Thread: Bought a second hand car with dodgy head gasket

I bought a 2001 Ford KA 58000 miles from a trade dealer on 28/12/2009 for £980. I drove it home, 48 miles without difficulty.

It has hardly been driven since, maybe 30 miles. It's primary use is a run around for my pregnant mrs.

Yesterday (04/01/2010) the car overheated after losing power when accelerating.

I took it to a local garage who discovered the head gasket was faulty and needed replacing. I then contacted the garage i bought it from who said "its bad weather, did you check all the levels yourself before driving it home!!!!"

Needless to say they are not prepared to take any responsibility for repair or refund.

Its a cheap run around with low milage for its age, bought from a garage i didnt expect any problems especially any big ones.

It was a fair price and my mrs loves it so i dont really want a refund. If she keeps it 12 months and runs it into the ground then im happy. But i dont want to pay £200 -£300 for the repairs 8 days after i bought it.

However i have now instructed my local garage to complete the repairs which i now think may be an error. After reading advice off consumer pages it appears that getting the repairs done elsewhere can cause problems because the dealer wont know if its a con.

I have already written the dealer a letter advising of their responsibilities under the SOGA and requesting reimbursement for the repairs.

I think the cars current market value is probably more than what i paid so even if i have to pay for the repairs with no recourse i probably havent done too badly but im still a bit miffed.

1 - Is it likely that the dealer will pay part/all of the repair
2 - Could i have noticed this problem before buying the car

Thanks

You have a right to recourse but need to give them the opportunity to put it right however given the value of the car in terms of what you paid, not what it's worth, it might cause you more grief than the amount you are likely to be pursuing. They cannot argue that it's a trade sale unless they can prove you are a trader.

So to answer your points:
1. I think it's unlikely they will pay all but it's worth a poke for half.
2. It's possible but on the balance of probabilities is unlikely unless you know about cars. You would have had to have the engine running for at least half an hour on this car unless something seriously wrong in order for the problem to manifest itself.

What is nice though is that you have got a quite, if not very reliable car who's engine will go on for a serious amount of miles. The little Rocam was very reliable mechanically.

If there is anything to watch out for then it's rust around the front lower seat belt mountings.

Personally I allow around a grand a year for maintenance and repair over 50,000 miles unless I do it myself, but I can't be bothered any more so have found a little garage to do it.

I think from what you say is that you have bought a nice little car and the relatively small sums involved arn't worth the grief. The car could easily go on for another 5 years and that is cheap motoring!