dealer sold me car that needs new engine

byrner51

Hi all my sister is learning how to drive and bought her first car last week from a dealer however she met him in a carpark in mulhuddart village to have a look at the car which was due to be nctd the next day.when he called her the next day to let her know it passed she went and bought the car.it was running fine when i drove it engine smooth no noises/problems at all.

The car was in the garden 3 days while she was waiting to get insurance my dad was starting it every morning just keep the battery going etc.

when he got into the car to start it on wednesday there was a weird noise from the engine it kind of sounded like a diesel.to cut a long story short we brought it to a mechanic who stripped it down a bit to discover its the shaft/main bearing in the engine which leads to the car needing a new engine.i just find this bizzare becaue the car hadnt been driven at all since she bought it which leads me to believe the dealer knew about the fault when he sold it.i rang him on friday to be told basically its tough luck and **** happens.

my sister is devestated its her first car and she saved for months to buy it im just wondering is there any law that we could use against him to get the money back.he didnt give a warranty with it but surely people cant go around selling cars with huge faults etc

the car is a 00 hyundai atoz with 47k miles i would appreciate to hear from people that would know what i can do about this as my parents are away for the next 3 weeks so i need to try sort it out for her

dunsandin

If he really was a dealer, back to him it goes. Sale of goods act - he simply cant wash his hands of it, it was not fit for purpose. If he refuses, state that you will be going to the small claims court/solicitor. That will soften his cough if he really is a dealer. If, on the other hand he is a scam merchant who meets people in car-parks to do his deals, things may be a little trickier. To me, he sounds like the latter, and you will have to hire Fat Tony to get your money back for you. Hopefully the solicitor/court will work, cos Tonys hard to get hold of lately. Best of luck, and stick to the line of repair/refund or else court.

byrner51

well he said he was a dealer he had it advertised that he was a dealer but we were very silly about the whole thing we didnt ask for the adress of his buisness or the name of it.im going to ring the consumer agency tommorow and see what they say.when i rang him he told me that he knew nothing about it and that the car was running perfect when we bought it but surely a bearing cant go over night and especially because the car wasnt driven except for bringing it home and to the mechanic.thanks very much for the advice

knird evol

Never meet anyone in a carpark. Meet them at a house or bussiness premises that you see them come out of. Now you know where they are.

Never buy a second hand car that you don't have a qualified mechanic check out.

byrner51

My sister rushed into buying the car i totally agree with you and i would never buy a car without having it checked and meeting the person at there home/premises.i wasnt directly involved in her buying the car but i want to help her out now because its her first car she is devestated she spent her savings on it.Im very annoyed about the whole thing and want to see what my options are.......

jimmyw

I wonder was there oil in it?Thats a bummer.It did seem a little dodgy to look at it in a carpark if a dealer.What was wrong with the forecourt.I have a bad feeling about this, I hope I am wrong.

byrner51

the oil was fine because it was only nctd the day before she collected it.they agreed to meet him there because basically it was a common place and my mam knew where it was.i dont even think she has an adress for the guy all she has is his name and number however she is ringing up the nct centre to see how the car was passed with such a major fault and too hopefully get his details.it was also advertised on donedeal and buyandsell so hopefully she will get his details from one of them because surely he cant get away with what he done.we only rang him once since discovering the problem im just weighing up my options first before i ring him again

dunsandin

If it was a private sale, and he was a "Daaler" rather than a dealer, sadly, your sister could be up against it - these types will claim it was perfect when they sold it, and may say you broke it yourself. Thats if they don't change their number and simply vanish, or offer you a perishing good chuffing if you keep ringing them. Time to call Fat Tony, I reckon. Theres a lot of scumbags out there, its hard to be up to them all. Then again, he could be a fine fellow, and have a change of heart and offer you a full refund or a swift repair, along with his heartfelt apologies for the inconvenience he has inadvertently caused due to a fault he was thoroughly unaware of at the time of selling in all good faith............ahem.

bladespin

If he was a dealer then he should have given her a receipt for her purchase, there would also be some sort of warranty bar it was advertised as a trade sale or sold as seen, otherwise it would be a private sale, there's still laws covering this but it gets very difficult to enforce them.

