I bought a second hand Skoda Fabia Hatchback 16v Comfort in the beginning of September this year. It is on an 02 plate.

It had approx 60,000 miles on it. I paid £5000 for it.

The car was given its 60,000 mile service just before I took possession of it. The garage also put it through its MOT the day before I picked it up.

It comes with 1 years warranty.

The car now has 64,000 miles.

A couple of weeks after I bought the car I started to hear a banging noise coming from the front, as well as this the engine management light came on. I took the car into the garage, where they quite happily took it in & replaced the anti-roll bar, they reset the warning light and said that it may come back on, but not to worry about it. They insisted that I have a courtesy car at no cost to myself, which I was quite impressed with.

In the last week or so a few other problems have occurred with the car. When accelerating in second, there was a whirring noise. It did not occur with any other gear. As well as this, there was another knocking noise coming from the front and the car engine was missing.

Today I took the car into the garage to get these problems sorted out. I was informed that the gearbox would need to be stripped to find the problem and that the warranty may not cover it. The knocking noise has been put down to a bush on the suspension, this is defiantly not covered by the warranty as it does say so. The engine missing was put down to bad plugs & leads and that they would need replacing. This would not be covered by the warranty either.

As it stands, I have told them not to do the work on the plugs, leads & bushes until we know if the gearbox is covered by the warranty. This was mainly to buy some time as I really do not feel I should have to pay for the plugs & leads (I believe they are quite expensive on Skoda's as they are not the same as the standard ones found on most cars), as they should of been checked in the service.

I am wondering if I have been sold a duff car. To me a car which costs £5000 should not be having these sort of problems within such a short time span (even 12 months would seem quite excessive tbh). The fact that the car was given its 60,000 mile service and its MOT, makes me wonder if the service actually took place. Surely the plugs & leads would not deteriorate in 4000 miles & surely the plugs and leads should of been checked. As well as this deterioration in suspension bushes would surely be evident at this point in time (I know that it possible that this would not be the case). Also, would the anti-roll bar not be part of the MOT & service checks?

I would like to know where you guys think I stand legally.

One of my thoughts is that I may have a case that the garage has not met the standards expected in the Sale of Goods Act (section 14). As I do not feel that the car is not up to satisfactory quality, especially for the price paid. I specifically went to a garage & paid more that the potential value of the car, in the hope that I would receive a better standard car. I went to a proper Skoda dealership in the hope that they would have to maintain a suitable standard.

I also feel that I should not have to pay for items which should of been checked in the service. To be honest I feel that a service was not carried out at all or if it was, problems found were not acted upon. It is my feeling that the engine management light being on continuously probably was saying that the plugs & leads were in need of a change

Please let me know where you think I stand as I'm at the end of my tether. I bought the car as I am a window cleaner and I wanted to buy a car which is more reliable than my previous one so that I would not miss any more days work. This is why I was willing to pay so much for the car. I am now going to miss a full weeks work, just before XMAS, on top of the 4 days work I lost with the problem concerning the anti-roll bar.

i'd be a bit upset if my engine was missing too

haha, nice1. A bit of humour can help when feeling down.

Maybe try the consumer action group forum, they have a section for garage services and car dealers. They should be able to offer some advice about legal stuff. How long have you had the car, how long is it into the warranty ?

Have you tried trading standards? May be worth giving them a call, Good luck with it friend

I think the sale of goods act only covers new items, otherwise you'd never be able to sell old cars!

Phil

push it downt the road and fire it! :eek:

Only kidding, I would give trading standards a ring..... the departement in leeds were very interested in my case when my car kept warping brake discs and the dealer said they wernt covered by warrenty..

Hi thnx for advice guys. I'm also on the counsumer action forums & here is some advice from there. I'm posting here as others may benefit from it.

Trading Standards Website:

Used Cars - consumer rights

The Law

When you buy goods from a trader, you enter into a legally binding contract governed by the Sale of Goods Act 1979, as amended by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002. The law gives buyer and seller rights and responsibilities and applies to the sale of used cars in the same way as to other goods. When you buy from a trader, you have the right to expect the car to be:

of satisfactory quality;

fit for its purpose, including any particular purpose made known, and

as described.

The law defines goods as being of ‘satisfactory quality’ if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory – taking the description of the goods into account, the price (if relevant) and all other relevant circumstances. So, when you have bought a used car, you must consider its age, the price you paid, the description which was applied to it and anything else which is relevant when deciding whether it is of satisfactory quality. Your expectations should be different when you are buying a low mileage, two-year-old car than when you are buying a high mileage, ten-year-old one, for example. However, it must still be:

fit to be used on the road;

in a condition which reflects its age and price, and

reasonably reliable.

When you buy as a consumer from a motor trader, your legal rights under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 cannot be taken away or reduced. An example of an attempt to do so is a notice such as ‘sold as seen’. Such phrases are meaningless and cannot alter your rights. If you see a sign of this type, report it to Consumer Direct on 08454 040506. A warranty or guarantee can only be given in addition to your legal rights, not instead of them. You can take legal action under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 for up to six years after the date of the contract, but it is unrealistic to consider legal action for defects on used cars – especially older vehicles – once you have had them in use for a reasonable length of time. Each case is different, so it is best to take advice before you decide what to do.

There are a few similar threads to yours about returning a car within six months of purchase; my understanding is that for the first six months, if any faults are discovered, the dealer has to prove that they were not present when sold. After six months... have a search on this forum for clarification, I'm only accessing my vast memory-bank to recall it...

