Dodgy purchase?

dezine

Hi, I picked up an 00 astra a the weekend from a garage with 5 mths warranty, now things were wrong from the start. Firstly when I was viewing the car the salesman assured me there was 2 yrs nct with the car but when I went to pick it up I was told the nct is actually up at the end of this month but the garage are prepared to stand by the car passing it... So anyway accepted this and drove off wit the car - after finally getting the stereo working (faulty fuse) - so was driving down the road and noticed the gear shift being a bit creaky as if it had got a bit of abuse in the past. Now I hadnt noticed this in the test drive, so got to the quays and after putting the car out of gear, couldnt get it back in. Had to turn off the car in order to get it in gear then restart it and park in first. Rang the dealer and he told me it was a hydraulic clutch in those cars and what was wrong was just an airlock in the system and that if I left it a few minutes it would be fine.. This seemed to work but to cut a long story short when I took the car for a spin over the weekend same thing happened when I got back to Dublin and even when I turned the car off for a while didnt sort the problem. Had to drive about 2 miles home in 1st gear which was highly frustrating needless to say. As well as this car didnt have an alarm when I bought it and got one fitted this is also not working and neither is the remote central locking - they should both work in conjunction with each other. Should have got the car looked at by a mechanic but because I was buying from a garage with a warranty thought this wouldnt be necessary. So have I bought a lemon or has anyone any advice towards the best way to handle this?

Hagar

dezine wrote:

Should have got the car looked at by a mechanic but because I was buying from a garage with a warranty thought this wouldnt be necessary.

Famous last words.

Have them come out and tow it back.
Don't delay. Don't take any excuses.
Get a solicitor, get your money back.

jhegarty

dezine wrote:

Hi, I picked up an 00 astra a the weekend from a garage with 5 yrs warranty,

a 5 year warrany on a 00 ... are they for real ????

smash

If it's under warranty, bring it back. If thery're a member of the SIMI - give them a call and complain that they're selling dodgy cars.

DublinWriter

jhegarty wrote:

a 5 year warrany on a 00 ... are they for real ????

Looked at an 01 recently and max warranty the garage would offer was 3 months!

dezine

sorry this should have been 5 month warranty, have edited it now in the original post, gonna take your advice and ask them to come out and tow it back.. got finance for the deal so this might complicate things regarding getting money back..

dezine

Well was talking to dealer he's getting someone to come out to tow the car back to garage morning and has assured me everything will be fixed. He told me to leave the car unlocked with the key under the passenger seat as there will be nobody at the house. Thought this sounded very dodgy as its a bad area. Am leaving the key at a local shop instead.. So should I accept his assurances and hope all will be fine or face facts that his car could be nothing but trouble and try do something to get another?

Henry Ford III

Ring him again and tell him you want a full refund and no excuses.

Give him 24 hours, and brief a Solicitor.

Have a legal letter land on his desk if he's 1 minute late giving you your money back.

dezine

ok the problem is I have got hire purchase for this car, technically the car is now owned by the bank. Even if I got all of the money back it wouldnt meet the costs incurred. Plus I have got insurance for the car. Seems a lot easier to let him take the car back and hope he does a good job fixing it.. So far he seems to be meeting the terms of the warranty and offered a replacement car for when it is being fixed..

maidhc

dezine wrote:

ok the problem is I have got hire purchase for this car, technically the car is now owned by the bank. Even if I got all of the money back it wouldnt meet the costs incurred.

In that situation the Bank is also liable for the car not being of "merchantable quality"! Having said that I am not sure how this provision operates in practice (s28 Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980)

dezine wrote:

Plus I have got insurance for the car. Seems a lot easier to let him take the car back and hope he does a good job fixing it.. So far he seems to be meeting the terms of the warranty and offered a replacement car for when it is being fixed..

Insurance is transferable, but I think it is probably worth allowing the car be repaired.

Hagar

maidhc wrote:

but I think it is probably worth allowing the car be repaired.

Talk to a solicitor before you do anything.
Accepting a repair is the first step to loosing your right to a full refund.

Interceptor

Hagar wrote:

Talk to a solicitor before you do anything.
Accepting a repair is the first step to loosing your right to a full refund.

The OP bought a six year old car after having tested it and arranging finance. The garage is under no obligation to give a full refund and they have every right to fix it under the terms of the warranty. The OP drove the car out of the garage and the faults manifested themselves afterward - cars break, rain falls, men cheat.

I call this 'new car cold feet' syndrome - or 'I thought I wanted it and now I'm not sure - I think its smelly...'

Who fitted the alarm? Was it the garage you bought from? The alarm fitter may have disturbed something (unlikely but possible). Who repaired the blown radio fuse - why did it blow in the first place? You didn't mention mileage or service history - did it start life as a rental?

As far as I can see its a simple fault - the engine isn't hanging out and there is no evidence of undisclosed crash damage. Let the garage repair it and let that be a lesson to you not to buy Opels. It is normal not to NCT cars until they are sold and if they said they'd look after you then hold them to it.

Reaching for a solicitor is a popular solution these days and the only person who will benefit will be the solicitor. Get the car fixed, buy it some fuzzy dice and stop fretting.

'cptr

smiling_time

Interceptor wrote:

As far as I can see its a simple fault - the engine isn't hanging out and there is no evidence of undisclosed crash damage. Let the garage repair it and let that be a lesson to you not to buy Opels.

Reaching for a solicitor is a popular solution these days and the only person who will benefit will be the solicitor. Get the car fixed, buy it some fuzzy dice and stop fretting.

'cptr

hmm some tough love! harsh words

colm_mcm

maidhc wrote:

In that situation the Bank is also liable for the car not being of "merchantable quality"! Having said that I am not sure how this provision operates in practice (s28 Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980)
.

How is the bank liable?

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

How is the bank liable?

By operation of statute. I remember the specifics being explained to me, but mercifully have little interest in Commercial law and so forgot promptly.

(2) Where the owner lets goods under a hire-purchase agreement in the course of a business, there is an implied condition that the goods are of merchantable quality within the meaning of section 14 (3) of the Act of 1893 as set out in the Table to section 10 of this Act, except that there is no such condition—

( a ) as regards defects specifically drawn to the hirer's attention before the agreement is made, or

( b ) if the hirer examines the goods before the agreement is made, as regards defects which that examination ought to have revealed.

drdre

donot take no **** from them,if they donot collect it just say ok and bring the car to the forcourt and give them the keys and say the solictor will be in touch tommorrow and tell them you will contact simi and walk off.i bet they will run behind you to get it sorted.
thanks the best option and ask for refund.make the nct problem a issue as they bull****ted.but the stupid thing was you fell for the deal.you should never buy a car until 1 month before its nct.there must be somthing wrong,

other option is to tell them to pass the nct and give it a full service and then take it from them or tell them you want to get a service else where and they pay the bill.so you can get everything checked up.

Hagar

Interceptor wrote:

Reaching for a solicitor is a popular solution these days and the only person who will benefit will be the solicitor.

It's a sensible course of action. It has become more common as people become more educated regards their rights as consumers. There is no point complaining about shoddy goods and services and then not carrying through with the complaint.

/ BTW Which fuse in the alarm system do you think stuck the car in first gear ??? :rolleyes:

colm_mcm

maidhc wrote:

(2) Where the owner lets goods under a hire-purchase agreement in the course of a business, there is an implied condition that the goods are of merchantable quality within the meaning of section 14 (3) of the Act of 1893 as set out in the Table to section 10 of this Act, except that there is no such condition—

( a ) as regards defects specifically drawn to the hirer's attention before the agreement is made, or

( b ) if the hirer examines the goods before the agreement is made, as regards defects which that examination ought to have revealed.

this has little to do with the bank though. more the contract between the garage and the hirer.

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

this has little to do with the bank though. more the contract between the garage and the hirer.

The bank (or HP house) will be the actual owner of the car, and hire it to the "owner". See below:

www.odca.ie wrote:

In hire purchase, both the person from whom you got the goods (the retailer) and the hire-purchase company are responsible to you, for seeing that the goods are all that they should be under the contract. In other words, if you have a valid complaint, you may claim against either. You must have a genuine hire purchase agreement, however, and not a personal loan from a finance company.

colm_mcm

As far as I'm aware, any disputes regarding the condition of a car are to be taken up with the garage first.

I think where the bank's responsibility comes in is when reasonable attempts to repair the goods fail. They have to refund you any payments made to them. just how long after the goods have been received, I'm not sure. I would imagine that small items like a clutch fault wouldn't warrant a replacement car, and as long as the car is repaired you're doing ok.

Hire purchase agreements require the goods to be fit for the purpose intended, and to be reasonably durable. this is open to interpretation.

dezine

ok, the garage I bought it in fitted the alarm before I picked it up and also found the dodgy fuse before I drove away with it. Regarding the nct its not in the contract so little I can do about it at this stage just hold them to their word. Somebody mentioned accepting a repair is first step to losing right to full refund, dont see how this could be the case, surely if I get it repaired and it goes again it should only increase my grounds for complaint.. Anyway have left the keys for collection so it is getting picked up this morning. Fingers crossed..

