Bought a dud car!!

maiden · 06-09-2012 05:09PM #1

I paid 3900 for a car last week from a garda, who told me the timing belt etc had just been done and she had the receipt etc, 2 years NCT on it. Also told be spotless car, perfect condition etc!

Anyway oil leaked yesterday, brought it to my mechanic, totally **** car, over a grands worth of work to be done, no timing belt done, car had been crashed a pack of lies!!

Have I any comeback???

Myrddin · 06-09-2012 05:11PM

maiden wrote: »

I paid 3900 for a car last week from a garda, who told me the timing belt etc had just been done and she had the receipt etc, 2 years NCT on it. Also told be spotless car, perfect condition etc!

Anyway oil leaked yesterday, brought it to my mechanic, totally **** car, over a grands worth of work to be done, no timing belt done, car had been crashed a pack of lies!!

Have I any comeback???

An oil leak can occur at any stage, just unlucky I'd say.
How do you know the timing belt wasn't done & your mechanic isn't roasting you?
How do you know the previous owner knew if it was previously crashed or not?

Caveat emptor in this case unfortunately. Did you not bring a mechanic along to check out the car first?

Jarren · 06-09-2012 05:12PM

Did you check the receipts and asked her if the car was crashed before ?

Procrastastudy · 06-09-2012 05:12PM

maiden wrote: »

I paid 3900 for a car last week from a garda, who told me the timing belt etc had just been done and she had the receipt etc, 2 years NCT on it. Also told be spotless car, perfect condition etc!

Anyway oil leaked yesterday, brought it to my mechanic, totally **** car, over a grands worth of work to be done, no timing belt done, car had been crashed a pack of lies!!

Have I any comeback???

Have you tired going back to the seller and asking?

Private sale is going to come down to what you can prove she said. Did you communicate via email or text or just verbally?

maiden · 06-09-2012 05:21PM

4 Audi A4, seller bought it 3 years ago. My mechanic is my mechanic for 20 years, and I trust him completely.

He gave me a list of things that need doing, which dont need doing all together but will for a finish cost the bones of 1000,

He said absolutely no record of timing belt being done.

It was all verbal im afraid!!

Im going back to seller this evening, just wanted info before i do

Cabaal · 06-09-2012 05:31PM

Should have had it looked over by a mechanic before buying by right but abit late now sadly,

professore · 06-09-2012 05:35PM

Maybe the garda has a receipt of the last timing belt change? Timing belt alone will cost a fair bit. This is something that needs to be checked on any car you buy - except the odd one with timing chains like some Nissans.

maiden · 06-09-2012 05:36PM

I thought being a garda that sold it to me they might be telling the truth, but there u go, lesson well learned!!

maiden · 06-09-2012 05:37PM

professore wrote: »

Maybe the garda has a receipt of the last timing belt change? Timing belt alone will cost a fair bit. This is something that needs to be checked on any car you buy.

She said she has, but no sign of receipt yet!

Myrddin · 06-09-2012 05:43PM

maiden wrote: »

I thought being a garda that sold it to me they might be telling the truth, but there u go, lesson well learned!!

How do you know she wasn't shafted by a mechanic? Buying used cars is a minefield, you really need to be careful

Procrastastudy · 06-09-2012 05:51PM

Is she has said something had been done or made a statement of something specific then you may have recourse but proving it and the cost of enforcing it would probably be prohibitive.

It's difficult to know what to do until you speak to the seller - they could be very reasonable with you and there not be an issue. I'd suggest taking it easy to start with - be careful what you say.

maiden · 06-09-2012 08:35PM

Ok i went to the parents house as it was from there that i bought the car, the girl wasnt there, so basically I had the list from the mechanic and they called the mechanic a liar, nothing wrong with the car etc and told me to feck off.

I asked for the log book as i hadnt signed it yet, and they said it was already gone to Shannon, and i said how? as i hadnt signed it??? and was told your name is on it and its been sent off!!

And, another thing!! My mechanic said there is not a hope in hell the car should have passed an nct, i have the nct sheet and it was passed in Cahir on the 12th of Aug

Im really confused

Procrastastudy · 06-09-2012 08:44PM

maiden wrote: »

Ok i went to the parents house as it was from there that i bought the car, the girl wasnt there, so basically I had the list from the mechanic and they called the mechanic a liar, nothing wrong with the car etc and told me to feck off.

I asked for the log book as i hadnt signed it yet, and they said it was already gone to Shannon, and i said how? as i hadnt signed it??? and was told your name is on it and its been sent off!!

And, another thing!! My mechanic said there is not a hope in hell the car should have passed an nct, i have the nct sheet and it was passed in Cahir on the 12th of Aug

Im really confused

Okay this is what I would do personally. Ask your mechanic for a report that in his professional opinion that the car should not have passed the NCT. I would then send this is writing to the seller. Explain to the seller that she has two options. Take the car to a mechanic of her choice and have the work done to get it to the required standard to pass the NCT and having the timing belt done or refund the car. Failure to do this will result in you taking the matter further in regards to the NCT. I would suggest framing it as I bought the car from you it's up to you to sort it out - I would prefer not to have to deal with the NCT people. Keep the tone that she has been done by the NCT people and that she must have innocently passed the car on to you.

If, and I'm not suggesting she has, obtained the NCT fraudulently this might be enough to scare her into giving you your money back. Then again who knows.

maiden · 06-09-2012 08:47PM

Thanks for that, im so upset I cant think straight, that sounds like good advice

Outkast_IRE · 06-09-2012 08:48PM

Havent they already just admitted to forging your signature for the logbook?
Surely you can hold this against them to force them into doing something

Procrastastudy · 06-09-2012 08:51PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Havent they already just admitted to forging your signature for the logbook?
Surely you can hold this against them to force them into doing something

Add that in for sure - again frame it as a question not as an accusation.

maiden · 06-09-2012 08:52PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Havent they already just admitted to forging your signature for the logbook?
Surely you can hold this against them to force them into doing something

Should I ring the office in Shannon and tell them thats not my signature??

