Thread: Used car blown head gasket

Good evening, I'm in a bit of a situation with a used car dealer and could do with some pointers.

I purchase a Subaru Impreza on 27th March from a used car dealer in Bristol for £2200. When my wife and i went to view the car all seemed okay. The sales guy pointed out a few minor things needed attention like a door handle needing repair and the handbrake light was on.

Upon looking under the bonnet the oil and water levels were fine and there were no unusual signs of anything bad or strange sounds.
The sales man told us the car was owned by a guy in his mid 40's and had been looked after which could be seen by the low mileage and general good condition of the car.
We went out on a short test drive and the car seemed all right.
We decided that we would purchase the car as he said he could knock £300 off the price because it needed things like the brakes changing and a few marks outside sorting along with what he had told us before.

Upon him filling out the paperwork and taking my card payment he informed us they could not offer a warranty because of the type of car it was and its age (1993) which seemed a valid reason. He wrote on the sales receipt "Sold As Seen" He explained the mileage was considered correct and got me to sign saying he had told me this and off we went.

The car has since done less than 200 miles and the radiator blew, We got a new one and was advised to check the thermostat while the rad was out. Upon taking the thermostat housing off it was discovered that the car had no thermostat fitted.
When a new thermostat was fitted as intended by the manufacturer along with the new radiator the car started showing signs of a blown head gasket.
I had a mechanic look at the car and after doing a leak down test he can confirm there are exhaust gasses in the coolant caused by the head gasket being blown.

I wrote to the garage telling them about this and asked what they would do and got told its a 17 yr old car with 45,000 miles. He explained the car would have been expected to already had at least one head gasket replacement in its life time already. When the car left him it was fine and as far as he is concerned 'Fit For Purpose'

I have contacted trading standards and they dont think they can help legally because of the burden of proof.

Upon investigating further we has since discovered the cars mileage was the same in 2006, 2007, 2008, as now but had 600 more miles last year.

I have contacted the previous keeper and he was told by a mechanic in January the car was on borrowed time due to the head gasket and advised to get rid of it so he traded it in with the dealer against another car. He also confirmed the car that was advertised with 45,000 actually has 70,000 if not more.

My questions are:

What can i do and do i have a leg to stand on legally.

What if anything is the garage obliged to do as the car is A: not fit for purpose and B: misdirected as its not as discribed.

Thanks for any help people might be able to offer.

Anyone ? Please ? The garage have now stopped responding to me. After i had the reply letter i called the manager and he said get some quotes for repair and we will come to an agreement.
I have gotten to quotes but every time i call he is not there and does not return my calls.

I paid £2200 for the car and have been told by 4 garages the repair is going to cost in excess of £1000

Its now been 3 weeks since i first wrote to the garage informing them of the issue and feel he is time wasting.

Doe's trading standards know that it's a clocking issue? You need to make this very clear to them as I intepret from your post they are not. You also need to start gathering the evidence that it has been clocked and keep a log of what has gone on. Conniff and Martin 3030 are very hot on the legals of this.