't solve the problem, it just passes it onto someone else which isn't something I'd like to do as I don't think thats how things should be done.
I certainly wouldn't want to go ahead with the repair and then take action incase I didn't get anywhere. As it stands at the moment, I'd rather sell the car as it is (it still drives well and has no 'obvious' problem), and then buy a replacement for similar money - although obviously this doesn't solve the problem, it just passes it onto someone else which isn't something I'd like to do as I don't think thats how things should be done.
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