One born every day

[davrym]

Good afternoon,

I thought I would take this opportunity to see if anybody knows if I can resolve my issues.

Bought a Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Estate from family owned garage for 1850.00.

Advertised as low mileage - one owner - full service history.

Upon receipt of the car I was given all the paperwork. It had only one owner - the mileage was genuine but there was no service history. I was told that they were still waiting for some paperwork to come through from the garage they bought it from and they would send it on to me. (i know)

That was last June and to date after two letters eleven phone calls and one personal visit there is still no service history. The dealership owner even tried to claim it was not advertised with full service history - even though it was on his website and on the forecourt.

I have since had to have the head gasket replaced at a cost of 300.00 as well as other repairs. I have spoken to the previous owner who has stated that it never had service history. I found out which garage the dealer bought it from and the sales manager said it was sold at auction with no service history. I am resigned to having been well and truly done but there must be something I can do.

Also when the head gasket was repaired ( different garage ) the cooler tank keeps emptying but with no obvious leeks,ther is a strange water sloshing sound behind the dash when I start it up but it soon goes. I have to re-fill it every couple of weeks. Any ideas help would be very much appreciated.

Dave.

[Ecossewarrior]

Is the car a cut and shut

[jmuggali]

Originally Posted by Ecossewarrior

Is the car a cut and shut

Why would it be?

Not defending the garage, but I have bought from auction and the auction have warranted the millage and stated full service history to follow, and of course it never did, mind you I didnt sell it on with a FSH.

[gamequeen88]

why? why would it be?

[davrym]

To the best of my knowledge the car is not a cut and shut. I have no other problems other than the coolant tank emptying for no apparent reason. I have since been told that when a head gasket is replaced the system is drained. If upon re-filling the system it develops an air block then it might be the case that I have to keep filling it until the air lock works itself out. The service history is a lesson well learn't. I will not get anything near the price I paid for it as the service history only started when I bought it. the garage that sold me the car have simply lied and got as much money for the car as possible. That really grinds me but I am sure it happens every day and somebody somewhere is being ripped off as I write this......

Dave.

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by davrym

Also when the head gasket was repaired ( different garage ) the cooler tank keeps emptying but with no obvious leeks,ther is a strange water sloshing sound behind the dash when I start it up but it soon goes. I have to re-fill it every couple of weeks. Any ideas help would be very much appreciated.

Dave.

It probably not water sloshing around. In fact, it's probably the opposite - it's the air sloshing around in the water in the heater. At worst the new head gasket is not properly sealing and cylinder pressure is getting into the coolant

I suspect that it was not properly refilled and bled - take it back to the garage that fitted the head gasket an ask them to sort it.

If you don't. and there is an airlock, you are potentially creating a 'hot-spot' somewhere in the cooling system that may leads to a further failure.

[davrym]

Thanks Pat,

You sound as though you know what you are talking about. I did take it back to the garage some weeks ago and they kept it for 5 days. When I returned to collect it they told me that they had sent it off for a pressure test and it came back all clear. The car itself runs smoothly but since i refilled the coolant tank about about four weeks ago the level has dropped about an inch. Is there some test I can get done or is it a big job to empty the system and have it refilled???