If you have his name then it shouldn't be incredibly difficult to find his premises (if there is one).

bazz26

If he has sold other cars then google his telephone number and see if points to an address.

caprilicious

I had similar happen with a 'dealer' I bought a car from a few months ago.
Got the car home & found the timing chain was loose, needed to be replaced.

I contacted him & was told 'Ubbirimae Fidae - let the buyer beware' :mad:
He would do nothing for me.
I know I should have had the car checked out, but I had a 2 week old baby, needed a car in a hurry & had a small budget, so left the other half at home minding baby while I went off to buy it.

I also thought it'd be ok because it had only passed the NCT a fortnight before I'd bought it

I hope your sister gets something sorted out

byrner51

it was advertised as trade sale but he had no problem saying he was a dealer he said he got the car as a trade in and was selling it on.im not gonna let it go easy going to try do everything possbile thanks for all the suggestions and help

patrickc

byrner51 wrote: »

it was advertised as trade sale but he had no problem saying he was a dealer he said he got the car as a trade in and was selling it on.im not gonna let it go easy going to try do everything possbile thanks for all the suggestions and help

good luck keep us updated

dunsandin

If it was a genuine "trade" sale, you would have been asked to sign an invoice clearly stating that it was a trade sale with no recourse, and a real dealer would make a point of highlighting what you were signing - ie no recourse, but as you are not "in the trade", it would be meaningless as by definition you are not an expert "in trade" and so the transaction could not be regarded as falling outside of the consumer protection act. Ie, you should get a refund/repair unless he is a daaaler.

drunkmonkey

If this guy is a trader/dealer regardless of if you bought it with no warranty/sold as seen etc, your are protecred under consumer law. A trader/dealer can not make a private sale to a consumer.
Find out if this guy is actually in the motor trade then you have a case.

Mr Benevolent

How much did it cost your sister to have the engine stripped? Sounds a bit ridiculous tbh.

byrner51

yes i will keep you all updated thanks for the suggestions and advice.
it didnt cost her anything because her boyfriend knows the mechanic as far as im aware he didnt fully strip the engine down just enough to locate the problem why does that sound ridiculous??

so regardless of wether hes a dealer/trader or not i still have case here?

byrner51

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If this guy is a trader/dealer regardless of if you bought it with no warranty/sold as seen etc, your are protecred under consumer law. A trader/dealer can not make a private sale to a consumer.
Find out if this guy is actually in the motor trade then you have a case.

but would he have to be registered as a dealer/trader for me to have a case?because i know theres alot of people out there that buyvand sell cars without having a proper license too.he told my mam that he trader so i assume he works for a buisness once i find this out i can tell him that i want a refund or repair or else im taking him to court.

thank you so much for all your replies

drunkmonkey

byrner51 wrote: »

but would he have to be registered as a dealer/trader for me to have a case?

Is this your sisters car, i'm guessing it is, looks like he's a trader.
Maybe call him and explain the situation make it sound like you a reasonable guy and just want this sorted out for your sister as easily as possible, you want to give back the car and he sorts it out or he gives you another car, getting cash back will be a lot harder than than the other 2 options.

Esel

Four pages of results for that seller's phone no. That makes him a dealer in anyone's book.

Try to find out where he is based.

newmug

All, I hate to ruin the party, but realistically the law will never get your money back. A friend of mine bought a car for 30K off a dealer. He signed the forms, paid by cheque, had all his angles covered. A week later he found out it had been crashed. He sued the dealer and won, but the dealer just vanished, never got a penny. Now the solicitor wants my mate to pay him 10K in fees.

drunkmonkey

newmug wrote: »

All, I hate to ruin the party, but realistically the law will never get your money back. A friend of mine bought a car for 30K off a dealer. He signed the forms, paid by cheque, had all his angles covered. A week later he found out it had been crashed. He sued the dealer and won, but the dealer just vanished, never got a penny. Now the solicitor wants my mate to pay him 10K in fees.

