Bought a dud car!!

maiden

I paid 3900 for a car last week from a garda, who told me the timing belt etc had just been done and she had the receipt etc, 2 years NCT on it. Also told be spotless car, perfect condition etc!

Anyway oil leaked yesterday, brought it to my mechanic, totally **** car, over a grands worth of work to be done, no timing belt done, car had been crashed a pack of lies!!

Have I any comeback???

Myrddin

maiden wrote: »

I paid 3900 for a car last week from a garda, who told me the timing belt etc had just been done and she had the receipt etc, 2 years NCT on it. Also told be spotless car, perfect condition etc!

Anyway oil leaked yesterday, brought it to my mechanic, totally **** car, over a grands worth of work to be done, no timing belt done, car had been crashed a pack of lies!!

Have I any comeback???

An oil leak can occur at any stage, just unlucky I'd say.
How do you know the timing belt wasn't done & your mechanic isn't roasting you?
How do you know the previous owner knew if it was previously crashed or not?

Caveat emptor in this case unfortunately. Did you not bring a mechanic along to check out the car first?

Jarren

Did you check the receipts and asked her if the car was crashed before ?

Procrastastudy

maiden wrote: »

I paid 3900 for a car last week from a garda, who told me the timing belt etc had just been done and she had the receipt etc, 2 years NCT on it. Also told be spotless car, perfect condition etc!

Anyway oil leaked yesterday, brought it to my mechanic, totally **** car, over a grands worth of work to be done, no timing belt done, car had been crashed a pack of lies!!

Have I any comeback???

Have you tired going back to the seller and asking?

Private sale is going to come down to what you can prove she said. Did you communicate via email or text or just verbally?

maiden

4 Audi A4, seller bought it 3 years ago. My mechanic is my mechanic for 20 years, and I trust him completely.

He gave me a list of things that need doing, which dont need doing all together but will for a finish cost the bones of 1000,

He said absolutely no record of timing belt being done.

It was all verbal im afraid!!

Im going back to seller this evening, just wanted info before i do

Cabaal

Should have had it looked over by a mechanic before buying by right but abit late now sadly,

professore

Maybe the garda has a receipt of the last timing belt change? Timing belt alone will cost a fair bit. This is something that needs to be checked on any car you buy - except the odd one with timing chains like some Nissans.

maiden

I thought being a garda that sold it to me they might be telling the truth, but there u go, lesson well learned!!

maiden

professore wrote: »

Maybe the garda has a receipt of the last timing belt change? Timing belt alone will cost a fair bit. This is something that needs to be checked on any car you buy.

She said she has, but no sign of receipt yet!

Myrddin

maiden wrote: »

I thought being a garda that sold it to me they might be telling the truth, but there u go, lesson well learned!!

How do you know she wasn't shafted by a mechanic? Buying used cars is a minefield, you really need to be careful

Procrastastudy

Is she has said something had been done or made a statement of something specific then you may have recourse but proving it and the cost of enforcing it would probably be prohibitive.

It's difficult to know what to do until you speak to the seller - they could be very reasonable with you and there not be an issue. I'd suggest taking it easy to start with - be careful what you say.

maiden

Ok i went to the parents house as it was from there that i bought the car, the girl wasnt there, so basically I had the list from the mechanic and they called the mechanic a liar, nothing wrong with the car etc and told me to feck off.

I asked for the log book as i hadnt signed it yet, and they said it was already gone to Shannon, and i said how? as i hadnt signed it??? and was told your name is on it and its been sent off!!

And, another thing!! My mechanic said there is not a hope in hell the car should have passed an nct, i have the nct sheet and it was passed in Cahir on the 12th of Aug

Im really confused

Procrastastudy

maiden wrote: »

Ok i went to the parents house as it was from there that i bought the car, the girl wasnt there, so basically I had the list from the mechanic and they called the mechanic a liar, nothing wrong with the car etc and told me to feck off.

I asked for the log book as i hadnt signed it yet, and they said it was already gone to Shannon, and i said how? as i hadnt signed it??? and was told your name is on it and its been sent off!!

And, another thing!! My mechanic said there is not a hope in hell the car should have passed an nct, i have the nct sheet and it was passed in Cahir on the 12th of Aug

Im really confused

Okay this is what I would do personally. Ask your mechanic for a report that in his professional opinion that the car should not have passed the NCT. I would then send this is writing to the seller. Explain to the seller that she has two options. Take the car to a mechanic of her choice and have the work done to get it to the required standard to pass the NCT and having the timing belt done or refund the car. Failure to do this will result in you taking the matter further in regards to the NCT. I would suggest framing it as I bought the car from you it's up to you to sort it out - I would prefer not to have to deal with the NCT people. Keep the tone that she has been done by the NCT people and that she must have innocently passed the car on to you.

