I bought a car today - but it's Broke :(

dillo2k10

Hey,
I bought a car today. An 01 Ford Focus. It stopped driving on my way home after it ran out of water.
AXA were kind enough to come and collect it even though the insurance was only transferred temporarily to get it home.
The man who came out told me that the head gasket was most likely gone and he said something about a oil pump???

Anyway how much would it cost to get a new engine put in it ? ? ? Would it be even worth it or would it be cheaper to buy a new car?

Thanks

unkel

I'm guessing you bought privately? If so, you have no come back whatsoever. I take it you paid about a grand for the car?

dillo2k10 wrote: »

Would it be even worth it or would it be cheaper to buy a new car?

It would be cheaper to buy another banger for a grand. See the bangernomics thread

Make sure it has a long NCT. Not that it proves much, but it is likely to be in much better condition than a car without one...

Daegerty

Thats awful.

ottostreet

That's terrible to hear. I doubt itll cost a thousand euro to fix a head gasket though.

-Chris-

Get it to a mechanic, see if the issue was already existing and if there's damage to the engine.

AFAIK you have no comeback in a private sale unless they sold it in an unroadworthy condition and they knew it was unroadworthy.

I'd consider this car to be unroadworthy, and seeing as it happened on the way home I'd expect the seller knew about it and did a bodge job to keep it running.

Maybe someone can suggest something more specific, but I'd be looking to get documentation together so I could throw the car back at the seller.

dillo2k10

dillo2k10 wrote: »

Hey,
I bought a car today. An 01 Ford Focus. It stopped driving on my way home after it ran out of water.

Did the temp gauge rise at all?

MarkR

Probably know the answer, but did you get a mechanic to look at the car before you bought it?

May be worth fixing, depends on what you paid really.

Mr Benevolent

Did it overheat on the test drive, OP?

Del2005

-Chris- wrote: »

Get it to a mechanic, see if the issue was already existing and if there's damage to the engine.

AFAIK you have no comeback in a private sale unless they sold it in an unroadworthy condition and they knew it was unroadworthy.

I'd consider this car to be unroadworthy, and seeing as it happened on the way home I'd expect the seller knew about it and did a bodge job to keep it running.

Maybe someone can suggest something more specific, but I'd be looking to get documentation together so I could throw the car back at the seller.

How would you make the old owner take the car back and get your money back from them? While I know you have the law on your side actually getting satisfaction could be very difficult and time consuming.

You'd have to go to court and get a judgement against them, the SCC isn't for private sales, with all the costs and time associated with that. Then you'd have to get someone to chase them for your payout. It may be cheaper to buy another car and learn an expensive lesson.

-Chris-

If someone knowingly sold me a shed I'd certainly go as far as telling them I'd gone to the Gardai or get a solicitor's letter or something.

Including repairs, the OP could be in the hole for a couple of grand.

Del2005

-Chris- wrote: »

If someone knowingly sold me a shed I'd certainly go as far as telling them I'd gone to the Gardai or get a solicitor's letter or something.

Including repairs, the OP could be in the hole for a couple of grand.

If someone knowingly sells a shed they're more then likely well enough aware that the OP has very little come back. The Gardaí won't get involved as it's a civil mater and a solicitors letter has no more importance/weight then a letter from the OP.

I know the OP is unfortunately down a lot of money. But the reality is that it'll cost them a lot of time, money and stress to get a judgement against the seller in court. And in all likelihood all the original seller has to say was that it was fine when they sold it, then the OP will have to start getting engineers reports etc. They'll then have to try and get this judgement enforced.

There's no harm in asking for their money back but I wouldn't spend any money to get it.

dillo2k10

unkel wrote: »

I'm guessing you bought privately? If so, you have no come back whatsoever. I take it you paid about a grand for the car?

Yes I bought privately. I paid €1500

RoverJames wrote: »

Did the temp gauge rise at all?

Yes it did, but I only noticed when the car Failed

MarkR wrote: »

Probably know the answer, but did you get a mechanic to look at the car before you bought it?

May be worth fixing, depends on what you paid really.

No, I didn't bring a mechanic. I was told that I should bring one but I just didn't listen to people

Confab wrote: »

Did it overheat on the test drive, OP?

No, it didn't over heat on the long test drive. However, when I first looked through the car it was full with coolant and the oil looked new.

But now there is no coolant and there is suds in the oil.

David09

Did the car stop by itself? Is it petrol or diesel? Some focuses have a failsafe cooling system where the ecu shuts down the engine in overheat conditions to prevent damage. You may be lucky.

dillo2k10

David09 wrote: »

Did the car stop by itself? Is it petrol or diesel? Some focuses have a failsafe cooling system where the ecu shuts down the engine in overheat conditions to prevent damage. You may be lucky.

Its petrol. That could have been it, there was no problem with the car but it just switched off. It started again once I got home. But if I drive it every now and then I have to fill it up with coolant (Im just using water for now)

David09

You need to get the problem diagnosed straight away and the reason for the coolant loss found and rectified. It's unlikely to be the headgasket. Don't keep driving it the way it is or you will kill it altogether.

Wetbench4

Could it be busted water pump maybe? happened to me before and the water was actully leaking out through the pump when the engine was running, which also caused the engine to overheat. Water pump wouldn't be too expensive to repair.

dillo2k10

There are also suds in the Oil. So it wouldnt just be a faulty water pipe.

Mr Benevolent

dillo2k10 wrote: »

There are also suds in the Oil. So it wouldnt just be a faulty water pipe.

Suds in the oil? You mean the oil is foaming?

Sounds like a problem that could be anything from a head gasket to an O-ring.

dillo2k10

Confab wrote: »

Suds in the oil? You mean the oil is foaming?

Sounds like a problem that could be anything from a head gasket to an O-ring.

Yea thats what I meant, I dont know much about cars so I dont know much.

Mr Benevolent

dillo2k10 wrote: »

Yea thats what I meant, I dont know much about cars so I dont know much.

Have a look at the coolant tank when the engine is running (open the cap when the engine is cool!) If there are bubbles coming into it there's a problem. Couple of other things would be lots of steam from the exhaust, down on power, swallowing coolant etc.

Incidentally, is it the 1.4, 1.6 or (dare I say it) 2 litre engine?

mondeo

Wouldn't that just make you blinding sick on the way home with your new car:mad:

Ring the seller and tell him your getting in touch with the law and will get a solicitors letter Afterwards. It might scare them into giving you your money back.

dillo2k10

Confab wrote: »

Have a look at the coolant tank when the engine is running (open the cap when the engine is cool!) If there are bubbles coming into it there's a problem. Couple of other things would be lots of steam from the exhaust, down on power, swallowing coolant etc.

Incidentally, is it the 1.4, 1.6 or (dare I say it) 2 litre engine?

It's only a 1.4 engine.