Is it legal for a dealer to sell a car without warranty?

[Deisel Weisel]

I phoned the dealer to ask a few questions about the used car he was advertising on PH, and finished by asking about the warranty, and he said there wasn’t any. It's not a 'spares or repair'.

Edited by Deisel Weisel on Monday 19th April 20:40

[kambites]

As I understand it, it is not legal.

[Soovy]

They don't have to provide a warranty but they are covered by the requirements of the law, which they cannot escape, even by issuing a "sold as seen" receipt.

Car must be of merchantable quality and safe, basically.

[SClarke]

Dealer is subject to statutory/consumer rights but no minimum warranty is required by law on a used car. You do have to ask yourself the question whether it is a wise place to purchase from however!

[uk89camaro]

Legal requirement or not, the last two 2nd hand cars I've purchased over teh last 3 years came with a 3 month warranty, and I used the existing one to fix £1,500 of intake problems, and he didn't kick up a fuss.

Ya pays yer money and takes yer choice really.

[MondeoMan1981]

"Spares or repair"
"Trade sale"
"No warranty"
"Selling for a customer"

All phrases used by some in the trade in an attempt to get round their obligations. Selling for a customer is sometimes genuine though...

[reggie82]

Yes.

"Once a trader gives a warranty it becomes an agreement on its own, but it is not your legal right to demand a warranty from the trader."

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/before_you_buy/th...

[V6Alfisti]

I always thought that regardless of implied warranty you had a basic set of compulsory rights when buying from a dealer.

This I believed to be, any non wear/tear failure in the first 6 months (unless the dealer could prove that the failure/weakness wasn't there at the point of sale).

[Balmoral Green]

The dealer doesn't have to include a warranty. An insurance underwritten warranty could be purchased or negotiated as part of the deal though, for 12/24/36 months. However if there is no warranty, you do have your statutory rights, which is in effect a warranty initially, at least for the first 3 months. Statutory rights are just that, statutory, they cannot be waived by the dealer writing something on the paperwork.

[davidjpowell]

Dealer not providing a warranty is their look out. You keep your statutory rights, and if the engine goes bang dealer is on the hook instead of warranty company.

[markcjd]

MondeoMan1981 said:

"Spares or repair"
"Trade sale"
"No warranty"
"Selling for a customer"

These mean nothing. As said the legal rights afforded to a buyer cannot be signed away.

MondeoMan1981 said:

for a customer is sometimes genuine though...

Do you mean that a garage selling on behalf of a customer can avoid SOGA etc? I don't think that is the case as the dealer would still be offering a product for sale AND is in the business of doing so.

It is worth remembering that SOGA relies on definitions of "Reasonable" in the eyes of the common person. Buy a £200 shed from a back street trader and your rights will be severely limited by comparison to an £8k car from a main dealer.

[confused_buyer]

A dealer cannot normally avoid the Sale of Goods Act. However, do not assume that any implied "warranty" under the sale of goods act is the same as an all covering warranty (if there is ever such a thing on a used car anyway).

[confused_buyer]

Balmoral Green said:

, which is in effect a warranty initially, at least for the first 3 months. Statutory rights are just that, statutory, they cannot be waived by the dealer writing something on the paperwork.

It depends on what you consider to be a warranty. If the engine blows up then unless the car was very cheap then yes, there is a statutory warranty to a degree. However, many things on older cars such as electric windows going on the blink, ABS sensors, audio equipment etc. which may be covered on a proper warranty are very difficult to argue out on statutory rights on anything but a fairly new car.