used warranty - covered?
Discussion
A friend of mine recently bought a car 23/07/18 - just a cheap run around £800 Astra from a local dealer
On Sunday he was driving the car down the motorway, engine coolant light came on so he pulled over and lifted the bonnet. The engine was Red hot and spitting water everywhere. AA came out and had a look and basically the engine is f**ked and he is now in need of a new engine, the dealer said 'no warranty' when he bought it. Would he be covered under 'fit for purpose'?
On Sunday he was driving the car down the motorway, engine coolant light came on so he pulled over and lifted the bonnet. The engine was Red hot and spitting water everywhere. AA came out and had a look and basically the engine is f**ked and he is now in need of a new engine, the dealer said 'no warranty' when he bought it. Would he be covered under 'fit for purpose'?
Edited by m3sye on Tuesday 4th September 11:06
Unlikely - a £800 car is towards the end of it's useful life and the garage could argue (rightly or wrongly) that they continued to drive it even with the warning light on. I'd be surprised if overheating ruined the engine unless it really was driven with no coolant in it.
If it happened within a few days of purchase you might have a reasonable case but its been 6 weeks now.
That's the chance you take when you buy an old car.
If it happened within a few days of purchase you might have a reasonable case but its been 6 weeks now.
That's the chance you take when you buy an old car.
m3sye said:
Moos3h said:
An £800 car can’t be warranted to get to the end of the road, write it off and buy again - that’s bangernomics for you!
Not mine but I did say that to him , you can get a decent lease car now for £150 per month - does not make financial sense to buy bangers like this.Given its been OK for 4 weeks its unlikely it went out like that and its unfortunately just happened.
As is the way its an old banger and something has failed on it.
Is it actually knackered or can a coolant pipe be replaced, chuck in a K seal and run it again until it is really borked.
Point about lease vehicles is bang on there is always something around the £100 a month mark like a C4 cactus or such like which has got to be better than an old banger.
As is the way its an old banger and something has failed on it.
Is it actually knackered or can a coolant pipe be replaced, chuck in a K seal and run it again until it is really borked.
Point about lease vehicles is bang on there is always something around the £100 a month mark like a C4 cactus or such like which has got to be better than an old banger.
t like that happening.£800 shed? The caveat of "reasonable expectations for goods of that age/price/apparent condition" aren't going to take him very far.
Even if he did, there's going to be questions about the liability of the trader - is he responsible for the root failure (probably just a hose), or was it simply wear and tear to be expected of a car of that age? Or was it a stone through the rad, so he's completely off the hook?
Then, even if the trader is responsible for the failure, is he responsible for the damage arising from failing to stop in time...?
And, at the end of it all, how much time/effort/blood pressure does he want to put in to trying to get £800 back?
Even if he did, there's going to be questions about the liability of the trader - is he responsible for the root failure (probably just a hose), or was it simply wear and tear to be expected of a car of that age? Or was it a stone through the rad, so he's completely off the hook?
Then, even if the trader is responsible for the failure, is he responsible for the damage arising from failing to stop in time...?
And, at the end of it all, how much time/effort/blood pressure does he want to put in to trying to get £800 back?
m3sye said:
I dont think he wanted the full £800 back just a contribution along with him to the cost of fixing (his pals a mechanic and is going to fit a used engine) - he cant afford anything better at the moment.
If he's falling back on consumer law, then that's not an option.His rights - if a court determined the retailer was liable - are a full refund (since it's within 30 days), or if it was outside that time, the retailer to repair. Clearly, the retailer is unlikely to bother lobbing an engine in a shagged shed of an Astra, and would simply "write it off" by refunding - so the choice is practically refund or refund. Even if the choice was made to repair, the retailer never has any obligation to pay for other people's labour.
So he'd be relying on the retailer's goodwill to "contribute" to him getting it fixed elsewhere.
TooMany2cvs said:
If he's falling back on consumer law, then that's not an option.
His rights - if a court determined the retailer was liable - are a full refund (since it's within 30 days), or if it was outside that time, the retailer to repair. Clearly, the retailer is unlikely to bother lobbing an engine in a shagged shed of an Astra, and would simply "write it off" by refunding - so the choice is practically refund or refund. Even if the choice was made to repair, the retailer never has any obligation to pay for other people's labour.
So he'd be relying on the retailer's goodwill to "contribute" to him getting it fixed elsewhere.
Will let him know and at the same time talk him into getting a cheap lease His rights - if a court determined the retailer was liable - are a full refund (since it's within 30 days), or if it was outside that time, the retailer to repair. Clearly, the retailer is unlikely to bother lobbing an engine in a shagged shed of an Astra, and would simply "write it off" by refunding - so the choice is practically refund or refund. Even if the choice was made to repair, the retailer never has any obligation to pay for other people's labour.
So he'd be relying on the retailer's goodwill to "contribute" to him getting it fixed elsewhere.
m3sye said:
...Would he be covered under 'fit for purpose'?
The purpose of an old banger is to be an old banger. You might get a week out of it, you might get years. Your mate got a week. It is pretty sad that someone thinks that he can buy an 800 quid car and then seek compo when after a week it does exactly the sort of thing that 800 quid cars do. m3sye said:
Not mine but I did say that to him , you can get a decent lease car now for £150 per month - does not make financial sense to buy bangers like this.
But a cheap banger will likely cost less than the initial rental and not need paying for after that. Unlikely it'd need £150 a month spending on it. CaptainMorgan said:
m3sye said:
Not mine but I did say that to him , you can get a decent lease car now for £150 per month - does not make financial sense to buy bangers like this.
But a cheap banger will likely cost less than the initial rental and not need paying for after that. Unlikely it'd need £150 a month spending on it. Monkeylegend said:
But here we have conclusive proof that this is not always the case.
Nope, thats true. But if you do your research, buy a reliable car to start with then find a loved and cared for example THEN turn the car off before it cooks itself you can do quite well. Even if you buy a dog first, it's still only a few months worth of payments. Whereas witha lease your laying that money out no matter what. My aunty had an old Merc that was solid and ran well. Her brother in law talked her into getting a citroen on lease to save money. Shock horror she's spending way more each month than she was with the Merc. CaptainMorgan said:
Monkeylegend said:
But here we have conclusive proof that this is not always the case.
Nope, thats true. But if you do your research, buy a reliable car to start with then find a loved and cared for example THEN turn the car off before it cooks itself you can do quite well. Even if you buy a dog first, it's still only a few months worth of payments. Whereas witha lease your laying that money out no matter what. My aunty had an old Merc that was solid and ran well. Her brother in law talked her into getting a citroen on lease to save money. Shock horror she's spending way more each month than she was with the Merc. CaptainMorgan said:
Monkeylegend said:
But here we have conclusive proof that this is not always the case.
Nope, thats true. But if you do your research, buy a reliable car to start with then find a loved and cared for example THEN turn the car off before it cooks itself you can do quite well. Even if you buy a dog first, it's still only a few months worth of payments. Whereas witha lease your laying that money out no matter what. My aunty had an old Merc that was solid and ran well. Her brother in law talked her into getting a citroen on lease to save money. Shock horror she's spending way more each month than she was with the Merc. Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff