Garage have sold me a death trap!!

fluffy08 · 19-06-2008 4:14pm #1

I bought a used car last week (98 Golf), the garage said they had serviced it. I was about 100 yards from the garage, driving home, when i noticed a smell of petrol. I tought its probably normal as its just been in the garage with people working on it and thought it would fade by the time i got home.

The smell did not subside but instead became very overpowering. I emailed them straight away the next day and they told me to bring it in next week. So the following monday i had it checked by the garage and they discovered petrol had been leaking and pooling from the petrol pump under one of the back seats. The sales man then told me it would cost me 150euro to get it fixed. I left the car with them as they said it was dangerous to drive (yet they let me drive away with it in this state when i bought it) I told him i would not be paying it as the defect was there when i bought the car.

Im sickened that they left me drive away in such a death trap!...ive already rang them and told them i want everything looked at on the car because obviously it wasnt in the first place...im tryin to decide whether i should just give the keys back and say i want a refund?....or should i wait until i get the car back, tell them im sending it for an NCT and if it doesn't pass i will be forced to take legal action as they have sold me faulty goods???

I dont no what to do??.....any advice??

keefg · 19-06-2008 4:22pm

Wow.....that's an unlucky first post.

I would suggest that you keep calm about it for now. I know you are pee'd off about it being a hazard but if you go in to the dealer screaming about solicitors it will probably do more harm than good.

But.....be firm, just keep calm. Tell them what you expect them to do to resolve the problem.

Take photo's of any defects if you can as well - they maybe handy for future reference.

If the dealer is a member of SIMI and you can't resolve the issue between yourselves then you can ask SIMI to step in.

Legal action should be a last resort.

Good luck, I hope it gets sorted out for you.

3ps · 19-06-2008 4:24pm

relax? Dealers can't find every fault on every car.

Let them fix it and try to get them to pay for it.

It's 10 years old. You are going to have to expect a few things to go wrong.

bazz26 · 19-06-2008 4:25pm

I would contact the Office of Consumer Affairs for advice on how to proceed.

fluffy08 · 19-06-2008 4:37pm

3ps wrote: »

relax? Dealers can't find every fault on every car.

Let them fix it and try to get them to pay for it.

It's 10 years old. You are going to have to expect a few things to go wrong.

I agree, thanks for the advice.... its just that it was such a hazard to be driving, and also i forgot to mention when i rang them to ask if they would check the car over and make sur there were no other hazards (in a polite and calm manner)....the manager started shouting down the phone at me saying that the fault wasnt there when i got it(even though i smelt the petrol as i was driving it out of the garage)...and that he was doing this out of good will!...i was so shocked at how unprofessional he was being and could not understand why he was losing his head??

astraboy · 19-06-2008 5:45pm

You mentioned you would take the car for an NCT. Does it have a current NCT? Also, you did email them the next day so you did the right thing, and while its unreasonable to expect a 10 year old car to be perfect, it is reasonable to expect it to be in a decent and use able condition. Maybe get an independent mechanic to check over the car for any other faults.

fluffy08 · 19-06-2008 6:25pm

astraboy wrote: »

You mentioned you would take the car for an NCT. Does it have a current NCT? Also, you did email them the next day so you did the right thing, and while its unreasonable to expect a 10 year old car to be perfect, it is reasonable to expect it to be in a decent and use able condition. Maybe get an independent mechanic to check over the car for any other faults.

Yes, it does have a current NCT which is valid until then end of this year. I was thinking about gettin it NCTd as that way it would be thoroughly checked and if it fails on something hazardous i can go back to the garage, but if it passes then fair enough il have that out of the way and peace of mind!

astraboy · 19-06-2008 6:44pm

fluffy08 wrote: »

Yes, it does have a current NCT which is valid until then end of this year. I was thinking about gettin it NCTd as that way it would be thoroughly checked and if it fails on something hazardous i can go back to the garage, but if it passes then fair enough il have that out of the way and peace of mind!

Don't bother with the NCT. The NCT only checks certain areas. Better off giving the 50E testing fee to an independent mechanic to look over the car. They will get it up on a lift and ask them to just check everything relevant and important, brakes, suspension, engine mounts(an issue with the MK4 golf), gearbox etc. The NCT will not check areas like if the gearbox is in decent condition, or if the coolant system is working correctly. If anything serious arises you can then go back to the dealer. An NCT report will revel little in regard to your situation, especially when you have one until the end of the year.

fluffy08 · 19-06-2008 6:51pm

Thanks for the advice astraboy....i didnt know that!...ive already asked the garage to do most of the things you listed but i dont know if i can trust that they will....so i will have it checked by an independant mechanic.

old boy · 19-06-2008 7:52pm

mechanic is a waste of your money, you need an acessor, thats what they do, a garage cannot overule them they can a mechanic

crosstownk · 19-06-2008 8:03pm

fluffy08 wrote: »

I agree, thanks for the advice.... its just that it was such a hazard to be driving, and also i forgot to mention when i rang them to ask if they would check the car over and make sur there were no other hazards (in a polite and calm manner)....the manager started shouting down the phone at me saying that the fault wasnt there when i got it(even though i smelt the petrol as i was driving it out of the garage)...and that he was doing this out of good will!...i was so shocked at how unprofessional he was being and could not understand why he was losing his head??

Did you get any guarantee/warranty with this car?

If you did then the garage will repair it under warranty. Who cares if the fault was there or not when you collected the car? It's not like you 'introduced' the fault on purpose. So it's the garages responsibilty to have it repaired.

As old boy said, a mechanic is no use at this stage, you need an independent automobile assessor - his word will stand up in court should things go that far.

Myrddin · 19-06-2008 8:49pm

I honestly doubt if the garage knew there was a fuel leak in the car, they would have let you drive away in it. Warranty or no warranty there is a safety/hazard obligation there. You havnt mentioned what warranty you got did you get a bumper to bumper, or engine/gearbox? If its the latter then fuel pumps or anything like that wont fall under the terms so you probably wont get it covered.

I think your jumping the gun here a bit, relax and see what they say when they get back to you.

Garage have sold me a death trap!!

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