Help needed

papahats

Hey all, so this is my problem. I have recently purchased a car off a friend of a friend anyway all was fine for a few days until next of all I have a problem with the engine don't know what is was or anything so brought it to mechanic, mechanic is puzzled about problem but identifies it and tells me this problem should have triggered an engine check light to come on in dash, so being a very particular man he takes out the dash to see if bulb has blown for check light only to find that there is no bulb, that it has being removed. So obviously I have been duped into buying dodgy car . Anyway is there anything i could do to get compensation or anything. Thanks for your time.

L-M

Buyer beware i'm afraid.

Was your friends friend a part time dealer or a dealer or just private?

papahats

No he was just some guy selling his car and to make it worse just found out that he is on his way to Australia as i type. What a w**nk*r :mad:. Thanks for replying though.

L-M

papahats wrote: »

No he was just some guy selling his car and to make it worse just found out that he is on his way to Australia as i type. What a w**nk*r :mad:. Thanks for replying though.

Bit of a sickner. Here in lies the benifit of buying from a dealer.

bazz26

I really don't think you have a leg to stand on, it's a case of buyer beware.

Little help to you now but always have a mechanic inspect the car before buying (especially from a private seller) it rather than afterwards. All the same I would let your friend know what kind of company he/she is keeping, it may prevent the same thing from happening to someone else you both know.

carface

With friends like yours who needs enemies. Replace the missing bulb and carry out a full scan of all DTCs. Fix your car and approach a solicitor with the invoice.Your friends friend went to a lot of bother to hide this fault untill he got your money. The going to Australia(no comeback) story is a common line used in private sales for years. Dont be shocked to meet " the sum guy selling his car" driving around in a uk import with a smug look on his face.
Dont take this bull**** from anybody. Declearing a known fault in the sale of a vehicle is not limited to cardealers. The MIL light did not remove it self.

L-M

carface wrote: »

With friends like yours who needs enemies. Replace the missing bulb and carry out a full scan of all DTCs. Fix your car and approach a solicitor with the invoice.Your friends friend went to a lot of bother to hide this fault untill he got your money. The going to Australia(no comeback) story is a common line used in private sales for years. Dont be shocked to meet " the sum guy selling his car" driving around in a uk import with a smug look on his face.
Dont take this bull**** from anybody. Declearing a known fault in the sale of a vehicle is not limited to cardealers. The MIL light did not remove it self.

Ignore the above OP. Pointless advice. You trying proving they did that to the car. It's buyer beware. Of to go to your solicitor;)

Seth Brundle

The seller may have been unaware of the fault or the missing bulb.
In fairness, the OP bought the car when it was working fine.
We also don't know what the fault is!

carface

kbannon wrote: »

The seller may have been unaware of the fault or the missing bulb.
In fairness, the OP bought the car when it was working fine.
We also don't know what the fault is!

Agreed, the seller may not have known of the fault. But the OP bought the
car when it was working fine???without the EML/MIL bulb in place to warn him that a problem was present.We dont know what the fault was??nor do we know the cost to fix which is very important in the OP position.
The op may not like to give extra details (very understandable).If the fix involved small money pay it..move on..cheap lesson in life..forget about it.
Ignore the pointless advice above.But if the repair is expensive ie needs an ecu replaced for example!! its well worth getting (pointless) legal advice.
Replacing the(pointless) missing bulb that indicates when a problem occurs/exists to save your engine harm,your mechanic time,you money.It is hard to prove the seller did the deed.But try finding out who serviced/sold the car last.They may have history of work done to prove last owner knew of this problem
or they may have refused to trade it in with known problem.Dealers can be very helpfull this way.Check milage records (nct @???)etc.Ask your friend for a contact e-mail for his friend. The law on private sales with a known defect is a little bit stronger than just" buyer beware." Again if the car is a cheapie ignore the pointless advice offered.

Armadillo

Do you want someone here to try to suggest a solution to the engine problem. Post details of the car and the symptoms.