Car warranty: consumer rights

dapower

I recently bought a 2004 Ford Mondeo from a car dealer in Dublin. The car had an NCT from Feb 2010 so I assumed it was roadworthy and reliable.

Issue: However I've now found out that there are several problems with the car, which I did not cause, but which were there when I purchased the car.

Ask: do I have recompense with the dealer so that he covers cost of repairs, as car is not fit for purpose or fully roadworthy when purchased?

Problems:
1. Both front wheels are buckled and need to be replaced
2. Both front tyre threads are worn and need to be replaced
3. Steering is slightly wobbly

Total cost to repair this is about €1000.

Warranty: The warranty is 3 months for engine and gearbox.
But nothing about wheels/tyres.

I spoke to a different garage and they advised that this damage could have occured after the NCT. I have only driven car 400 miles since purchase and have not caused this damage.

How should I proceed?
What are my consumer rights (if car was damaged when I purchased)?

Any assistance appreciated.

David

Berty

Buyer Beware.

You should have noticed the tyre thread.
You should have noticed the buckled wheels.
You should EASILY have noticed the wobbly steering.

Caveat Emptor is also the phrase you need to remember if you think you have a leg to stand on.

Anan1

dapower wrote: »

I have only driven car 400 miles since purchase and have not caused this damage.

I'd say proving this might be a problem.

hurleronditch

Very much buyer beware.

Bring it back to him by all means, he may be a nice sort who will want to keep his good name and offer to do something for you but i wouldnt get my hopes up.

Why didnt you notice these issues before you bought it? I think cases like these really stress how important it is to have a mechanic give any potential second hand purchase a good once over?

While the steering and wheels are possibly missable whilst doing a test drive, the tyres are something that anyone should pick up on immediately

bazz26

OP, what exactly is costing €1000 to put right?

2 new tyres can be bought for reasonable money, does the car have alloy wheels or steel rims as either could be picked from a scrap yard again for a reasonable price. What else needs replacing as the buckled rims and worn tyres could be causing the wobbly steering.

Unless the garage is refusing to fix an engine or gearbox issue as outlined by the terms of the warranty then I don't imo see how your consumer rights come into question.

ejmaztec

I can't see a garage owning up to selling a car with illegal tyres on it either.

For Forks Sake

dapower wrote: »

I assumed it was roadworthy and reliable.

There's your problem right there. The issues you outlined would have shown themselves up on even the most basic inspection of the car. Caveat Emptor I'm afraid.

mullingar

ejmaztec wrote: »

I can't see a garage owning up to selling a car with illegal tyres on it either.

If the tyres were damaged/illegal/thread-bare, the NCT would fail them.

If the tyres have no visual damage and have 1.7mm of thread left, they will pass.

NCT dont test for balancing, or buckling only ovalidity (not egg shaped).

Wobbly steering is probably caused by the buckle or poor balancing.

@OP, put the spare on the wheel that has the biggest buckle and take her out for a test drive

biko

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, what exactly is costing €1000 to put right?

Exactly, 2 new tyres 100-200 euro, tracking and balancing 50 euro, fixing alloys 50 euro or replace with used 200-300 euro.
The dealer will probably claim this is something you should have noticed during the purchase of the car, also it doesn't mean the car isn't fit to drive.

mickdw

Tyres - If you couldnt get him to stick new ones on when making the bargain, you wont get them now.
I would go to the garage, tell him about the wheel problem, being nice about it & he might help ya out specially if ya get 2 tyres off him too.

It has to be said, you are quite lucky in that the car has no serious issue as it appears you just bought on sight without any serious checks

subway

biko wrote: »

The dealer will probably claim this is something you should have noticed during the purchase of the car, also it doesn't mean the car isn't fit to drive.

dealer would be mad to say this, as the issue could be seen as a safety concern rather than cosmetic
the way i see it, the dealer has two choices (but obviously a reputable dealer will supply the truth) -
1) either say that he wasnt aware of the faults, therefore he could not relay them to the buyer - dodgy as a motor dealer has a burden of repsonsibilty to sell a safe vehicle etc
2) since the OP has driven 400 miles since purchase the dealer would be more likley to stand by the car being in good condition at time of sale as worn tyres can be caused by driving too fast and buckles can be caused by potholes so its not unreasonable for them to occur.

caveat emptor is not a fall back in the sale of a good from a business to a private individual. the dealer should sell a safe vehicle and not attempt to deceive the buyer but the the buyer should also do their own thorough inspection to ensure they are happy with the product which is, after all, a second hand vehicle which will have wear and tear and may have issues that the dealer may, within reason, be unaware of.