PauloMN

Interceptor wrote:

Let the garage repair it and let that be a lesson to you not to buy Opels.

Yeah or Fiats also.

FFS, what a load of crap.

dezine

Well it is being repaired. One more thing, the steering wheel is vibrating when I hit 70. Should this be covered for repair under warranty? Is this type of thing tested with the nct??

faigs

dezine wrote:

One more thing, the steering wheel is vibrating when I hit 70. Should this be covered for repair under warranty? Is this type of thing tested with the nct??

Think it is tested, it could be a small dent in the alloy (if it has alloys) or else a blister on either front tyre.

Interceptor wrote:

let that be a lesson to you not to buy Opels.

WTF?

So all Opels are crap now because of this one? I had an Astra and never had one problem with it, also a friend has sold loads of them over the years and finds them very reliable.

Interceptor

faigs wrote:

WTF? So all Opels are crap now because of this one? I had an Astra and never had one problem with it, also a friend has sold loads of them over the years and finds them very reliable.

No, just some of them. They are mass-market consumer durables just like your Zanussi washing machine or your Triton shower - you use them for a certain period, they break and you throw them away. They are built to a budget (as are most cars) and depending on your luck you might get a good one or a bad one.
It is the same with EVERY car - my boss has a Merc SL and it has been on a recovery truck twice with the roof stuck half up - its not just Opels. But it often is. I worked for a short time in the recovery business, I have owned two Astras and a Vectra and apart from the new Astra I can't recommend anyone buy an Opel.
With the exception of the Fiat Marea I can't think of car with worse depreciation than the Opel Omega and don't even mention the Signum. The Frontera is a recovery mans wet dream - they are permanently breaking down, I've worked on several and they are second only to the Freelander for being rubbish.

'cptr

Hagar

dezine wrote:

Well it is being repaired. One more thing, the steering wheel is vibrating when I hit 70. Should this be covered for repair under warranty? Is this type of thing tested with the nct??

I could also be tracking or wheel balancing, either way the car should not have left the garage in that condition. It could be considered un-roadworthy and/or dangerous to drive.

But you seem to have it covered...

faigs

Interceptor wrote:

It is the same with EVERY car - my boss has a Merc SL and it has been on a recovery truck twice with the roof stuck half up - its not just Opels.

So what do you reccommend we buy? Not everyone can afford custom built Bentleys!

unkel

Interceptor wrote:

The garage is under no obligation to give a full refund and they have every right to fix it under the terms of the warranty

Was gonna post very same thing. The garage can choose to repair or refund. It is their choice

Interceptor

faigs wrote:

So what do you reccommend we buy? Not everyone can afford custom built Bentleys!

I don't tend to get involved in 'what should I buy threads', I buy cars that make me happy and I don't tend to worry about value, reliability or image. You are either passionate about cars or you use them to get you from A to B - if you belong to the second group, you shouldn't really listen to me and would be well advised to put me on your 'ignore' list.

I currently have six Fiats in my driveway - you can't trust me to be objective... Oh apart from DON'T BUY A SSANGYONGGGGG!!!!...

'cptr

bazz26

dezine wrote:

One more thing, the steering wheel is vibrating when I hit 70. Should this be covered for repair under warranty? Is this type of thing tested with the nct??

The steering wheel vibrating at 70mph could simply be that the wheels are not balanced correctly. The tracking is tested afaik as part of the NCT.

First off before going back to the dealer, get the wheels balanced and the tracking checked by some place like Advanced Pitstop or similar. Have them also check the condition of the tyres and rims. You may have a damaged tyre or a buckled rim which can cause a vibration or sudder. This is quit common if your car has alloy wheels. A nasty run in with a pot hole or curb by the previous owner could easily have caused damage to the tyres or alloys. Wheel balancing and tracking i'm afraid will not usually be covered under a used warranty. These are normal conditions of wear and tear due to the condition of roads or driver habbits.

However if the problem still persists after the above has been checked then it may be a more serious problem so then take it to the dealer to have it looked at.

The_Magoo

Just out of curiosity, what mileage is on the car, no. of previous owners, did it have any mods, service history, oh, cars can be put through an NCT up to 6 months early, so there is no reason why the garage shouldnt do it themselves!