Used Car Woes Purchased from a Dealer - What would you do?
Discussion
My wife set me the task of finding us a "cheap", reliable runaround as a second car for fairly low mileage (3-4k miles/year). I completely missed the brief, and bought a '61 plate Citroen DS3 Racing for 6,200 from a small dealer (yeah, I know 
). I paid 6,100 by bank transfer, 100 on a credit card.
At the time of collection, the car had a parking sensor fault which the dealer claimed was a simple sensor swap and I could either take the car then and there and get the sensor replaced under the 6 month warranty that came with the car, or they would repair the fault and I could return later in the week to collect the car. As the dealer was a lengthy drive from my house, I opted to take the car and get the sensor repaired later.
I also noted water in the headlight, which I was told would clear after 10 minutes of using the headlights (hmm, I've probably been a bit naive with this one - it hasn't, and a repair is beyond my capabilities).
So far in my 2 week ownership:
- Day 2 - flat tyre. Turns out car was sold with a slow puncture, elected to swap all tyres for Michelin PS4s and get the tracking done ( 650).
- Day 3 - flat tyre (different tyre). Tyre valve has corroded and leaking air. It's not your normal tyre valve (it's bent), so it's proving a nightmare to get fixed - seems as though it needs to go to a Citroen dealer to be resolved);
- Day 10 - parking sensor issue is in fact an electrical fault and needs to go to an auto-electrician (so I suspect it won't be covered under warranty). Headlights flicker after car is turned off, so suspect it's related...
I've spent 700 on the car with tyres and mats, so I'm loathed to send the car back, but I'm already losing faith in what is already a temperamental car (I knew what I was getting into with the engine).
WWYD in this scenario? Suck it up? Expect dealer to pay for electrical fault to be fixed? Attempt to return the car to dealer? Other?
Needless to say, wife is going crazy and I am quickly getting fed up of dropping the car off at garages...!
). I paid 6,100 by bank transfer, 100 on a credit card.At the time of collection, the car had a parking sensor fault which the dealer claimed was a simple sensor swap and I could either take the car then and there and get the sensor replaced under the 6 month warranty that came with the car, or they would repair the fault and I could return later in the week to collect the car. As the dealer was a lengthy drive from my house, I opted to take the car and get the sensor repaired later.
I also noted water in the headlight, which I was told would clear after 10 minutes of using the headlights (hmm, I've probably been a bit naive with this one - it hasn't, and a repair is beyond my capabilities).
So far in my 2 week ownership:
- Day 2 - flat tyre. Turns out car was sold with a slow puncture, elected to swap all tyres for Michelin PS4s and get the tracking done ( 650).
- Day 3 - flat tyre (different tyre). Tyre valve has corroded and leaking air. It's not your normal tyre valve (it's bent), so it's proving a nightmare to get fixed - seems as though it needs to go to a Citroen dealer to be resolved);
- Day 10 - parking sensor issue is in fact an electrical fault and needs to go to an auto-electrician (so I suspect it won't be covered under warranty). Headlights flicker after car is turned off, so suspect it's related...
I've spent 700 on the car with tyres and mats, so I'm loathed to send the car back, but I'm already losing faith in what is already a temperamental car (I knew what I was getting into with the engine).
WWYD in this scenario? Suck it up? Expect dealer to pay for electrical fault to be fixed? Attempt to return the car to dealer? Other?
Needless to say, wife is going crazy and I am quickly getting fed up of dropping the car off at garages...!
Edited by Fiisch on Tuesday 24th May 10:53
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