bought a car "sold as seen" head gaskets gone!

[rb5230]

so anyway, i recently bought a 1999 subaru legacy(perhaps 2 weeks ago), the receipt comprehensively says offered warranty but declined, no warranty/guarantee etc, which i signed. it was from a "sort of backstreet type" dealer.

anyway, it has an oil leak which at first i though would be rocker gaskets (£200ish) which i would just do and carry on, then it seemed like it was more likely to be the rear crank seal (£500ish) which i thought oh well i`ll just get it done i suppose. but now it is certain the head gaskets are what are at fault and are both weeping oil (£900ish).

i have spoken to the dealer and he says if i get a 2nd opinion and it is 100% the head gaskets he will make a contribution (no ideal how much of a contribution) towards the repair.

what are my options? is there someone i should log he fact that i have these problems and have tried to get something done in case they try to wriggle out of any contribution? this is a bit of a sticky one for me.

thanks in advance.

[tuffer]

Take it to a garage and get it fixed or try selling it to another mug.

[rb5230]

tuffer said:

Take it to a garage and get it fixed or try selling it to another mug.

very helpful muppet.

[Muzzer]

Someone will pipe up about the SOGA in a minute and your right to reject it, which is.....subjective.

Personally, I think you bought a duffer, willingly signed your warranty away on that receipt so should pay yourself....

You knew it had an oil leak, you knew it could be something else, why try and stitch the dealer into paying?

[tuffer]

rb5230 said:

tuffer said:

Take it to a garage and get it fixed or try selling it to another mug.

very helpful muppet.

No, that is your choice. You bought it "Sold as seen" and you even signed a piece of paper saying "no warranty". There is a muppet in this thread but its not me.

[rb5230]

im pretty sure they are a registered trader, but was wondering if anyone really knew the ins and outs of something like this. i paid on a credit card etc, do i need to log the problem with citizens advice or similar?

[Kentish]

It looks like trying to save a few bob on the warranty offered by not having it has probably bitten you in the ass!

I think you are lucky the dealer is offering to cover part of the cost of repair tbh.

[road_rager]

At least you are getting a contribution, take it on the chin get it fixed and move on

[richyb]

When you say 'a sort of backstreet dealer' do you mean just someone operating out of there house and very unlikely to be registered as an official business? If thats the case I think you're up a creek unfortunately. The fact he is offering a contirbution is a good thing but I think if it goes sour you've got an up hill struggle with little hope of getting it sorted. I'd get it fixed and chalk it upto experience.

[The Wookie]

Don't get me wrong, but a signed 'sold as seen' document from a dealer is pretty much only useful for wiping one's arse with.

If there was a problem with the car that the dealer misrepresented or concealed at the time of sale then the OP is entitled to recourse. The problem of course is proving the fault was present at the time of sale.

To be honest though, if a dealer wrote that lot out for me to sign it'd ring alarm bells about the state of the car.

[rb5230]

road_rager said:

At least you are getting a contribution, take it on the chin get it fixed and move on

like i said if they want to contribute then im happy to keep the car. i just think its a bit unreasonable if they knew of the problem and have made a profit on the car and dont want to help out. so nobody know if theres anyone i should log the incident to?

its not someones house it is a work premises and is some kind of dealer albeit a small one.

[rb5230]

The Wookie said:

To be honest though, if a dealer wrote that lot out for me to sign it'd ring alarm bells about the state of the car.

it was just a standard recipt they printed up. with an option box for warranty waiver etc that was filled in.

[homerjay]

I don't know the answer and neither do some of the people replying on here.

Ring trading standards for free advice and they will give you a proper answer

[Garlick]

You signed that you were happy to take the car without warranty, claim in the title of this thread that it was 'sold as seen' too, so how is this the dealers problem? Seems very clear to me.

Get it fixed and move on IMO, taking the dealer contribution as you do so (before they change their mind!)

Good luck with it.

[tuffer]

rb5230 said:

The Wookie said:

To be honest though, if a dealer wrote that lot out for me to sign it'd ring alarm bells about the state of the car.

it was just a standard recipt they printed up. with an option box for warranty waiver etc that was filled in.

So they gave you the option of a warranty and you did not take it or they had an option to waive the warranty and you took it?

