hi connif, i have no doubt it would fail the emissions test, the way it smokes it is also unroadworthy. i have got the car being looked at on tuesday, i will ask about the emissions then too.

i bet you were livid with the judge al, how do they make their judgements beggars belief. In a court of law, how can anyone blatantly lie and get away with it? I did a hpi check with the rac before the purchase and all was fine, it also included 7 days free insurance (which is worthless right now) but also 60 days free legal assistance.so i will be calling them for advice next week.also going to citizens advice next week and taking the car to get appraised. as for if the car is dangerous, is that just that it could cause an accident? or in this case, would giving members of the public cancer with the exhaust emmisions count? a work colleague of mine had the same sort of problem with a car and won his case, must just go down to how the judge is feeling.

amazingly he had very good feedback, i have just contacted him again using ebay email as this is recorded by ebay and would be proof that i contacted him regarding the matter, i have asked him to refund the money or pay for engine repairs. time will tell with what he replies with.from our "conversation" yesterday i think he had been sold the car with the problem as he kept saying that he did not think it was a problem and the previous owner had told hom thay all smoke. dont get me wrong i would expect a little smoke from a car this old but this is really bad, i stood behind recording the smoke for 2 minutes and when i had finished i absolutely reeked of oil.

thanks freaky, i have been looking on ebay,trying to find some way to complain, but it seems you have to wait 10 days.

thanks freaky

listing quotes "engine starts and runs faultlessly" it is far from faultless, i have taken video clips of it so far and i am ringing garages to have it looked at.

i have put a post in the garage forum, i am hoping for some advice regarding a private car purchase.

hello to you all, I have just brought a golf gti, locally from ebay. Seller seemed really genuine, met at his house inspected the car there and all seemed fine. picked car up today and drove 10 miles home,when i got home the car was billowing smoke from the exhaust,contacted the seller who came round about 2 hours later. we then proceded to have a heated discussion about the problem, the car smokes constantly at tick over but stops smoking when driven, typical symptons of worn valve seals. seller denies anything is wrong at all and says that it is a 15 year old car and all golfs smoke(which i find to be ridiculous claim as it smokes like a train). the ebay listing has the claim "engine starts and runs faultlessly" which is far fromthe truth,i asked for a full refund on many occasions, but he refused and the only offer he made was to phone a friend of his because he apparently used to work at vw. i have been looking on a lot of websites about this problem and i came across the citizens advice page, which states : If you can show that the vehicle did not meet its description the seller will be liable under consumer law, even if the seller believed the description to be true. It will strengthen your claim if you have written proof of the false statement, for example, an advertisement. Verbal false statements are harder to prove, unless someone else was present who can act as a witness. the car was described as"engine starts and runs faultlessly" which is obviously a lie. what is my best course of action?citizens advice then solicitor? any help would be very appreciated.

hi to all, looks like a great site.