Defective Car

clancyoo7

A friend of mine bought a car from a garage in March 09 and provided him with a 3 month warranty. A week after buying the car the engine management light activated in the dashboard and was brought back to the garage, where he undertook to fix the problem with the car. The problem appeared to be fixed and the light was deactivated but the car was burning alot of oil. They returned to the garage again, where the they examined the car and stated they fixed the problem. The car continued to burn oil and the car was subsequently brought to independent garage where the mechanic was of the opinion that the car had been driven without any oil :eek:by a previous owner and had caused damage to the engine. Is there any come back?? Can anybody give some help to steer us in the right direction.

Jev/N

clancyoo7 wrote: »

Can anybody give some help to steer us in the right direction.

Legal advice isn't permitted but I would imagine the mods would accept this as being more of a consumer rights issue?

My understanding is that if the car was bought 2nd hand but from a business as opposed to a private seller, you should have recourse under the Sales of Goods Act 1893 on the grounds of merchantable quality and in addition, on the grounds that the repairs carried out by the garage did not fix the problem

evercloserunion

A lot of these read like the problem questions we get in exams. A lazy but clever lecturer could just log on some night and copy-paste

Maximilian

I'm no mechanic but I know from personal experience that a car driven with no oil can cause serious and irreparable engine damage. I had an incident where my oil sump was ruptured and all the oil spilled out. The engine had to be rebuilt. It cost 9 grand to repair. I wouldn't be hopeful that the problem can be fixed - the engine may be fubar and it sounds like it was sold in that state.

Your friend should consult a solicitor if the garage doesn't sort it out.

hobochris

Maximilian wrote: »

I'm no mechanic but I know from personal experience that a car driven with no oil can cause serious and irreparable engine damage. I had an incident where my oil sump was ruptured and all the oil spilled out. The engine had to be rebuilt. It cost 9 grand to repair. I wouldn't be hopeful that the problem can be fixed - the engine may be fubar and it sounds like it was sold in that state.

Your friend should consult a solicitor if the garage doesn't sort it out.

Ouch.. 9 grands a bit steep, you'd get a new or reconditioned engine for most cars in for less then 4 grand all in.

Maximilian

hobochris wrote: »

Ouch.. 9 grands a bit steep, you'd get a new or reconditioned engine for most cars in for less then 4 grand all in.

Yeah it was the insurance company's decision. They opted to have it rebuilt by a specialist engineering company. Actually the final bill may have been as high as 12k - can't quite remember. The whole episode was a nightmare.

Our man in Havana

An engine driven without oil is fecked beyond repair.

It would be hard to prove a previous owner did it or that the seller was aware.

egan2020

If the garage is registered with SIMI, your friend might be able to take the matter up with them.

Our man in Havana

SIMI will be of little help as they are only a trade assoc.

clancyoo7

Thanks to all. As you can imagine an absolute nightmare. Second hand car sales men don't have a reputation as cowboys for no reason. The car cost about 13k so you would imagine that it would have been of merchantable quality. The car is drinking 5 litres of oil a month so the engine is a right state internally. Will pass on all of your helpful advice, and again all you help is gratefully appreciated If anybody has had an experience similar to this your input would be gratefully appreciated.