Buying a used car in Ireland guide

grogi · 27-04-2021 7:51pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not fit for purpose would be where you were mid-sold a product to do a specific job, say you went to a shop and asked for a drill for putting holes in concrete, they sold you a non-hammer drill. That would be not fit for purpose.
A faulty item and one not fit for purpose aren’t the same thing. The place is full of “Sale of Goods Act lawyers” who have no idea how consumer law works.

If a good cannot be used for the purpose it was purchased, it is not fit for purpose. The reason for not being able to, be it a fault, misrepresentation of usability etc, is irrelevant.

In your example, the customer bought a drill to put holes in concrete.

1. If said drill came without hammer drill, it is not fit for purpose.
2. If said drill came with hammer drill, but it is so weak it is useless - as above.
3. If said drill came with hammer drill, but it doesn't work. As above.
4. If said drill didn't accept concrete bits. As above
5. If said drill had motor too weak to drill in concrete etc... As above.

What matters is if the item can be used for the purpose it was purchased.

colm_mcm · 27-04-2021 8:03pm

grogi wrote: »

If a good cannot be used for the purpose it was purchased, it is not fit for purpose. The reason for not being able to, be it a fault, misrepresentation of usability etc, is irrelevant.

There’s a distinction between not fit fit purpose and faulty.

grogi · 27-04-2021 10:23pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

There’s a distinction between not fit fit purpose and faulty.

A faulty item is unfit. It can however be made fit by fixing the fault.

colm_mcm · 27-04-2021 10:38pm

grogi wrote: »

A faulty item is unfit. It can however be made fit by fixing the fault.

Right, you could probably try and argue that in general a fault makes an item not fit for purpose.....

but in the context of the Sale of Goods Act, (which fryup has already been incorrectly advised on) that’s not what it means, and the idea that one is entitled to a NQA refund for faulty goods under the guise of “not fit for purpose” is complete fantasy.

grogi · 27-04-2021 11:52pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Right, you could probably try and argue that in general a fault makes an item not fit for purpose.....

but in the context of the Sale of Goods Act, (which fryup has already been incorrectly advised on) that’s not what it means, and the idea that one is entitled to a NQA refund for faulty goods under the guise of “not fit for purpose” is complete fantasy.

That is correct

ELM327 · 28-04-2021 9:08am

colm_mcm wrote: »

Right, you could probably try and argue that in general a fault makes an item not fit for purpose.....

but in the context of the Sale of Goods Act, (which fryup has already been incorrectly advised on) that’s not what it means, and the idea that one is entitled to a NQA refund for faulty goods under the guise of “not fit for purpose” is complete fantasy.

+1
For a faulty item you are "entitled" (hate that word) to one of the 3 Rs

fryup · 28-04-2021 10:21am

but sure the whole purpose of a car is to drive?? to get you from A to B

and if it can't do that then surely its not fit for purpose

colm_mcm · 28-04-2021 10:24am

fryup wrote: »

but sure the whole purpose of a car is to drive?? to get you from A to B

and if it can't do that then surely its fit not for purpose

That’s not how it works, as explained above.

It’s fauly. Simple as that. The car is still a car and as a product it’s fit for purpose of doing car things. You just have one that’s faulty.

fryup · 28-04-2021 10:44am

ELM327 wrote: »

+1
For a faulty item you are "entitled" (hate that word) to one of the 3 Rs

well after nearly a month without a car (with no end in sight) the only "R" i'd be looking for at this stage is a Refund

grogi · 28-04-2021 9:43pm

fryup wrote: »

well after nearly a month without a car (with no end in sight) the only "R" i'd be looking for at this stage is a Refund

Just read here:

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer/shopping/repairs_replacements_and_refunds.html

Complain in writing quoting correct legislation, state your expectations and give two weeks time for the seller to respond to your demands. Keep copy.
If you're not satisfied with the response, take the seller to court.

on_the_roots · 10-05-2021 5:15pm

You guys think that "rule" of 50% of the initial price after 3 years is realistic?

Looking for an Audi A6 2.0 TDI S-Line 2018, there is nothing decent in ROI for less than 32k, when a brand new costs around 53k.

grogi · 10-05-2021 5:44pm

on_the_roots wrote: »

You guys think that "rule" of 50% of the initial price after 3 years is realistic?

Looking for an Audi A6 2.0 TDI S-Line 2018, there is nothing decent in ROI for less than 32k, when a brand new costs around 53k.

Used to be 50% 5 years ago and even less before that but it's more like 60% these days.

For my own needs I estimate the value loss as 16%/year, regardless of age these days.

dinneenp · 10-05-2021 5:59pm

Hi,
Have a 2009 Saab, will change this year to (probably) a Skoda Octavia, budget about €10-€13k, ideally 2016 or newer.
When buying 2nd hand obviously look for service book and that car get good care. But what's the max amount of kms that I should be looking at?
Thanks,
Pa.

Itainire · 10-05-2021 8:17pm

dinneenp wrote: »

Hi,
Have a 2009 Saab, will change this year to (probably) a Skoda Octavia, budget about €10-€13k, ideally 2016 or newer.
When buying 2nd hand obviously look for service book and that car get good care. But what's the max amount of kms that I should be looking at?
Thanks,
Pa.

