So ive learnt a hard lesson in car ownership. Bought a fabia vrs pd130 car from a back street garage and after 2 weeks found out it has head gasket failure or the cylinder head has cracked and the turbo needs replacing. Anyway they wont let me return the car but offered to repair, now i dont trust them at all to repair as they lied about fixing a puncture so god knows what else they would lie about, it is also 90 miles away so a risk to drive that far with the current issues.

So i have a few choices:

Drive to garage at the cost of 50 quid as ill have to get the train back, and trust them fixing it properly (unlikely).

We buy any car it and keep my current car.

Trade it in for another car (get more for trade in but pay more for another car)

Pay for repairs (between 1250-1950) depending if the heads cracked or not.

My question is what would you do?? Im going to lose 1500-2000 no matter what i do :(

I'd have them repair the car and sell it as fast as I can.

I dont think they would repair, i was thinking k seal for gasket and sell as sold as seen

Id take it back & let them repair it,tell them you want it fixed not bodged otherwise you will take further action,for £50 outlay this is better than trading it/selling sold as seen & taking a massive money loss.If its fixed properly then you will have a good car.

I hear so many stories about people getting "apparent fixes" from the dealer only for the problem to resurface a week later, it will cost me 100 in total to take it down and go back to pick it up

I know you are quite new to the site but you didn't answer question asked on your older thread.

Have you been in touch wit CAB at all.

Are you sure the turbo needs replacing. Does it smoke a lot or is it noisy?

 

Have you checked your rights under the sale of goods act?

Yes i spoke to them, they said send a letter of rejection and if they refuse take them to small claims which from what ive read on google takes about 6 months and you might not win and end up paying thier court fees.

And the turbo, the mechanic stated it had a lot of play in when checking and it does have a sort of owl/siren noise when you let off throttle

You can legally reject the vehicle for something that big...especially in such a short time. As gas been said in your previous thread. Tbh I doubt the garage would let it get to court as it would lose and have to pay costs etc. As soon as they get the letter advising them of court they will refund.

i sent a letter saying if they wont let me reject i will go to court but when i told them on phone i sent it and wanted a refund he said fine to taking him to court

That's fine then. The court will easily find in your favour I'd expect.

At the moment they are just seeing your letter / conversation as an idle threat, get the ball rolling with court action and as soon as they see an official letter things may start to happen.

 

However, be aware that any action you take against them could result in them winding up the business, or the business may not have sufficient funds to repay you a refund. In the first case you'll end up with nothing, and the latter you may well get your money but it could take a long time to show up. Even if it makes it to court there is no guarantee you'll get any money, even if successful (which you would be).

 

As for the car, well the decision is yours but adding K Seal could make things a whole lot worse than they already are. WBAC will go over the car with a fine tooth comb both externally and mechanically, and the price you end up with could a LOT less than you think. Selling a faulty car privately could see you and/or your family receiving threats once the purchaser finds out, depending on the type of person you sell to.

The first stages of the Small Claims Court don't cost you anything other than some postage.

You fill out the form stating your position and send it off. The garage has to respond within 28 days (?). If not then to take it further you have to upfront some cash in order to proceed to the next stage.

The chances are you will win, the system seems to err to the side of the consumer.

The difficulties could be, having "won", how do you get your cash from the scumbags. There does not seem to be the power to force a payment. But this should be easier (unless they declare bankruptcy) as it should be treated like a debt collection.

Should you win, all costs are down to the other side.

Watch "Here come the sheriff's" on BBC. They don't pay..expect two big blokes turning up at the garage seizing goods to the value of your loss until they pay. Seems the high court can demand payment.

Any dealer/trader has legal obligations.

Take him to court if he's refusing to budge, but I THINK you have to give him an opportunity to fix it first if that's what he's offered.

 

Sorry, but I don't do bar room legal advice, but I would suggest you go and see a solicitor for some free initial advice before making your move.

Edited 16 August, 201411 yr by Mr Ree

Funnily enough, my vRS ALLEGEDLY had a blown cylinder head gasket too....according to the knob that bought it off me for a 'free 4 day test drive' in May.

 

It was in fact K Seal in the header tank that I'D put in, 5 years earlier to cure an extremely small and occasional drip from the bottom of the rad.

 

As I knew he was spouting absolute crap, I GLADLY gave him his money back, as I didn't really want to sell it in the first place truth be known. 

I take it 'flaunt'  is a Typo.  and it is 'Punt It'

 

Did you check with CAB / Trading Standards on your rights, act as they suggested, 

& see about getting the car back to them.

 

??

How much is your Mechanic Quoting to carry out the work required, replace turbo & cylinder head gasket & any additional work, considering he has already had the Turbo off.?

(did he do a pressure test on the head.)

 

george

I take it 'flaunt' is a Typo. and it is 'Punt It'

Did you check with CAB / Trading Standards on your rights, act as they suggested,

& see about getting the car back to them.

??

How much is your Mechanic Quoting to carry out the work required, replace turbo & cylinder head gasket & any additional work, considering he has already had the Turbo off.?

(did he do a pressure test on the head.)

george

my mechanic is quoting 1250-1950, yes i did they werent massively helpful to be honest just said send a recorded letter to them, but because they have offered to repair i dont know where i will stand, i dont at all trust them to repair it and could cost me 100 quid just to find this out which i why i want to reject, ive done less than 500 miles since i bought it

my mechanic is quoting 1250-1950, yes i did they werent massively helpful to be honest just said send a recorded letter to them, but because they have offered to repair i dont know where i will stand, i dont at all trust them to repair it and could cost me 100 quid just to find this out which i why i want to reject, ive done less than 500 miles since i bought it

Do you have the same rights to reject as you would if it was purchased new though I wonder?

Do you have the same rights to reject as you would if it was purchased new though I wonder?

what do you mean?

A NEW car can be rejected if the dealership can't fix it after a given number of attempts, but I'm not sure if the same rule can be applied to a 2nd hand car.

 

Someone more knowledgeable on this subject may know the legal side of this one

Take it back,give them one chance to fix it correctly,if they dont then take them to court,the fact that its going to cost you £50 each way in travelling is irelavant,sadly thats the chance you take buying a secondhand car thats a distance away from where you live. Sorry if that sounds harsh but it was your choice to travel to this garage to buy this car.

I believe that prior to rejection they have to be given the chance to rectify an issue, as they have offered to do this then I guess you'll have to give them the chance.

I believe that prior to rejection they have to be given the chance to rectify an issue, as they have offered to do this then I guess you'll have to give them the chance.

So ive already said i want to reject and not repair, can i go back on my word and agree to let them repair?