secondhand car breakdown, what are my rights?

[rangieowner]

We bought a second hand car (X reg 1.4 Astra LS 16v) from a dealer for the sum of £1750 + P/X of old car, The car came with a 12 month MOT, !2 month warranty and a full service. The dealer told us they had sold the car when it was 6 months old to an older gent and that it had been serviced by the dealer ever since, and as they knew the car so well they were selling it on, as the car only had 52,000 on the clock we thought the story was plausable. The dealer told us the car had a misfire which would be 'sorted' before we collected it and the timing belt would be replaced as part of the service. Since then the car has been back to the dealers garage for the rear crank seal to be replaced (which they did begrudgingly), The battery has blown all it's cells which had to be replaced by the RAC at a cost to us (£70) and now, after a trip from Yorkshire to Dorset, the E.C.U. is acting up cutting off fuel when the E.C.U. gets too hot? How do I stand with statutory rights, what can I demand of the dealer and can I claim back the cost (part or all) of the battery, (If he serviced the car for the best part of 10 years he should know if the battery is in good condition or not)? Any help/advice would be appreciated, Thanx

[wheelergeezer]

How long exactly have you owned this car?

[rangieowner]

We have owend this car for approx 5 weeks! Sorry i meant to put that in the original post.

[sailor sam]

Basically any fault which develops within the first 6 months of ownership is assumed to be present at the point of sale under the SOGA (the 12 month warranty does not replace this). In your circumstances the seller should be contacted and given the opprtunity to rectify. In the case of the battery, this could be slightly complicated as modern batteries are pretty much maintance free and are covered under a seperate warranty. It may be the case that you can claim from the manufacturer dependant on how old the battery is and it is the correct one for the car. If the reason it has 'gone' because of the latter, then the seller would be responsible for that also. I find it hard to believe a car which has only covered 52,000 miles and has regularly been serrviced by a main dealer needs a new crank seal. Mind you, we are talkin Vauxhall here! It sounds to me that the ECU was on it's way out when you bought it which could explain the miss-fire.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

Please click my reputation button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[rangieowner]

Thanks Sam, It is not a Vauxhall dealer just an independant motor trader, he usually deals with cars less than 5 years old, but sold the Astra as he alledgedly 'new it's history'!

[wheelergeezer]

Reject the car. Not fit for purpose. Don't take 'no' for an answer.

[rangieowner]

Thanx Wheeler geezer, would rather have it repaired as we rather like the car, but if that's what it comes to it's nice to know we have that option open to us, plus if we reject the car we have no transport for work etc.

[sailor sam]

Reject the car. Not fit for purpose. Don't take 'no' for an answer.

 

Not sure the OP has that option available at the moment. the seller has so far made good his responsibilty by fixing the crank seal. The OP hasn't actually stated that the seller has refused to replace the ECU which appears to be the current problem. As for the battery, i can only repaet what I said in my previous post. Rangie, contact the dealer and report the ECU problem asap and see what he says. He should ask you to take it investigate and rectify without cost to you.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

Please click my reputation button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[rangieowner]

Thanx again sam, Will have to wait till the B/H is out of the way so it will be tuesday before i can speak to them.

[BrazilianCCK]

The battery is a service item and can go at any time - my own car last week needed an AA visit when I parked at some friends withut issue, came out a few hours later and the car wouldn't start - the battery in the space of a few hours had decided it didn't want to be a battery any more and that was that - the SOGA does not mean that you get cost free motoring for every eventuality for the first 6 months especially on service items, it does however put reasonable expectations on the goods you purchase - I personally would ask for a contribution to the cost of the battery and see what happens - as far as the ECU, then yes this should be repaired or replaced at no cost to you as it is designed to last the life of the car - as it's playing about when hot, then it sounds like one of the circuits has cracked (common vauxhall ecu problem) so a competent auto electrician may be able to spot it and repair it, but to be honest a second hand ecu is probably the best route for the seller.

[rangieowner]

**UPDATE** The car is back in the dealers garage for the ECU repair, no mention of a charge for the work but we will see when the work is complete what they say!

[wheelergeezer]

Well, you have only had the car 5 weeks. The fault is thus asumed to have been there when purchased as it is not a consumable like the battery or brake pads. The entire cost is down to the dealer.