Thread: I was sold a dangerous vehicle and have no rights?

Traded in my trusty fiesta car (worth around £700) & stumped up £1,175 cash for a van I need to transport my musical equipment. It had 10 months MOT (but no advisory note) and mileage was 78,000.
4 months down the line, after breaking down twice and having to replace minor parts, I decided to get it inspected by a reputable vehicle technician. The power steering has a bad leak as do the wheel cylinders and the following is in dire need of replacing to make the vehicle safe to drive: track rod, anti-roll bar, exhaust system, front tyre, rear wheel cylinders & brake shoes, suspension mounts. It also needs the diesel injection fuel pump replaced but I understand there is no advance warning to identify a problem with this component. The total cost for getting it back on the road in a safe condition is estimated at £1,500but could be as much as £2,000, depending on whether the steering pump and a wishbone need replacing.
I have contacted the car sales proprietor and asked he either give me an alternative vehicle that is roadworthy, get the van repaired at a garage of his choice or pay towards costs of repair at the garage where it currently stands or reimburse me. He says he is not prepared to do any of these things and I don't have a leg to stand on because I've had the vehicle for more than 3 months!
I have only used this van on a Friday & Saturday night, done less than 1,000 miles. The salesman guaranteed me that the van had been inspected prior to my collection and was in very good condition both mechanically and cosmetically. The technician who has inspected my vehicle is willing to confirm that deterioration of these components would have been evident at pre-inspection 4 months ago.
I have since accessed the MOT advisory note and the brake system, corrosion & tyre are all noted on there. The other faults are all noted on the previous advice note of 2007!
I have sent a recorded delivery letter to the car sales asking for what I mentioned above and have reported it to Trading Standards. Any idea of where I stand with this? I cannot afford to pay £2,000 to fix the van so it will have to be sold for spares/repair or scrapped which means I have lost a hell of a lot of money for 16 weeks worth of motoring in a death trap of a vehicle!
How can these traders get away with selling vehicles they must know are a danger on the road? More importantly, how do they sleep at night?

Yes, got one Friday. Proprietor basically said it was my responsibility to maintain the car! Said he had given me a 3 month warranty (which is a lie) and had it inspected before I took delivery and although no faults showed up, I should have got it inspected too. Funny that the MOT had advisorys on it and they weren't picked up by his inspector??
From what Trading Standards told me, I have to prove the faults are not from wear & tear since date of manufacture. Considering that the van is 9 years old, I would think such things as braking system, steering, suspension would all shown signs of wear, don't you?
It appears that these traders can sell you a death trap and you don't have a leg to stand on.

i to have been down this road and not got anywhere even trough the court

The following is simply my personal opinion and has no legal aspect as such, but is based on years of buying and selling cars in the past.

You don't say the age of this van, but simply going by the price I guess it is around 2000?

You have bought a used van with moderate mileage. You have had the van for 4 months and found no significant faults in that time, nor did the van produce any significant faults. You didn't have the van inspected by anyone (RAC etc) before purchase. You have based the mechanical condition simply on the fact it had an MoT.

Whilst I do agree that you have been shafted by this dealer, I genuinely don't think you have a case. The problem is that you have 'enjoyed' use of this vehicle for 4 months. Unless the used van came with a warranty that goes beyond that you don't have any warranty. 'You say, he says' doesn't really count in court.

On the other hand, just because your friend says it needs all thyese things, doesn't man that it does! Tyre, £45. Track rods? £8 each. Wheel cylinders, £15 each. Entire exhaust, £150, anti roll bar? No way. Probably the bushes, £20 the lot. As for the diesel injection pump, basically either the van runs or it doesn't. Excessive smoking may indicate a problem with the pump, but they basically work right or they don't work at all in general.

I am NOT defending the dealer, far from it. Sounds like a scumbag. but I am also a little cautious of your advise.

Any vehicle is only as good as its last keeper. Just because items were marked as advisory on an MoT test, does not make the vehicle dangerous. if it were it would have failed. Advisory notes are simply things that will need attending to in the near future, perhaps based on mileage (brake pads) or time (corrosion).

I do sympathise with you, but all the faults you have mentioned are reasonably easy for a competant DIY mechanic to fix with a halfords socket set and a Haynes manual.

I don't think you have grounds for claim unless you were offered a warranty. The onus would be on you to prove that these faults (not advisory notes) existed when you purchased the van and that the dealer should reasonably be expected to have known about them.

If it was the dealer that the MoT carried out, he would have been aware of the advisory notes and should have made you aware of them. But it sounds like he would just say he told you anyway.

Hard lesson, but doesn't have to be as expensive as it sounds. Get the jobs done yourself and enjoy your van once more.

HTH

It is dealer responsibility to make sure the car is roadworthy and in a stisfactory condition, however as with any secondhand car you should of had it checked over either before purchasing or very soon after and it would have made any claim stronger, you may have a claim for some of the costs to put it right, however it looks like you may have to take him to court to get it. You will need and engineers report and you still might not win. good luck.

Originally Posted by Britainsworstdriver

The following is simply my personal opinion and has no legal aspect as such, but is based on years of buying and selling cars in the past.

You don't say the age of this van, but simply going by the price I guess it is around 2000?

You have bought a used van with moderate mileage. You have had the van for 4 months and found no significant faults in that time, nor did the van produce any significant faults. You didn't have the van inspected by anyone (RAC etc) before purchase. You have based the mechanical condition simply on the fact it had an MoT.

Whilst I do agree that you have been shafted by this dealer, I genuinely don't think you have a case. The problem is that you have 'enjoyed' use of this vehicle for 4 months. Unless the used van came with a warranty that goes beyond that you don't have any warranty. 'You say, he says' doesn't really count in court.

On the other hand, just because your friend says it needs all thyese things, doesn't man that it does! Tyre, £45. Track rods? £8 each. Wheel cylinders, £15 each. Entire exhaust, £150, anti roll bar? No way. Probably the bushes, £20 the lot. As for the diesel injection pump, basically either the van runs or it doesn't. Excessive smoking may indicate a problem with the pump, but they basically work right or they don't work at all in general.

I am NOT defending the dealer, far from it. Sounds like a scumbag. but I am also a little cautious of your advise.

Any vehicle is only as good as its last keeper. Just because items were marked as advisory on an MoT test, does not make the vehicle dangerous. if it were it would have failed. Advisory notes are simply things that will need attending to in the near future, perhaps based on mileage (brake pads) or time (corrosion).

I do sympathise with you, but all the faults you have mentioned are reasonably easy for a competant DIY mechanic to fix with a halfords socket set and a Haynes manual.

I don't think you have grounds for claim unless you were offered a warranty. The onus would be on you to prove that these faults (not advisory notes) existed when you purchased the van and that the dealer should reasonably be expected to have known about them.

If it was the dealer that the MoT carried out, he would have been aware of the advisory notes and should have made you aware of them. But it sounds like he would just say he told you anyway.

Hard lesson, but doesn't have to be as expensive as it sounds. Get the jobs done yourself and enjoy your van once more.

HTH

totally agree, if theres 2000 pounds worth of wear amongst that lot you must be using ferrari parts. im an amatuer but those are all things you can fix yourself. get a haynes manual, look on youtube belive it or not there are alot of instructional videos there.