If, and I'm not suggesting she has, obtained the NCT fraudulently this might be enough to scare her into giving you your money back. Then again who knows.

maiden

Thanks for that, im so upset I cant think straight, that sounds like good advice

Outkast_IRE

Havent they already just admitted to forging your signature for the logbook?
Surely you can hold this against them to force them into doing something

Procrastastudy

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Havent they already just admitted to forging your signature for the logbook?
Surely you can hold this against them to force them into doing something

Add that in for sure - again frame it as a question not as an accusation.

maiden

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Havent they already just admitted to forging your signature for the logbook?
Surely you can hold this against them to force them into doing something

Should I ring the office in Shannon and tell them thats not my signature??

Outkast_IRE

maiden wrote: »

Should I ring the office in Shannon and tell them thats not my signature??

No ---- well not yet anyway see if you can convince them to play nice first.
Dont reveal your hand yet, only mention it if thing look like they are going bad anyway.

Procrastastudy

There's a danger there in that the longer you leave it the harder it's going to be to convince Shannon you didn't actually sign it. A couple of days might be okay - for "checking your facts before accusing someone of something very serious" after that it just looks like you're trying to get out of a purchase.

Just take your time to think everything though - communicate in writing but be bloody sure not to make any accusations you can't 100% back up.

3ndahalfof6

Sorry to hear what happened to you OP, you just never know these days, I hope it works out for you.

Guy:Incognito

maiden wrote: »

She said she has, but no sign of receipt yet!

Surely when you bought the car you asked for the receipts the seller said they had?

Anyone could say the car has a full service history , but its useless if you dont actually get and check it.

As for the fact its a Gard and you reckoned she'd tell the truth? A Gard is a normal person, aside from any lieing about work that is done she most likely knows about as much about cars as you do (if you happen to know nothing), so unless you feel capable of checking the car out yourself, bring a mechanic.


As a matter of interest, why didnt you dign the VLC when you bought it? Assuming the car was grand at what stage were you expectign an unsigned cert to be sent off?

old boy

maiden wrote: »

Ok i went to the parents house as it was from there that i bought the car, the girl wasnt there, so basically I had the list from the mechanic and they called the mechanic a liar, nothing wrong with the car etc and told me to feck off.

I asked for the log book as i hadnt signed it yet, and they said it was already gone to Shannon, and i said how? as i hadnt signed it??? and was told your name is on it and its been sent off!!

And, another thing!! My mechanic said there is not a hope in hell the car should have passed an nct, i have the nct sheet and it was passed in Cahir on the 12th of Aug

Im really confused

cahir is the one place people around here will never take a car for the nct.

Technoprisoner

maiden wrote: »

4 Audi A4, seller bought it 3 years ago. My mechanic is my mechanic for 20 years, and I trust him completely.

He gave me a list of things that need doing, which dont need doing all together but will for a finish cost the bones of 1000,

He said absolutely no record of timing belt being done.

It was all verbal im afraid!!

Im going back to seller this evening, just wanted info before i do

what does "absolutley no record" mean? does that mean they havent wrote in tipex on the timing cover when it was done? did your mechanic physically taking the timing covers off and inspect the timing belt?

maiden

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Surely when you bought the car you asked for the receipts the seller said they had?

Anyone could say the car has a full service history , but its useless if you dont actually get and check it.

As for the fact its a Gard and you reckoned she'd tell the truth? A Gard is a normal person, aside from any lieing about work that is done she most likely knows about as much about cars as you do (if you happen to know nothing), so unless you feel capable of checking the car out yourself, bring a mechanic.


As a matter of interest, why didnt you dign the VLC when you bought it? Assuming the car was grand at what stage were you expectign an unsigned cert to be sent off?

Her parents live in the town im from but she isnt based here so she said she had to get it and would get me to sign it in a few days

maiden

Technoprisoner wrote: »

what does "absolutley no record" mean? does that mean they havent wrote in tipex on the timing cover when it was done? did your mechanic physically taking the timing covers off and inspect the timing belt?