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I bought a second hand Skoda Fabia Hatchback 16v Comfort in the beginning of September this year. It is on an 02 plate.

It had approx 60,000 miles on it. I paid £5000 for it.

quote]

£5k for a car with 60,000 miles??? i paid £5700 for my comfort with only 18,000 and i thought that was steep

I think the problem you face is proving that the problems haven't occurred in the last 4k miles as anything could have happened to the car in that time. Aftermarket warranties also tend not to be worth the paper they're printed on unfortunately and have lots of exclusions because parts are expected to fail at that age.

It may be worth ringing Skoda CS and seeing what they think and how it ties in with their expectations of their cars - you may get a good will gesture or some contribution towards the cost of the replacement....

Chris

Get someone to phone the dealer and find out what is done on a 60k service.

If plugs are included then they should be replaced FOC, as the obviously weren't changed on yours.

Every thing else would depend on the wording in the warranty.

If the faults are excluded then you would be expected to pay for the replacement, you have at the end of the day done another 4k in the car.

If the faults were there at time of purchase then that is a different matter altogether.

5 grand sounds too pricey to me.

5 grand sounds too pricey to me.

wifey has a 1.4 on an 03 plate, we reacon its only worth about 3,5 grand and its only done 30000.... think you may have overpaid somewhat. (edit - important to say this is only the 65bhp model, not the 75..)

sorry to hear about your prediciment..... i would suggest you need to check the documentation you got with your 1 year warranty to see whats covered and whats not. did you get any documenation with it?

only other thing i can suggest is that you speak to Skoda UK to see if they can speak to the dealer... when we bought our new one this year and had a problem within 1 week of it arriving they basically jumped on the dealer until we got it fixed... very good i thought - wonder if they can do anything for you?

I bought my car (1.4 16v Comfort) for £5000 this June and it was an '04 with 40,000 miles on it. I think you paid about £1000 too much for your car, I'm afraid to say.

Bought my 03 comfort TDI from main dealer in may & paid 4695 after haggling, came with full Skoda used warranty which was a good job as I have had plenty ie rebuilt gearbox, new starter, wheel bearings, rear brake light unit, flywheel, clutch( at my cost whilst box was out) abs wiring problem.

This is all well and good how most of you saying i paid £x for my car, but this is neither what he asked, or helping the OP with his question of what he can do.

Yes you can buy cheaper - but he bought this one.

Lets keep it on topic for him please.

Isn't the used car warranty a Skoda UK warranty, as opposed to a dealer warranty? I bought a 2004 1.4 16v elegance last month with 20k on the clock and it came with a Skoda UK warranty for one year, and I thought it was basically equivocal to a new car warranty. Hence, I would be surprised that leads and bushes aren't covered. I'd check to see whether it is a Skoda UK warranty, and if it is, give them a call.

Hence, I would be surprised that leads and bushes aren't covered. I'd check to see whether it is a Skoda UK warranty, and if it is, give them a call.

I suspect there will be an exclusion for wear 'n' tear/service items and probably a load of caveats once the car goes over the magic 60k miles mark. Definitely worth reading over the policy with a fine tooth comb though and contacting Skoda UK and having a whinge about their shoddy cars and don't forget to mention their position in the JD/TG Customer Satisfaction Survey as the reason for buying one

Chris

Yeah the warranty is Skoda warranty. The guy from the garage phoned today & said the warranty people said the gearbox problem doesn't come under warranty, but that they would be sending an assessor round to check, either today or tomorrow.

Once stripped down, the gearbox is apparently is a clip & some bearings (I suspected bearings all along) so it won't be from any poor driving.

I have also been advised (from an independent person) that the problem with engine missing is more likely to be the piston rings than the plugs & leads as it has gone through a lot of oil & has lost power when going uphill. I spoke to the head mechanic at the garage about this who said the following

"yeah it could be that, but if I strip it down and it isn't you will have to pay for the work, as the waranty would not pay for it". Now my problem here is that it would take 15mins to do a compression test which would prove one way or another if it is the piston rings, seems more sensible that shelling out for new plugs & leads as a way of eliminating them.

I do find it interesting that Rustle managed to get all these things on warranty, from speaking to the aftersales guy at the garage I am using I would be under the impression that I would not be covered for most of those things.

I didn't think about the mileage - there is a mileage limit on my used car warranty.

hmm, if thats the case i would defianatly been mis-sold my car.

do you happen to know what your milage limit is?

So much for Skoda "worry free driving".

A skoda approved warranty doesn't cover gearbox!?

Selling cars with shot piston rings.

Škoda - Used Cars - Approved used Å kodas

might be worth ringing skoda uk and complaining about the dealer. prepare, say they said ignore the warning light. comprehensive parts and labour warranty? where is it, seems you've been given something else cobled by the dealer.

little point in going to a dealer with this kind of service.

saying plugs and leads when technician admits it could equally be piston rings. They don't seem to be able to diagnose problems. Why send me out in a car with a warning light? Perhaps they just reset this before you bought it for you to travel a few hundred miles and the ecu decide something not right.

My Fabia was 30days or 1000 miles to chuck it back, and lifetime warranty

which in the small print is no cover at all except for the first £100 of ice equip

I have posted the warranty on here several times so I will not do it again

Suffice to say the warranty is worthless even more so when in the VERY small print it states warranty is invalid if the car is not given a FULL SERVICE every 6K

As for losing work/business have you asked for a courtesy car?

National aka Jimbo