Bought Car with Faults - What is the Dealer Responsible For?

[adamtbray]

I bought a car two months ago which has developed two separate faults and wanted to have a second opinion to see if I'm being reasonable. The car is a 9 year old Passat just shy of 100k miles so not a new car by any means.

The car has developed a fault with the DPF (blocked), needed a new glow plug and DPF clean and may need a new DPF as its been fully blocked with carbon due to the engine management being on. Almost as soon as I bough the car the DPF regen was on and came on at least twice in two months which seemed a lot indicating there was an issue there already.

Also, the brake calipers have seized up, the pads are therefore locked on and have completely worn down and also damaged the discs on the rear and there's now a broken leaf spring on the rear suspension. The car did have an MOT before being put on sale but neither issues were identified - brakes seizing indicates poor maintenance like water in the brake fluid doesn't it?

The car came with a 6 months RAC warranty, which may cover me for some bits but the glow plug and brakes may not be covered as they are classed as consumables.

Does anyone know my rights here? I know it says anything where the fault was present at sale - am I just being unlucky with buying a lemon with these issues two months after purchase or should I try and bill the dealer to fix any of this?

[119]

adamtbray said:

I bought a car two months ago which has developed two separate faults and wanted to have a second opinion to see if I'm being reasonable. The car is a 9 year old Passat just shy of 100k miles so not a new car by any means.

The car has developed a fault with the DPF (blocked), needed a new glow plug and DPF clean and may need a new DPF as its been fully blocked with carbon due to the engine management being on. Almost as soon as I bough the car the DPF regen was on and came on at least twice in two months which seemed a lot indicating there was an issue there already.

Also, the brake calipers have seized up, the pads are therefore locked on and have completely worn down and also damaged the discs on the rear and there's now a broken leaf spring on the rear suspension. The car did have an MOT before being put on sale but neither issues were identified - brakes seizing indicates poor maintenance like water in the brake fluid doesn't it?

The car came with a 6 months RAC warranty, which may cover me for some bits but the glow plug and brakes may not be covered as they are classed as consumables.

Does anyone know my rights here? I know it says anything where the fault was present at sale - am I just being unlucky with buying a lemon with these issues two months after purchase or should I try and bill the dealer to fix any of this?

What did the dealer say?

[SAS Tom]

Passat’s don’t have leaf springs?

[ZX10R NIN]

Speak to the dealer in regards to all the faults & go from there.

[matchmaker]

SAS Tom said:

Passat’s don’t have leaf springs?

What was the last car with leaf springs?

[Huzzah]

matchmaker said:

SAS Tom said:

Passat’s don’t have leaf springs?

What was the last car with leaf springs?

Some yanks had them until realative recently, but transverse. Otherwise Lada Niva maybe.

[adamtbray]

ZX10R NIN said:

Speak to the dealer in regards to all the faults & go from there.

Is the dealer likely to be liable for any of this though? I have already sent them an email but no response as yet. Could I just bill them for the garage bill? The garage has already billed me 250 to clean the DPF and want another £150 as they don't have a good enough code reader to force it to regenerate properly after the chemical clean and a VW specialist is coming down with another reader - may still be in for a new DPF at this rate which would be covered by warranty but still 350 quid out of my own pocket!

Then there's the brakes which I don't know still if I'll be liable for new calipers along with discs and pads..

matchmaker said:

What was the last car with leaf springs?

Yes don't know why I said leaf I meant coil spring - weird as the rear shocks were replaced at last MOT but it was a Halfords Autocentre that told me and the picture they sent doesn't look conclusive.

[HorneyMX5]

I'd argue none of that is warranty. DPF and brakes are all wear and tear items sadly.

[WPA]

HorneyMX5 said:

I'd argue none of that is warranty. DPF and brakes are all wear and tear items sadly.

This, not warranty but wear and tear

[Liamjrhodes]

matchmaker said:

What was the last car with leaf springs?

Don't some of the recent offerings from Volvo have leaf springs at the rear?

[adamtbray]

WPA said:

This, not warranty but wear and tear

Apparently DPF is covered if structural. I have to pay to have it cleaned but warranty will cover replacement. Still 350-400 quid for DPF cleaning etc is a big out-of-pocket expense!

[vaud]

If you have given the go ahead for work without talking to the dealer/trader then I think you will struggle.

[InitialDave]

Huzzah said:

Some yanks had them until realative recently, but transverse. Otherwise Lada Niva maybe.

Not relevant to the thread tbh, but Nivas have always been coils as far as I know.

[adamtbray]

vaud said:

If you have given the go ahead for work without talking to the dealer/trader then I think you will struggle.

I called on Tuesday and the lady said he was in Spain until Friday and unable to respond. I need my car fixing unfortunately.

Can I not bill the dealer and pursue through a small claims? Am I being unreasonable to expect a dealer to cover any of this?

[alabbasi]

You can try blaming the dealer but it's probably not their fault. All they do is buy and sell used cars. They can either sell them 'as seen' or with warranty. The warranty terms will be in the bill of sale.
It sounds like he included an RAC warranty. Did you contact them?

[andy43]

I’d argue the callipers aren’t consumables so should be covered but everything else is just 9 year old diesel wear and tear.

[Silenoz]

adamtbray said:

vaud said:

If you have given the go ahead for work without talking to the dealer/trader then I think you will struggle.

I called on Tuesday and the lady said he was in Spain until Friday and unable to respond. I need my car fixing unfortunately.

Can I not bill the dealer and pursue through a small claims? Am I being unreasonable to expect a dealer to cover any of this?

Yes you are being unreasonable. You've bought a 9 year old car that's done the equivalent of 4 times round the world. Mechanical things wear out with use, and need to be maintained/ replaced at periodic intervals. If you want a less maintenance-intensive ownership experience then you need to buy a new car I'm afraid. Old cars need money spending on them, and often things come in threes as you're experiencing.

[valiant]

It’s over 30 days so you should be calling your warranty company. Check the small print but callipers may be covered but subsequent pads and discs won’t. That’ll be on you I’m afraid.

You may get a contribution from the dealer towards the DPF but you should have really notified them before carrying out works as he he can claim that the garage you used was too expensive or work unneeded before being allowed to inspect it.

[blue_haddock]

adamtbray said:

WPA said:

This, not warranty but wear and tear

Apparently DPF is covered if structural. I have to pay to have it cleaned but warranty will cover replacement. Still 350-400 quid for DPF cleaning etc is a big out-of-pocket expense!

a DPF is not part of the structure of the vehicle.

They can also get blocked due to only driving short distances so its more of an issue with your driving style rather than an actual fault.

It needs a decent run with plenty of revs to give the dpf a chance to do a regen.

[aturnick54]

blue_haddock said:

a DPF is not part of the structure of the vehicle.

They can also get blocked due to only driving short distances so its more of an issue with your driving style rather than an actual fault.

It needs a decent run with plenty of revs to give the dpf a chance to do a regen.

Not always the case though. If the pressure sensor is dodgy or there's a blockage in the exhaust, the DPF will become blocked if it's giving false readings. That has nothing to do with the driving style, and in this case is caused by a fault with the vehicle.