Not sure but he did say something about no tippex

Technoprisoner

maiden wrote: »

Not sure but he did say something about no tippex

be careful what you say so....that doesnt mean the belt wasnt done lol

maiden

old boy wrote: »

cahir is the one place people around here will never take a car for the nct.

Why??

Technoprisoner

maiden wrote: »

Why??

tipex on the timing cover is something that isnt done by all mechanics...in fact if you brought your car to main dealer they would not do that!! just like when you buy a car and there IS tipex on the cover doesnt mean the belt was changed....what other faults did your mechanic find with the car?

partyatmygaff

I'm sure that Garda's superintendent would be quite interested to hear one of the staff under his/her leadership is forging signatures.

I'm doubly sure the Garda in question would think twice about being unhelpful if she heard you intended to report her forging your signature to her superintendent.

Yawns

When timing belts are changed, generally the mileage at when it was changed is written in tippex nearby. Some people do not write it in tippex so unless your mechanic actually physically checked the belt then I'll wait for receipts if I were you. Some people get receipts for work like timing belts and keep them as proof instead.

Again why did you not sign the VLC at the time? When you bought the car you were happy and drove away with it. Normal circumstances you would have signed it. Did you just give your name so she assumed to write it down?

Guy:Incognito

Yawns wrote: »

When timing belts are changed, generally the mileage at when it was changed is written in tippex nearby. Some people do not write it in tippex so unless your mechanic actually physically checked the belt then I'll wait for receipts if I were you. Some people get receipts for work like timing belts and keep them as proof instead.

The only thing thats worth anything is a receipt that can be checked. Any eejit could write a number on a tb cover in tipex.

3ndahalfof6

Yawns wrote: »

When timing belts are changed, generally the mileage at when it was changed is written in tippex nearby. Some people do not write it in tippex so unless your mechanic actually physically checked the belt then I'll wait for receipts if I were you. Some people get receipts for work like timing belts and keep them as proof instead.

Again why did you not sign the VLC at the time? When you bought the car you were happy and drove away with it. Normal circumstances you would have signed it. Did you just give your name so she assumed to write it down?

irrelevant, she was the seller, plus with her background she should of known better.

Yawns

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I'm sure that Garda's superintendent would be quite interested to hear one of the staff under his/her leadership is forging signatures.

I'm doubly sure the Garda in question would think twice about being unhelpful if she heard you intended to report her forging your signature to her superintendent.

She wouldn't be the first person to have sent off a VLC after filling in the buyer's name herself. Many a buyer can go off with the car and forget to sign it. Sellers want that VLC gone asap to avoid fines and toll charges coming their way. Not saying she was right but I could understand why.

Yawns

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

irrelevant, she was the seller, plus with her background she should of known better.

Not disagreeing with you, I was just actually curious why it wasn't signed at the time like it normally it is.

Guy:Incognito

Yawns wrote: »

Not disagreeing with you, I was just actually curious why it wasn't signed at the time like it normally it is.

Personally I'd rub off any tipex that was put on any part of my car. I like th eengine bay to be clean. The other side of it is I have a folder for my car with a receipt for everything done in its 12 years.

Yawns

Sit back and look at it for a moment.

The mechanic reckons the belt wasn't changed because no tippex. It could easily have been changed and not marked in tippex. Not uncommon.

The mechanic reckons it should not have passed the NCT. How many mechanics swear blind that it will / won't pass only to be proved wrong. It happens a lot. Oil leaks can happen at any time just like a blown headlight for example.

The rest of the work we have no idea what needs doing. Is it really bad or is it more of a case of the wear and tear items are showing signs of wear and will need to be replaced soon or maybe the NCT crowd at that center are useless.

The main thing that the guard is in the wrong for is the VLC form. She very well may have the receipts for timing belt or if it gets inspected correctly it may turn out to be changed.

MagicMarker

So let me get this straight, you have been using the same mechanic for 20 years but didn't think to get him to look over the car before buying. And you gave someone almost €4000 for a car but you DIDN'T even sign the log book?

Well, good to see people are really being smart with their finances in these recessionary times.

Technoprisoner

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Personally I'd rub off any tipex that was put on any part of my car. I like th eengine bay to be clean. The other side of it is I have a folder for my car with a receipt for everything done in its 12 years.

sometimes those reciepts arent worth the paper they are written on. i remember viewing a car that had a large folder of reciepts. what the seller didnt know was that i worked for the company that the parts were purchased from and recognised the part numbers. and the parts that were bought werent even for the make of car that i was viewing

Yawns

maiden wrote: »

Her parents live in the town im from but she isnt based here so she said she had to get it and would get me to sign it in a few days

But who said it was signed? Her parents or the guard herself. For all we know the parents prob think you have it signed and it's sent already so they told you to feck off. She may yet still have the VLC awaiting a signature.