That's why I advised OP to try and do a deal with the dealer, I ended up in a similar situation as your friend thankfully my solicitor advised me not to sue, it took a while to get the money back but eventually the dealer caved in. All the time I stressed I wouldn't mind a similar car if it was correct and gave him the opportunity to find me one. I was not willing to accept a repair as the car was a write off.
Refund, Repair, Replace. Give him the options and say you'll be having one of them. I think in op's case the dealer could get the car fixed for her.

mullingar

@OP,

If this is the car as linked from a previous poster:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mHyYnKvQSzQJ:www.gumtree.ie/dublin/69/60354569.html+00+hyundai+atoz+with+47k+miles&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&client=firefox-a

Its €1,100.

I would go to a small claims court (max €2000 claim in this court) and bring loads of printouts from google's cache of all the cars he sold and a quote to fix the car

Google cache here:
http://www.google.ie/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=0868891097
and click on the word "cached" at the end of the links

No solicitors needed. It will only cost you €15. NO MORE. (Think of Judge Judy:))

More details here:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/courts-system/small_claims_court/#wheretoapply

byrner51

yes thats the car i also googled his phone number i cant believe the amount of cars he has sold in the past few months.

im going to ring him later an tell him i want a refund,repair or replacement if not im going to threaten him with legal action however what law should i quote him is it the sale of goods act?

thank you very much for everyones help and the useful links posted

I just need to find out more about the actual law that covers us here because i want to scare him on the phone id much rather just accept a refund or repair rather than going down the whole legal action road

Henry Ford III

You don't need to give him any legislative references.

Tell him you want the situation remedied, or else you will instigate proceedings. Put a time limit on it too.

mullingar

@op,

Never go in with your guns blazing!!, they will only go on the defensive or counter-attack.

I would tell the dealer the fault with the car and you want him to fix/refund within 2 weeks. See what he says.

If he tells you to f-off, then say in a calm voice that you have no choice but to bring him to the small claims court. See what he says then.

Important! be nice but firm on the phone! as you will have the last laugh if it does go to the small claims

feelites

i dont think if u will get anything replaces/repaired or refunded

when she was buying the car it was fine so.... sorry man but she should check it better

everything what happens after signing the logbook its not in charge of the seller i think

mullingar

feelites wrote: »

i dont think if u will get anything replaces/repaired or refunded

when she was buying the car it was fine so.... sorry man but she should check it better

everything what happens after signing the logbook its not in charge of the seller i think

You would be right it it was a private sale,

But,

He was a dealer. Therefore the "Sale of goods act" will fully covered this as it broke down well within a "reasonable time-frame" of the sale.

If OP goes to court, the OP just needs to prove that the seller is a dealer. This is easily done with print-outs from the internet on the links above

Esel

mullingar wrote: »

If he tells you to f-off, then say in a calm voice that you have no choice but to bring him to the small claims court.

Why mention the small claims court? Better to just say 'legal action' or, as stated above, 'institute proceedings'. Keep him guessing. Hope it doesn't come to that.

jimmyw

byrner51 wrote: »

the oil was fine because it was only nctd the day before she collected it.they agreed to meet him there because basically it was a common place and my mam knew where it was.i dont even think she has an adress for the guy all she has is his name and number however she is ringing up the nct centre to see how the car was passed with such a major fault and too hopefully get his details.it was also advertised on donedeal and buyandsell so hopefully she will get his details from one of them because surely he cant get away with what he done.we only rang him once since discovering the problem im just weighing up my options first before i ring him again

Just because it got an nct does not necessary mean that the engine is ok as thats not covered.

mullingar

The NCT only checks the engines emissions, not for any strange noises/bearings.