Gophur

Buckled wheels/tyres could have happened 100m from the garage and are not something any dealer can or will do anything about. If it wasn't noticed on test drive, then it's probably the fault did not occur until after purchase.

Was the car slapped off a kerb somewhere?
BTW, there is no obligation on a dealer to provide any warranty. That being said, a dealer is obliged to accurately describe the item being sold. Any misrepresentation can be acted on.

dapower

thanks for feedback. issue i have is that car passed NCT and according to NCT manual the wheels are checked as well as tyres.

i did visually check car and didn't see tyre threads. and i wasn't able to see slight buckle - only a garage could detect this.

i took car for test drive and it was fine - the steering only had a slight wobble over 60mph and i didnt do this speed on test drive.

i should have gotten mechanic to look at car before purchase, but i didnt, so still wondering where i can go from here....

Anan1

I think you're really down to goodwill at this stage. Have you spoken to the garage yet? If so, what did they say? What make/model of car is it?

Sleipnir

dapower wrote: »

thanks for feedback. issue i have is that car passed NCT and according to NCT manual the wheels are checked as well as tyres.
.

The car passed its NCT in February 2010, that doesn't mean that the car didn't get it's wheels bent a day, a week or a month later. Maybe it just passed the test regarding tread depth and have now worn down.

Maybe the garage knew the wheels were buckled, put a good set on, had it tested and then put the bad ones back on again. How are you going to prove that though? You can't.

The only place you can go is back to the garage and complain but really, they don't have to do anything.

As others have said; caveat emptor.

ejmaztec

mullingar wrote: »

If the tyres were damaged/illegal/thread-bare, the NCT would fail them.

If the tyres have no visual damage and have 1.7mm of thread left, they will pass.

NCT dont test for balancing, or buckling only ovalidity (not egg shaped).

Wobbly steering is probably caused by the buckle or poor balancing.

@OP, put the spare on the wheel that has the biggest buckle and take her out for a test drive

Some people have been known to swap their wheels to get through an NCT, and put the dodgy ones back on afterwards.:eek:


As has already been mentioned by Sleipnir, but I obviously didn't read all of the posts dammit!

Yawns

Unfortunatly as others have said the wheel damage may have happened after the NCT test. Pot holes can be a nightmare on wheels.

Unless you have 100% proof the dealer knew the car had these problems first, you can't do anything really. You don't have proof because as you said yourself, you assuemd it was ok and didn't have it looked over by a mech.

If you ask the dealer nicely he might do soemthign out of goodwill but he can legally refuse to do anything without warrenty.

You should put it down to experience now and just think of how lucky it's actually only some minor things that you noticed early on. Some new wheels should help sort your steering, as has been mentioned, it's most likely the buckles making the car shake at speeds.

dapower

I took the car back to garage today. The sales guy (managing director) took the car for a spin but we were stuck in traffic, so couldn't check if steering was affected by wheels being buckled (you need to go 60mph to feel it).

He did agree to take car into garage this week and look at car.
1. He will replace tyres as threads are gone - this is due to tracking he said (good news!)
2. He did not think the wheels were buckled and even if they were it would not cause the ware on the tyres- what do you think? He also said it's unlikely he'll cover replacement as 4 weeks have passed since purchase date.

His feeling is the Ford garage which reviewed the car is looking for business so listed all these items to be corrected.
However from my perspective, there are steering issues, probably caused by slight buckle in wheel, which has caused tyre wear.

Issue is proving car was like this when I bought it.
It did pass NCT on 23-Jan, so something must have happened between then and 10-MArch.

Is it not strange to get NCT and then sell car within one month??

David

Anan1

My guess is that the tyre wear, if uneven, is down to tracking. Buckled wheels can cause a vibration at speed. If he's willing to replace the front tyres and have an alignment done then i'd consider that a good result. You'll want to have the buckled wheels repaired/replaced before this work is done, though.

Yawns

And no it's not strange to sell a car with NCT only done a month ago. People who don't know about cars scream in pure sexual throaty growls. "Look love, it's just passed an NCT it must be nothign wrong, it'll be grand for 2 years!"

A car with NCT will always sell to someone who has no idea what to look for. This is why ppl suggest takign a mech or a mate who knows at least a biut more than you. He might only know the basics but your better off with him than nobody at all!