[StottyZr]

Contact trading standards and explain the situation. They will get one of there mechanics out to take a look. There is no such thing as "sold as seen" anymore. If the head gasket has gone and you purchased the car within the last 14 days it will not be fit for purpose. I believe the garage would have to foot the entire bill or take the car back off your hands with a full refund.

To save the messing about personally if he offered 50% towards the repair I'd take it.

[cmackay81]

rb5230 said:

so anyway, i recently bought a 1999 subaru legacy(perhaps 2 weeks ago), the receipt comprehensively says offered warranty but declined, no warranty/guarantee etc, which i signed. it was from a "sort of backstreet type" dealer.

anyway, it has an oil leak which at first i though would be rocker gaskets (£200ish) which i would just do and carry on, then it seemed like it was more likely to be the rear crank seal (£500ish) which i thought oh well i`ll just get it done i suppose. but now it is certain the head gaskets are what are at fault and are both weeping oil (£900ish).

i have spoken to the dealer and he says if i get a 2nd opinion and it is 100% the head gaskets he will make a contribution (no ideal how much of a contribution) towards the repair.

what are my options? is there someone i should log he fact that i have these problems and have tried to get something done in case they try to wriggle out of any contribution? this is a bit of a sticky one for me.

thanks in advance.

Phone around and try to find out if its a legit business. if so, then you're in luck and they have to shell out.

If not, then accept whatever contribution he has to make and be happy. Next time do a more thorough check on the car. If you had test driven the car and checked the oil after, a head gasket on its way out would have been apparent imo.

[Muzzer]

rb5230 said:

road_rager said:

At least you are getting a contribution, take it on the chin get it fixed and move on

like i said if they want to contribute then im happy to keep the car. i just think its a bit unreasonable if they knew of the problem and have made a profit on the car and dont want to help out. so nobody know if theres anyone i should log the incident to?

I disagree with you enormously on this

You willingly signed away the warranty and took the car sold as seen. Presumably, you saved in purchase price in comparison to an equivalent vehicle.

Now the car's gone wrong, you don't like it and are trying to get money out of the dealer. What's more, you want to report him somewhere like he's stitching you up.

You seem to know a bit about cars, evidenced from your OP where you suggest you'd have taken on the rocker cover gasket repair yourself.

Why didn't you therefore inspect the car properly when you bought it? Didn't you look for oil leaks? If the head gasket had gone, it would have been over-heating - did you test drive it properly?

If you wanted a warranty, buy one on purchase. If not, take it on the chin.

All this smacks of you throwing your toys out because you've messed up and bought something needing work.

[cmackay81]

Muzzer said:

rb5230 said:

road_rager said:

At least you are getting a contribution, take it on the chin get it fixed and move on

like i said if they want to contribute then im happy to keep the car. i just think its a bit unreasonable if they knew of the problem and have made a profit on the car and dont want to help out. so nobody know if theres anyone i should log the incident to?

I disagree with you enormously on this

You willingly signed away the warranty and took the car sold as seen. Presumably, you saved in purchase price in comparison to an equivalent vehicle.

Now the car's gone wrong, you don't like it and are trying to get money out of the dealer. What's more, you want to report him somewhere like he's stitching you up.

You seem to know a bit about cars, evidenced from your OP where you suggest you'd have taken on the rocker cover gasket repair yourself.

Why didn't you therefore inspect the car properly when you bought it? Didn't you look for oil leaks? If the head gasket had gone, it would have been over-heating - did you test drive it properly?

If you wanted a warranty, buy one on purchase. If not, take it on the chin.

All this smacks of you throwing your toys out because you've messed up and bought something needing work.

Muzzer, with respect, thats not how things work with dealers.

writing sold as seen on the receipt means nothing. Caveat Emptor applies for private sales, not to dealers.

He is entitled to a fit-for-purpose roadworthy car etc etc, blah blah, we've all heard this a million time now...

[rb5230]

homerjay said:

I don't know the answer and neither do some of the people replying on here.

Ring trading standards for free advice and they will give you a proper answer

It would seem you are one of the few in here who knows what they are talking about. i have contacted trading standards, they say that "sold as seen" holds no weight and is fact illegal to put, i have to get an independant inspection done which i have booked in locally at 4:30pm, to say what the problem is and what the likely cause is, if then it is apparent that it was there as the time of sale they are obliged to either offer a full repair, a contributon towards a repair, an exchange vehicle or a refund.

we will se how it goes. like i said a contribution of perhaps 50% of the total repair would be enough for me. thanks.