Outkast_IRE · 06-09-2012 08:53PM

maiden wrote: »

Should I ring the office in Shannon and tell them thats not my signature??

No ---- well not yet anyway see if you can convince them to play nice first.
Dont reveal your hand yet, only mention it if thing look like they are going bad anyway.

Procrastastudy · 06-09-2012 09:00PM

There's a danger there in that the longer you leave it the harder it's going to be to convince Shannon you didn't actually sign it. A couple of days might be okay - for "checking your facts before accusing someone of something very serious" after that it just looks like you're trying to get out of a purchase.

Just take your time to think everything though - communicate in writing but be bloody sure not to make any accusations you can't 100% back up.

3ndahalfof6 · 06-09-2012 09:01PM

Sorry to hear what happened to you OP, you just never know these days, I hope it works out for you.

Guy:Incognito · 06-09-2012 09:10PM

maiden wrote: »

She said she has, but no sign of receipt yet!

Surely when you bought the car you asked for the receipts the seller said they had?

Anyone could say the car has a full service history , but its useless if you dont actually get and check it.

As for the fact its a Gard and you reckoned she'd tell the truth? A Gard is a normal person, aside from any lieing about work that is done she most likely knows about as much about cars as you do (if you happen to know nothing), so unless you feel capable of checking the car out yourself, bring a mechanic.

As a matter of interest, why didnt you dign the VLC when you bought it? Assuming the car was grand at what stage were you expectign an unsigned cert to be sent off?

old boy · 06-09-2012 09:12PM

maiden wrote: »

Ok i went to the parents house as it was from there that i bought the car, the girl wasnt there, so basically I had the list from the mechanic and they called the mechanic a liar, nothing wrong with the car etc and told me to feck off.

I asked for the log book as i hadnt signed it yet, and they said it was already gone to Shannon, and i said how? as i hadnt signed it??? and was told your name is on it and its been sent off!!

And, another thing!! My mechanic said there is not a hope in hell the car should have passed an nct, i have the nct sheet and it was passed in Cahir on the 12th of Aug

Im really confused

cahir is the one place people around here will never take a car for the nct.

Technoprisoner · 06-09-2012 09:24PM

maiden wrote: »

4 Audi A4, seller bought it 3 years ago. My mechanic is my mechanic for 20 years, and I trust him completely.

He gave me a list of things that need doing, which dont need doing all together but will for a finish cost the bones of 1000,

He said absolutely no record of timing belt being done.

It was all verbal im afraid!!

Im going back to seller this evening, just wanted info before i do

what does "absolutley no record" mean? does that mean they havent wrote in tipex on the timing cover when it was done? did your mechanic physically taking the timing covers off and inspect the timing belt?

maiden · 06-09-2012 09:24PM

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Surely when you bought the car you asked for the receipts the seller said they had?

Anyone could say the car has a full service history , but its useless if you dont actually get and check it.

As for the fact its a Gard and you reckoned she'd tell the truth? A Gard is a normal person, aside from any lieing about work that is done she most likely knows about as much about cars as you do (if you happen to know nothing), so unless you feel capable of checking the car out yourself, bring a mechanic.

As a matter of interest, why didnt you dign the VLC when you bought it? Assuming the car was grand at what stage were you expectign an unsigned cert to be sent off?

Her parents live in the town im from but she isnt based here so she said she had to get it and would get me to sign it in a few days

maiden · 06-09-2012 09:26PM

Technoprisoner wrote: »

what does "absolutley no record" mean? does that mean they havent wrote in tipex on the timing cover when it was done? did your mechanic physically taking the timing covers off and inspect the timing belt?

Not sure but he did say something about no tippex

Technoprisoner · 06-09-2012 09:26PM

maiden wrote: »

Not sure but he did say something about no tippex

be careful what you say so....that doesnt mean the belt wasnt done lol

maiden · 06-09-2012 09:27PM

old boy wrote: »

cahir is the one place people around here will never take a car for the nct.

Why??

Technoprisoner · 06-09-2012 09:29PM

maiden wrote: »

Why??

tipex on the timing cover is something that isnt done by all mechanics...in fact if you brought your car to main dealer they would not do that!! just like when you buy a car and there IS tipex on the cover doesnt mean the belt was changed....what other faults did your mechanic find with the car?

partyatmygaff · 06-09-2012 09:29PM

I'm sure that Garda's superintendent would be quite interested to hear one of the staff under his/her leadership is forging signatures.

I'm doubly sure the Garda in question would think twice about being unhelpful if she heard you intended to report her forging your signature to her superintendent.

Yawns · 06-09-2012 09:31PM

When timing belts are changed, generally the mileage at when it was changed is written in tippex nearby. Some people do not write it in tippex so unless your mechanic actually physically checked the belt then I'll wait for receipts if I were you. Some people get receipts for work like timing belts and keep them as proof instead.

Again why did you not sign the VLC at the time? When you bought the car you were happy and drove away with it. Normal circumstances you would have signed it. Did you just give your name so she assumed to write it down?

Guy:Incognito · 06-09-2012 09:34PM

Yawns wrote: »

When timing belts are changed, generally the mileage at when it was changed is written in tippex nearby. Some people do not write it in tippex so unless your mechanic actually physically checked the belt then I'll wait for receipts if I were you. Some people get receipts for work like timing belts and keep them as proof instead.

The only thing thats worth anything is a receipt that can be checked. Any eejit could write a number on a tb cover in tipex.

Bought a dud car!!

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