scottp

Hi,

My brother has purchased a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 16v SXI but is having problems with it. Here is what he has said about it:

I purchased a car 2 months ago from a Dealer advertising on eBay. I negotiated a good price on the car, and when he would not budge any more on the price, I asked if he would include an extended warranty (he was already offering 1 month unlimited). He agreed to 3 months on the Engine and Gearbox. I got this in writing on a receipt I printed along with the cars HPI report, and the dealer signed it.
Now the car is giving me a few problems, it keeps loosing power and is making a weird noise, like it is sucking air in somewhere, It has been plugged in and a diagnostics machine said it was the Mass Air Flow meter and O2 Sensor. Both will cost £50 - £100 to sort out, which I know is not a massive amount of money, but I do not have it going spare and as I have a warranty with the car, it should be sorted by the dealer. This is the only reason I bought it from a dealer, as I do not have the time or money to mess about like this.
However, when I rung him a few days ago he said that he would only cover MAJOR problems, which was definitely not mentioned when I handed over the cash. I finally got him to agree for his mechanic to take a look at it, and I went through the next day. His mechanic just sprayed some Induction cleaner on the MAF meter and the problem was still there. He said to ring the dealer to arrange a time to drop the car off as it will take a few hours. Bearing in mind that it is a 50 mile round trip for me, and I have already done it about 5 times due to a few problems with the MOT when I first bought the car.
I rang the dealer again and when he finally answered he said to bring it through at 2 PM the next day, but to ring him first. I rang him the next day (last Thurs), and after several attempts he said that I could not bring it today as his wife had the diagnostics machine in her car, and he could not get in touch with her. On the phone he said that the sensor is not part of the engine and that he would charge me for the parts that need replacing.
I finally got it sorted on a time and took it first thing yesterday morning, finding that the dealer wasn’t there again, but his mechanic and another guy who works for him was there. This was when I got it plugged in and got the readings.
As the dealer wasn’t there, I called him up to discuss what was happening. To be fair I offered to pay for the MAF, but if that did not sort it, I couldn’t afford to pay any more but still needed it sorting. He went off on one saying that he has done everything he should do and that he knows his rights. I told him that I know my rights and that it needed to be sorted and that I had already contacted Consumer Direct. He told me to F..king stick it and take him to court, and then hung up. However, he then called straight back and said he wanted to help me sort it but there was no way he would pay for any of the parts it needed.

What are my brother’s rights with this? How would you approach the dealer?

Thanks!

boothy

iTrader: (14)

tie him up and shit on his face.....

tabetha

VERY easy one, the car is covered IN LAW against any MAJOR defects occuring in the first 6 months.
This has been taken to court for a ruling and it was decided that was ANY part of the car, with the exception of WEAR AND TEAR items, ie brakes, tyres wipers etc.
So your bro has a right to get all the faulst listed fixed at the dealers cost, the ONLKY reason this dealer rang back was because he knew he(dealer) is in the wrong.
Write a letter giving 14 days to fix the problems, failing which you will take it elsewhere and have the work done then seek the costs through the small claims court, which is so easy to do.
tabetha

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

Hi there.

I am a trader and in my opinion he has tried far more than some of my friends would. Firstly we need a few more details.

What was the advertised price?
What was the final price you paid?
Was it a cheap car?

traders have to give a warrenty of some sort, And the car has to be fit for purpose. Although a lot of traders will try and get out of warrenty on there reciept. so read the small print of the warrenty document.

Legally they cant but a long drawn out court case for £200 is no good for anyone

Most traders will say they will cover the engine and gearbox and that is just what they mean. if the engine blows up (which they know it wont) THEY WILL REPLACE IT.

did you have the car looked at by somebody else before you contacted the trader?

youre best bet is to call this guys bluff. what was his premises like? is he actually a tax paying trader or is he selling a few cars on the side?

The last thing someone selling a few cars on the side without telling the right people needs is an irate customer for the sake of £200.

The way i and many other traders would play it with you is to say pay me the discount i gave you on the car and i will honour the original 1month unlimited warrenty. When this is offered most customers run a mile because a trader that knows a car he is selling has a problem will generally give you a lot of discount.

Hope this helps.

scottp

My Bro talking:

The car was advertised at £3995 but I paid £3650. I would say it was average money for a Corsa at the time as they were doing decent money at the time.
The guy looks legit, website and all, but I suppose you never know. I know what you mean about the engine and gearbox, but my argument was that these days with a newer car, the electrics on a car can cost more than the mechanical parts, so a warranty on major mechanical parts is worth nothing. The issue is that he never stated that it was Major Mechanical, he just said engine and gearbox, so as the engine needs the MAF and O2 sensor to run, then it should be covered. Am I being unreasonable?
Tabetha: I have a letter from Consumer Direct which explains pretty much what you say, should I send that or just see what he says again? I have ordered a MAF from eBay, a genuine part for £24 in postage. I will fit this and then get him to put it back on the diagnostics machine, but I am not spending another penny if it still isn't sorted.

