Second Hand Car Issues/Advice
Discussion
Hi all,
Looking for some advice or possibly some perspective. On Saturday I picked up a 2014 Audi A3 SE diesel auto. 91,000 miles, decent but not full service history, minor service carried out along with MOT before sale (no advisories on last 3 MOTs). Car is from a dealer who has all positive reviews from just about a hundred left on Google.
Car is mostly clean, a few minor scratches and chips but generally good condition for a 12 year old car. Interior also very clean and in good condition with no rips, or scratches anywhere. No parcel shelf but that’s £50 on eBay if it bothers me. No smoke, rattles, noises or other concerns from a cold start up. Price is £5,200. Having done my research before looking at it, the price is about right for the age/mileage/spec according to Autotrader
After collecting it a week after test driving it, at a set of lights about half a mile from the dealer, I turned on the lights and got a bong from the dash to say the rear right tail/fog light had gone. Annoying, but a 12 year old car. Bought a new bulb on the way home for £2 so decided to move on.
When I got home from collection, I selected reverse, there was a long beep but nothing further from the reversing sensors. These worked on test drive as I reverse parked it back in its spot and they worked fine. I checked the menu and the parking sensors just say “system currently not available”. Quick google suggests cleaning them and if that doesn’t work, there’s likely a connection issue or blown fuse.
I was poking around the boot, opened a side panel and noticed it was wet in there. Looked like some trim around the rear light cluster was not seated correctly so I unscrewed the unit, refitted the trim and made a note to keep an eye on it. The dealer had it cleaned between test drive and collection so assumed a jet wash was used and water had got in. Thought that might explain the blown bulb and parking sensors too
Later on I took it out in the rain, rear wiper and wash doesn’t work. Didn’t check on test drive as it wasn’t raining. Check online, it’s a common fault. It’s a 12 year old car. Annoying. £150-£200 to fix, I don’t have the tools or confidence to replace myself. Checked the wet area, it hadn’t got worse despite a few solid hours of rain.
Sunday afternoon I was fitting a phone holder and put the ignition on to test it was charging via 12v adapter. Noticed a metallic whine so got out, it’s coming from the front left of the bumper, right side as you face it. Google it, seems to be a common issue, happens with just ignition on and with the engine running so probably not the water pump bearing but some auxiliary pump/motor bearing on its last legs. £150-£200 to fix. This was definitely not present when I looked at the car, I specifically started the car and slowly walked around it to check for any noises or smoke.
Driving home from work this evening, I put the heater on and after about 15 minutes I realised the vents on the drivers side are still blowing cold while the passenger side is blowing warm. Google it when I get home, common issue, 3 possible causes, cost varies between £80 to recalibrate the system, £4-600 for a heater matrix replacement, most common issue is about £150-£200 to fix
Every morning and evening I check behind the boot panel and it’s now dry despite the weather all week. There is a chance the wiper and parking sensors are due to a blown fuse after water getting behind the trim so was planning on buying some fuses and having a look at them on Saturday to see if that sorted them. But the heater and whiney bearing are not fuse issues by the looks of it.
This is my commuter car so I will be doing 400 miles a week in it. A properly working heater is pretty important and having to pay around £600 to fix three separate issues is an annoyance I could do without.
Am I expecting too much from a 2014, £5k car with 91,000 miles under it? Or would asking the garage to look at these to fix them be reasonable? I am happy to call them or even take it back in on Saturday, but I’m just trying to feel out if I need to accept these as common faults and it’s buyer beware?
I paid the deposit on credit card and balance on debit card if that helps or matters.
Looking for some advice or possibly some perspective. On Saturday I picked up a 2014 Audi A3 SE diesel auto. 91,000 miles, decent but not full service history, minor service carried out along with MOT before sale (no advisories on last 3 MOTs). Car is from a dealer who has all positive reviews from just about a hundred left on Google.
Car is mostly clean, a few minor scratches and chips but generally good condition for a 12 year old car. Interior also very clean and in good condition with no rips, or scratches anywhere. No parcel shelf but that’s £50 on eBay if it bothers me. No smoke, rattles, noises or other concerns from a cold start up. Price is £5,200. Having done my research before looking at it, the price is about right for the age/mileage/spec according to Autotrader
After collecting it a week after test driving it, at a set of lights about half a mile from the dealer, I turned on the lights and got a bong from the dash to say the rear right tail/fog light had gone. Annoying, but a 12 year old car. Bought a new bulb on the way home for £2 so decided to move on.
When I got home from collection, I selected reverse, there was a long beep but nothing further from the reversing sensors. These worked on test drive as I reverse parked it back in its spot and they worked fine. I checked the menu and the parking sensors just say “system currently not available”. Quick google suggests cleaning them and if that doesn’t work, there’s likely a connection issue or blown fuse.
I was poking around the boot, opened a side panel and noticed it was wet in there. Looked like some trim around the rear light cluster was not seated correctly so I unscrewed the unit, refitted the trim and made a note to keep an eye on it. The dealer had it cleaned between test drive and collection so assumed a jet wash was used and water had got in. Thought that might explain the blown bulb and parking sensors too
Later on I took it out in the rain, rear wiper and wash doesn’t work. Didn’t check on test drive as it wasn’t raining. Check online, it’s a common fault. It’s a 12 year old car. Annoying. £150-£200 to fix, I don’t have the tools or confidence to replace myself. Checked the wet area, it hadn’t got worse despite a few solid hours of rain.
Sunday afternoon I was fitting a phone holder and put the ignition on to test it was charging via 12v adapter. Noticed a metallic whine so got out, it’s coming from the front left of the bumper, right side as you face it. Google it, seems to be a common issue, happens with just ignition on and with the engine running so probably not the water pump bearing but some auxiliary pump/motor bearing on its last legs. £150-£200 to fix. This was definitely not present when I looked at the car, I specifically started the car and slowly walked around it to check for any noises or smoke.
Driving home from work this evening, I put the heater on and after about 15 minutes I realised the vents on the drivers side are still blowing cold while the passenger side is blowing warm. Google it when I get home, common issue, 3 possible causes, cost varies between £80 to recalibrate the system, £4-600 for a heater matrix replacement, most common issue is about £150-£200 to fix
Every morning and evening I check behind the boot panel and it’s now dry despite the weather all week. There is a chance the wiper and parking sensors are due to a blown fuse after water getting behind the trim so was planning on buying some fuses and having a look at them on Saturday to see if that sorted them. But the heater and whiney bearing are not fuse issues by the looks of it.
This is my commuter car so I will be doing 400 miles a week in it. A properly working heater is pretty important and having to pay around £600 to fix three separate issues is an annoyance I could do without.
Am I expecting too much from a 2014, £5k car with 91,000 miles under it? Or would asking the garage to look at these to fix them be reasonable? I am happy to call them or even take it back in on Saturday, but I’m just trying to feel out if I need to accept these as common faults and it’s buyer beware?
I paid the deposit on credit card and balance on debit card if that helps or matters.
Google "CRA 2015 buying a used car" and read up on your rights. Also as you've paid a deposit by credit card you have rights under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act so check that out too.
Always good to be informed as to your consumer rights so you know what your options are but talk to the dealer first to see how they respond.
Always good to be informed as to your consumer rights so you know what your options are but talk to the dealer first to see how they respond.
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