This is a tricky one.. The average Kms done per year I think is something like 12k, let's say 15k so you should be looking at a max 60-70k kms. I have noticed tough that 2nd hand cars only a few years old are often cars that you used to be of rental companies so odds are they might have more Kms as people used them for travel around Ireland - for work etc.
In general I would say for that budget don't take anything with more than 110k km in my humble opinion

20-05-2021 9:37am

Going to look at a 14 A4 this weekend. It's a decent drive away from me so can't get a mechanic to come look. The car is due an NCT shortly if I ask for it to be put through and it passes is that sufficient as it has full main dealer service history and it's aone owner car from new.

colm_mcm · 20-05-2021 9:44am

Is it being sold by a real dealer?

An NCT would certainly weed out any obvious roadwortiness issues, but is not a clean bill of health for the car. I.e the car could have serious mechanical or electrical faults and still pass an NCT.

Post a link to the ad if you can.

fryup · 20-05-2021 10:37am

@zylias - do an online history check for peace of mind

20-05-2021 11:06am

@Colm it's a private sale. I can PM you the advert if you like? Seller seems genuine enough I'll be going to take a look at it before buying and he has full Audi history on it and timing belt completed by Audi dealer as well

bazz26 · 20-05-2021 12:08pm

Why are they not putting it through the NCT if it's due soon? Surely a fresh NCT makes it more valuable and sellable?

choheinzz · 25-05-2021 1:04pm

I'm looking at taking a mechanic along to help inspect a used car that I want to buy. Someone suggested this service - https://www.autoguru.ie/
Anyone has experience using them before buying a used car? Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

User1998 · 25-05-2021 1:23pm

€99 and they don’t even do a diagnostic scan and only drive the car in first and second gear. I’d hope your going for the €149 one

choheinzz · 25-05-2021 1:41pm

User1998 wrote: »

€99 and they don’t even do a diagnostic scan and only drive the car in first and second gear. I’d hope your going for the €149 one

I'm not sure which one to go for. Moreover, I'm looking to buy an automatic one so the gear inspection covered in the plan may not be of much value. Given this, would going for either 99 or 149 euro service help? Sorry if this sounds like a basic question. I'm very new to driving and don't have much support by way of people who can help, so relying on online sources/forums like this one. Thanks

User1998 · 25-05-2021 5:29pm

The €99 one seems useless. I would imagine the €149 one is fairly comprehensive. There are other companies that do pre purchase inspections also, maybe shop around first

into_the_wild · 25-05-2021 8:41pm

Any recommended decent dealers out there for 2nd hand hybrids? I've heard some horror stories for a few of them so don't want to take any chances.

dubliniift · 25-05-2021 10:41pm

into_the_wild wrote: »

Any recommended decent dealers out there for 2nd hand hybrids? I've heard some horror stories for a few of them so don't want to take any chances.

I'm looking for same I e the dealer..

What are horror stories? Helps to know what to watch our for.

into_the_wild · 26-05-2021 10:16am

dubliniift wrote: »

I'm looking for same I e the dealer..

What are horror stories? Helps to know what to watch our for.

Just a few things like tyres not marked as 'E' for european standards, car breaking down after a few days. Some dealers can be very proactive and nice during the sale but as soon as you buy the car, they tend to be messy to deal with hence keep an eye on google reviews etc as well.

yoshiktk · 28-05-2021 6:26am

choheinzz wrote: »

I'm not sure which one to go for. Moreover, I'm looking to buy an automatic one so the gear inspection covered in the plan may not be of much value. Given this, would going for either 99 or 149 euro service help? Sorry if this sounds like a basic question. I'm very new to driving and don't have much support by way of people who can help, so relying on online sources/forums like this one. Thanks

Try this guy:
https://www.facebook.com/Marcin.Nowak.motoexpert
Ill get him when Ill be looking for my next one, most of people are very happy with his help.

02-06-2021 8:42pm

For anyone that finds a car they are seriously interested in and it's a private sale ask can you see a recent health check from a main dealer or request that you pay for one to be done if you are serious about the car €150 could save you a pretty penny in the long run. I was able to check the health check from a service done at the start of the year along with a fresh NCT I felt that was enough.

Secondly, take a good solid 15 minute walk around inspecting the car and take as many pictures as you can. I checked over the car a few days before I bought it and then again when I bought it and genuinely I couldn't see a mark that concerned me (the odd stone chip or scratch on an 8 year old car wouldn't bother me) but I missed what now looks to be a touch up job completed on a scuff on the wheel arch that was never repaired so the paint is coming off.

Not the biggest deal in the world but it's going to cost €500 for it to be fixed.

Moral of the story is, don't trust anything a private seller or a dealer is telling you, you really need to get as much evidence that they can prove the car is in good working order and there's no issues as not being able to tell that a panel was touched up has cost me.

on_the_roots · 03-06-2021 4:48pm

For those of you about to close a deal in a car and want to get an online history check, I still have one Carcheck.ie available in my account that is going to expire on 8 Jun. I'm giving it away.

Just send a PM with the reg. number of the car and I will send you the full report.

Muahahaha · 17-08-2021 7:07pm

Just wondering how people see the used car market going over the next 12 months. It seems prices have increased by up to 40% due to Brexit/lack of supply. I was intending on buying a car last winter but didnt, seems to have been a big mistake as looking at the market now stuff that would have been 3k is now asking 5k upwards. Was looking at DD at even something like a 2013 Pugeot 107 or Dacia Sanderos are asking 5k which seems crazy.

Are these price rises just the new reality and here to stay or will things settle down in 12 months time as more supply comes online?

Buying a used car in Ireland guide

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