Thanks for the help!

Thanks!

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

Dont fit it mate, And dont tell him you bought it. As soon as you start repairing the car you open up a new can of worms.

i know its annoying and you just need a car but if you want him to sort it you have to let him. if he is not going to then its best to buy new parts with official invoices. Even get a main dealer to do it. pay them then take the bill to court with you, if the dealer is not legit then he will not let it get to court anyway.

You have to have prove that you have gave him the oppertunity to repair it and he has refused that oppertunity.

if not he will stand up and say "i said i would repair it but he took it upon himself to use people i wouldnt have to fix the car, thus costing more than i would have got it repaired for"

ive heard it time and time before. Explain to him he has one more chance to repair the car, if he does not then you will be taking it to the main dealer to be repaired and you will go to court with the invoice and to chase any damages, Hire car etc etc.

This should scare him into getting it repaired. it sounds as if he is being greedy he probably paid 2600 quid for the car anyway, Maybe times are hard for him

None of this is youre fault though.

hope this helps.

AndyCanning

to be honest i could probaley understand where hes coming from as said above by Ebonycossie4x4

but to be honest if a business swore at you .. thats too far!

i would say at the end of the day you want the car fixing and if he wont warranty the car for the duration on the reciept then you can legal claim back a certain percent of the price you paid for the item (he will no this himself)

Saying that i wouldnt buy from him again!

With the cars i have owned and that have gone faulty i took it back and told them the fault and the sorted it the day after type thing and were normal about it.

RC4

tell him to have the car put right within 7 days or you will involve trading standards
failing that hit his cars on his forecourt!

MancDave

This really drives me insane the guy is a dodgy plonker and if he after being fair to him he came back with that sort of attitude ,then sorry but i would go down tie him up in his office with 4 of the most evil lads and take all his cars sorry but you tried being civil and he wasn.t so gets his just deserves!!!

Don.t let it lie because i defo wouldn.t soon as he put the phone down that would of been it!

If anyone thinks this would be harsh then deal with it as i fookin hate rip off merchants.

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

MancDave have you ever been to prison?

lol

MancDave

Well that will be telling(lol)

Mate i am just a genuine honest person and more fair than most ,this type of thing really gets my nose up and as a rule don.t let people take the pi ss .Either way what would he do phone the police de derr wrong move ???

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

police will do nothing in this case, its a complete waste of time, i believe they will say its a cival matter sort of thing.

I also hate piss takers but maybe the trader sold the car in good faith, traders always get a bad rap. A very good friend of mine took in a bmw as p/ ex against a cherokee.

he checked it over took it for a 2 mile long drive and it was absoloubtly fine.

he started it the next morning and the engine management light came on, coughing like a biatch and wouldnt run till it was warm.

its at bmws at the mo so dont know what the problem is yet.

Anyway the bloke with the cherokee rung up to complain that the a/c was making water underneath on his driveway and that he wanted money back to fix the leak.

when told what happened with his car he said yeah it does it every morning.

Wanker....

Suprisingly he didnt want to swap back.

Not always traders in the wrong, Although i do support scott in this situation and i think doing what i suggested will get the car fixed.

Hope it goes well for you scott

scottp

Right, so the last thing that was said by him was that he would sort it, but I would pay for the parts (something that I do not really want to do, and cannot afford at the moment). So what exactly do I do from here? Shall I just call him and say what you have said? The problem I have is that he wriggles out of everything I say, any tips?
Thanks!

scottp

bump, Want to sort this in the morning!!

scottp

bump again. I am calling the dealer on monday, I have ordered a MAF but not fitted it. What shall I say when I call?

Thanks for all your help!

Big G

Seagull the Cunt, it might not get your money back or the car fixed, but you will leave pretty satisfied

scottp

Seagull??

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

where did u get the MAF from?wouldnot bother with the O2 sensor as a faulty MAF would bring this code up!does the car not rev up?

magentasafchris

If in doubt call you're local trading standard's officer at you're local council offices. Every council has one i ring them quite a lot being in the motor trade my self, they are unbelievably helpful and you can guarantee the advice they give is 100 percent accurate. They can also tell you if they have ever had any reports of "dodgyness" about the same dealer in the past, even if he isn't local to you. If this guy has been reported before for anything believe me they take an extra special interest in him and if they go knocking you will get anything you want from him.

scottp

I've got it from eBay, its a Genuine Vauxhall one from a guy who used to work at Vauxhall. I haven't got it yet so it has not been fitted. From the sounds of it on here, I shouldn't fit it anyway.

Thanks for the help, any other ideas?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!