Buyer beware

LOTTOWINNER

A young chap that works with me bought a second hand car privately for 7k,and after approx. one week, one of the cv joints has failed and he's looking at quite a large bill.
Does he have any come-back on the seller or is it just hard luck?

Stephen

If he bought privately he has no comeback.

Steve

AFAIK In a private sale, it's buyer beware. Also true in the car auctions - it's "buy as seen".

Sale of goods act / merchantable quality only applies to a consumer purchasing from a company.

Personally, I have never bought privately without getting a mechanic to give it a good inspection first. Best €100 you'll ever spend considering that you're parting with such a large wad of cash.

barryfitz

Like that if he bought privately, its just tough luck. did he get a mechanic to check it out before he bought it. If he did the mechanic might have been able to detect it. (probably caused by a crack in the CV boot)

optiplexgx270

CV joint aint that bad cost wise, bit of work in it though. What year is the car? If it 7-9 years old it's common enough.

bazz26

When buying privately "Caveat Emptor" applies, buyer beware!

You pay your money and take your chance. When buying private only agree to buy after a mechanic inspection.

layke

CV joint should cost SFA mate.

Just buy a spurious part from a motorfactors, fitting only requires the removal of brakes and a wheel. Although best to get the other one done while you're at it.

Keith C

Is replacing a rear swingarm/wishbone expensive??

cantdecide

depends on car. i got one done in a punto onece and it cost like €150

IncredibleHulk

LOTTOWINNER wrote:

Does he have any come-back on the seller or is it just hard luck?

For future reference:-

See guide to buying a car at http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/

You can download a pdf or call them and get hard copy

PS How come I get logged out when I change forum. What should I tick or click?

Henry Ford III

bazz26 wrote:

When buying privately "Caveat Emptor" applies, buyer beware!

You pay your money and take your chance. When buying private only agree to buy after a mechanic inspection.

Yes, but buying a say 1 year old car with the balance of a manufacturers warranty privately will be every bit as sound as buying from a dealer.

It'll be cheaper too.

LOTTOWINNER

The car is a 2000 Audi A3 tdi, not sure if he got a mechanic to check it out.
Thanks for all the replies.

JHMEG

CV joints are among the easiest things to check when buying a car (#1 look at the boots, #2 check for clicking on full lock, right and left)

They're between 50 and 70 euro depending on model from a motorfactors and can be changed in as little as 15 mins (I've done a few:) )