An interesting twist today. We got a letter from some people who say they used to rent a unit behind their farm to the guy we bought our car off, although he gave them a different name. They say he has since left and didnt leave a forwarding address and has caused them enough headaches althouth they dont say how. They say they opened our letter since it was sent by recorded delivery and they didnt know the person it was addressed to so they opened it to see if they could figure out who it was for, when they saw it was about a car they put 2 and 2 together and thought it must be the guy that rented from them. Any idea what I do now - this is sounding increasingly dodgy; he sells me a car which has had its immobiliser ripped out and been rewired to make it work, he gives false names and trades from a business address that isnt his, but told us when we were there that it was his house. I have no idea how to track this guy down, I'm now not even sure what his name is...

Hi, thanks for the advice with regard to an auto electrician, I hadn't thought of trying that. My problem with this car isnt something that happened after we bought it. The ignition barrel broke which is what brought the problem to our attention - all the engine electrics have been bodged (sp?) so that someone at some point could rip out an immobiliser. I'm not bothered about the dealer repairing the ignition barrel as I have no reason to suspect there was anything wrong with it at the time of sale. The issue is that the ignition barrel cant be replaced because none of the electrics are how they should be. That issue was there at the time of sale and, according to 2 garages its been to, it makes the repair of pretty much any electrical fault with standard parts pretty much impossible. I will see if I can get an auto electrician to look at it, the main issue with that is transport - since it cant be driver anywhere it has to be towed and I've already spend over £100 on having it towed around.

A bit of an update. We sent a letter to the seller asking him to repair the fault or to take the car back and refund us and to let us know within a week what he planned to do. We asked him to call us or reply in writing. The letter was deliverd by recorded mail and has been signed for at the other end so we know he got it. Its been over a week now with no response. What should my next step be? Do I need to find a solicitor?

Car was advertised as running and in good condition. To be fair, as far as I know, other than this problem, it is in pretty good condition. The invoice says on it "sold as seen", but from my research I believe I've found that they cant do that if they are selling it as running. We have stopped using it around 2 weeks ago since we cant start it at all. I will send a letter to the seller saying I want it repaired or a refund and see what happens from there. Thanks for all the help. I will let you all know how we get on.

Thanks for the advice. We have already spoken with the seller, while he hasnt been unhelpfull he wont commit to doing anything. The car was only cheap. Its a 2001 Daewoo Matiz SE. We bought it for £700. It came with some service history and according to parkers price guide what we paid was about right. For this money I wasnt expecting it to be totally problem free, which was why I wasnt too bothered about having to pay to replace the ignition barrel, but we dont think its fair that the whole vehicle is useless because of some homemade wiring which should have been picked up by the dealers inspection.

Hi all, my first post here so thanks for reading. I've been spending some time reading previous posts from people in a similar situation. I bought a used car a few weeks ago for my fiance and now its broken. the ignition barrel broke after only 2 weeks and needs replacing. In itself not too much of an issue and I have no reason to believe it was an existing problem. I had it towed to a garage who have got a new barrel and tried to fix it but say that at some point the car has had an immobiliser which has been removed and someone has messed with the wiring. They cant fit the new barrel because of this and they say it will cost more than the car is worth to re wire pretty much everything so they can fit it. My questions are around what recourse I have with the seller. He isnt a dealer with a showroom, he sells on autotrader under a company name and gave an invoice on company headed paper. We looked at and collected the car from a yard behind his farmhouse where he had our car and 3 others he had for sale. Is he classed as a dealer and so bound by the sale of goods act? If so do I have grounds to reject the vehicle under the sale of goods act as the car has a pre-existring fault with the wiring making it unrepairable?