Apparently not. The first 6 months the finance company must prove the faults were not on the car when it was sold. After 6 months it's the consumer who must prove that they were and that includes forking out the cash to get an inspection done. Not sure if I can request to choose another car at this stage or not.

Hi folks, I purchased a car on finance in December 2016. I viewed the car and agreed that I was wanted to go ahead and make the purchase as I already had the finance sorted. The only thing that I noticed was a whine coming from the engine, but not being a mechanic I never really bothered about it as I had always wanted this make and model. I contacted the finance company and gave them all the details of the trader and the car, and then signed all the paperwork at the showroom. I was told the car was going to go into the workshop to be be checked over I told them I would collect the following weekend to give them some time. I physically collected the car a week after signing the documents, which was the 10th December 2016. A couple of days after driving it the whine got pretty bad, I swung by my local garage and asked them to be told me that the turbo was on it's way out, and it's a potential expensive fix, I contacted the dealer and he asked me to bring it back to assess it. That same week I got in my car in the city centre to drive home from work and the front spring snapped when i shut the driver's door. I eventually managed to have it recovered to the dealer and get a lift home. The dealer told me they would replace the spring and the turbo at the same time. Excellent. With the turbo playing on my mind the slight popping from the front driver's wheel wasn't a priority, but now the car was driving much quieter I could hear it every time I went over a bump or turned the steering to the right. was now over my 30 day warranty had the front suspension mount replaced. No dice. After 5 months of annoying knocking, in May my local garage took the car in again and replaced the drop link, since the car was giving poor MPG I had it checked out, to find it was running cold, and the thermostat had stuck open, had the EGR and main thermostat replaced at my expense. When it was in my local garage the mechanic noticed a slight oil leak and asked me if I wanted him to check it out, I said yes. He removed the skid plates from under the car to find a leak from the oil sump, there was some sort of epoxy putty covering the source of the leak but it was still seeping from the sides. the oil leak was gradual. He quoted me over £400 to replace the oil sump and replace the oil. This was just the last straw. contacted the trader and after 4 weeks they had not replied, contacted my finance company who told me I was 3 days over the 6 months and I would need to pay to have the car inspected to prove the faults were there when I got the car. I paid and had an inspection done, to be told the car has 21 FAULTS!! One of which deemed the car dangerous to drive! I needed the car for work again, I paid to have the cracked front hub replaced so I could get some use of the car safely. the other 20 faults involve leaking suspension all round, a bent front drop link (possibly when the spring snapped as it's the same side), suspension bars which have completely rusted away and loads more. The total cost to repair these faults is £3'141.00!! Hopefully there isn't a judge in this land who could try and say that a suspension rod could rust completely rust away and crumble in the space of 6 months, neither could an oil sump which is covered by a strong skid plate be punctured and repair itself with putty. I passed the report on to the finance company they have spoken to the garage who did the inspection who verified most of the issues they found were more than likely over 6 months old, now I am waiting to hear back as to what the next step would be. The thing is, if they are going by the date I signed the finance agreement then they are correct, however I never took collection of the car until a week AFTER I signed the paperwork I would never had 6 months opportunity to highlight any faults. 21 faults found on a car in the first 6 months ownership is ridiculous, and I am looking to find out the best and worst case scenario, given the costs to put it right. Sorry for the long winded explanation but I wanted to give a clear explanation as to the history of problems with my 2006 BMW 320d.