Serious issues with second hand car purchase...

[sarah123321]

Hi

Not too sure whether this is the right place to post this, but here goes.

I bought a 2000 VW Polo GTI in May of this year, it was a private sale. We looked at the car a number of times, and while we were not happy with their clean up job, everything seemed in order. They assured us that there was 'absolutely nothing wrong with the car', and that they were selling due to financial issues having just bought a new house. Being daft we took them at face value, and after much consideration we decided to purchase the car for £4000, this being our maximum budget, and following much reassurance from the seller, that the car was mechanically sound, and there was nothing that required any immediate attention.

 

However, after having driven the car for a few days we checked the oil (as a standard precaution) and found that the oil was very low, we topped it up, and just assumed that it had settled after its most recent service before we bought it. We had a full service done on the vehicle as a result to ensure that it was done properly, and by a mechanic that we trust. The following week I checked the oil again, to find that once again it had gone down by quite a lot, and so the story continues.

 

The car has now used 5lts of oil in the last two months, and it has done under 800 miles. Which would suggest that there is a serious mechanical fault.

 

We are stuck, as we cannot afford to replace or repair the car, and we don't feel we can sell the car with these problems, and put someone else in a similar situation.

 

Where do we stand legally with getting our money back, and if it comes to it, can we take legal action? We have not yet approached the sellers, but we are not expecting them to be too accommodating regarding this issue.

 

The bottom line is we should not have bought the car, but we were lied to, and problems like this could not have gone unnoticed by the previous owner.

 

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Edited July 30, 2008 by sarah123321
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[reallymadwoman]

Unfortunately as this is a private sale, there is very little you can do. To succeed in any claim against the seller you would have to firstly prove that they knew there was a fault with the car and secondly prove that they lied to you about it. Whilst the second might be a case of one person's word against the other, so you might succeed in front of a judge, the first would, I imagine, be almost impossible to prove.

[raydetinu]

Caveat emptor etc. not a lot you can do now.

should have aproached seller straight away and argued your point and may have got somewhere although they would not have been obliged to.

The only legal come back if if it was misrepresented, through an add etc. saying it was faultless etc.

too late me thinks.

[Meldrew2]

2 practical suggestions:

 

Is the car dripping oil - maybe only when the engine is hot - if so, it is possible that when the car was serviced, the drain plug washer or oil filter seal haven't bedded properly - it can happen, even with a careful mechanic.

 

Is the car burning oil - is the exhaust smoke blue, is the car oily near the exhaust pipe? That's the one that you don't want.

 

I would suggest that you ask advice from the mechanic who serviced the car for you - it might be a simple fix. Fingers crossed.

[sarah123321]

Thanks for all your help everyone. I hate buying cars, next time i am going straight to a garage! I think i'm going to try to part ex the car with a garage, that way they will be able to work on it, since i can't afford to do anything myself.

I hate dishonest people!! ggrrrrrrrr

Thanks again

[aj84]

Sarah, this might just be a standard issues you know?

I have an Audi (VW family as you may know) and that too drinks oil. The standard apparently is 1000-1500 you need to top up..to the point that Audi even give you a bottle of oil in your boot after a service and when you buy a car.

 

I wonder if VW have the same issues?

[sarah123321]

hi all..

well i've been doing some delving, and have spoken to a lawyer, shockingly we do have comeback as the car is so badly damaged, basically was unfit for sale, and since we can prove they knew there was something seriously wrong with it when we bought it, (and since she hid from me when i saw her the other day) we can sue them on 'total failure of consideration' and/or 'misrepresentation' as they promised us there was nothing wrong with it, and since we now know they did know...

i'm not too sure what we are going to do, having it plugged into the diagnostic machine at murray's volkswagen on saturday, so we'll go from there.

i just wanted to make everyone aware that if they are in teh same situation as me then there is hope!

thanks again

[raydetinu]

Yes if they misrepresented the sale and condition and/or misled you; then take them to court.

The problem is proving it, have you got anything in writing, such as the original add, description etc. otherwise just your word against theirs!

[Weird Al Yankovic]

I'm very surprised your lawyer took that point of view with regards to this but they are the expert I guess.

 

Buyer beware with a private sale.

[sarah123321]

well we'd probably take them on total failure of consideration. we have three mechanics who can testify that there is absolutely no doubt that she knew about the problem when she sold the car. in fact one of the mechanics has had the head off the car and has said it has def been off in the last 6 months (which means last 2ish months that they owned it), something to do with emery marks and not being reskimmed.

 

anyways, i am concerned that if we took them to court they would be ordered to repay (well at least pay for the work.. i'm not getting it repaired then giving it back to them!!!) us, is the court allowed to order them to do it in one lump or two lump sums.. there is no point in going through all this heart ache if we are going to get back £10 or wahtever a month for the next x number of years!! they own their own house, and i have seen her driving around in a brand new car (which i assume she bought with my money... the b*tch) so they must have means..

 

any ideas??