2nd hand car woes

[Red Studio]

Hi

 

Don't know if I'm after advice or just blowing off steam.

 

5 weeks ago I saw a car at a 2nd hand car lot that I fancied, 55 plate, turbo diesel, reasonable history and mileage. I tried it and liked it but the battery was on the way out and the dealer told me the clutch had problems when cold, making gear selection difficult. I agreed a price, paid a deposit and had him write "replace battery and repair clutch" on the receipt as part of the deal. (The clutch had already been replaced so he was blaming a slave cylinder.)

 

I agreed to pick it up in three weeks as the dealer is some distance from me and I wanted to combine the trip with another I had to do. He said the fixes would probably be done in a week or two anyway. So - after numerous phonecalls and many excuses 3 weeks came and went and no car. By this time I'm borrowing a car as mine had sold.

 

Fast forward another two weeks and many phonecalls and he arranged to meet me halfway between here and there with the car so I booked a day off work. Day before we're due to meet he phones with more excuses but says he can get it to me next day but the battery hasn't come so can I have that another time? By this point I'm desperate so say yes and book another day off - this time we meet half way, I hand over cash, and we arrange that I can pick up a battery in a few weeks. But... as I'm about to drive off he says take it easy on the way back as the clutch may need to bed in, don't go above 50 to 60, get someone to stick it on the ramp when we get back to adjust it and if it turns out not to be ok he'll refund us! I should have walked away at this point but we'd been an hour and a half in traffic and I wasn't keen to return empty handed!

 

So we set off for home, my partner driving behind. The clutch biting point seems to get lower and lower until it's pretty much on the floor before it disengages and a couple of times I can't get 2nd gear (a journey of about an hour and a half). When we arrive I tell her this and she says the exhaust was smoking a lot too. Starting to really worry! I stuck it in my garage and we went for lunch.

 

I have a piece of old kitchen worktop on the garage floor so I can see if I'm dropping oil - after just an hour and a half there is a dinner plate sized oil patch!

 

I took it to the garage that does my servicing and they put it on the lift. There is no adjustment of the hydraulic clutch and the fluid level is still fine - basically it needs the gearbox out again and either another clutch kit fitting or a new actuator fork. On top of that there is a sizeable oil leak from a hose on the engine front and another at the turbo (I'm not sure if this is connected to the smoke in the exhaust).

 

So, if anyone is still reading after this rant, I've been stupid in taking this in the first place but where do I stand legally? It's taken 5 weeks to get to this stage and the car is worse than when we first road tested it. It was part of the sales agreement that the clutch be fixed but clearly it isn't and added to that are two major oil leaks and a potential emissions problem.

 

Do I have to give him a chance to fix it and possibly wait another 5 weeks to get fobbed off again or can I return the car and demand my money back?

 

Thanks

Mitch

 

PS When I took my stuff out of the car just now I pulled a post it note out of the door pocket thinking it was the one I'd written my things not to forget on but it wasn't. It says "Almost No Clutch Be Careful".

Edited 26 May, 2017 by Red Studio

[mac11irl]

Id say you have ground for a refund on the basis that works to be done as stated on your receipt have not been done as verified by another mechanic..

[Ryeman]

Get out while (if) you can!

[davidwhite]

Hi, just caught up with this post, what was the outcome ?