You need to get in touch with her and get the receipt plus logbook.

Bloodwing

I'd advise you to contact Shannon and check if they have received the VIC. Given her occupation she'd be well aware of the risk she's taking by forging a signature. There's always the possibility that the parents lied to you to get you off the door step so I certainly wouldn't be approaching the Super as suggested.

As for the NCT she either forged a cert which wouldn't be easy or bribed the tester, or maybe it did pass and it's your mechanic that's wrong.

You need to speak with her about it and not her parents because any time I've sold a car my folks wouldn't have known anything about it. Keep a record of all communications just in case things go south.

partyatmygaff

Yawns wrote: »

She wouldn't be the first person to have sent off a VLC after filling in the buyer's name herself. Many a buyer can go off with the car and forget to sign it. Sellers want that VLC gone asap to avoid fines and toll charges coming their way. Not saying she was right but I could understand why.

It's not that what she did is strange but it's a very good card to play to get some reasonable resolution.

Yawns

partyatmygaff wrote: »

It's not that what she did is strange but it's a very good card to play to get some reasonable resolution.

Agreed it works in the OP's favour if indeed it is forged. However the parents may believed it's been signed and sent when it may not have been. Tho I understand why the op thinks it is.

Technoprisoner

Neilos wrote: »

I'd advise you to contact Shannon and check if they have received the VIC. Given her occupation she'd be well aware of the risk she's taking by forging a signature. There's always the possibility that the parents lied to you to get you off the door step so I certainly wouldn't be approaching the Super as suggested.

As for the NCT she either forged a cert which wouldn't be easy or bribed the tester, or maybe it did pass and it's your mechanic that's wrong.

You need to speak with her about it and not her parents because any time I've sold a car my folks wouldn't have known anything about it. Keep a record of all communications just in case things go south.

ohh be very carefull what you are saying .....cars can pass an nct and 2 weeks down the road poo poo themselfs in spectacular fashion. youve got to remember that the nct is at least a month old...in that month the owner could have traveled a couple of thousand miles in the car.

cookie1977

Just on one point. My old cinquecento past an nct and 2 weeks later stopped working. Another friends car passed its nct and it too didn't make it more then a month before it needed extensive work. I wouldn't be putting that much faith in a passed nct. It could quite well have passed it on the day.

3ndahalfof6

MagicMarker wrote: »

So let me get this straight, you have been using the same mechanic for 20 years but didn't think to get him to look over the car before buying. And you gave someone almost €4000 for a car but you DIDN'T even sign the log book?

Well, good to see people are really being smart with their finances in these recessionary times.

some joe soaps are not fully clued in, they tend to believe the person they are talking to, especially if they respect who they are and the profession they are in,

while we do not know, if the OP was in a different situation (buying from someone with no profession) there is a good chance the OP would of taken the steps you mention,

but we can all be guilty of looking at the stripes and believing what is being said to us, learning lesson for sure.

Bloodwing

Technoprisoner wrote: »

Neilos wrote: »

I'd advise you to contact Shannon and check if they have received the VIC. Given her occupation she'd be well aware of the risk she's taking by forging a signature. There's always the possibility that the parents lied to you to get you off the door step so I certainly wouldn't be approaching the Super as suggested.

As for the NCT she either forged a cert which wouldn't be easy or bribed the tester, or maybe it did pass and it's your mechanic that's wrong.

You need to speak with her about it and not her parents because any time I've sold a car my folks wouldn't have known anything about it. Keep a record of all communications just in case things go south.

ohh be very carefull what you are saying .....cars can pass an nct and 2 weeks down the road poo poo themselfs in spectacular fashion. youve got to remember that the nct is at least a month old...in that month the owner could have traveled a couple of thousand miles in the car.

After 're reading my post I've realized it's not as clear as it sounded in my head. I seriously doubt she forged it or bribed any one, the point I was making is that it's much more likely that the mechanic is incorrect when he says it couldn't have passed an NCT back in august.

maiden

I dont think the girl herself signed the form, i think she left the paperwork with her parents etc to deal with it.

The reason i didnt sign the form was because she was a guard and had no reason in the world not to believe her!!

Im assuming that Shannon will think its my signature and its being processed as we speak

Bloodwing

maiden wrote: »

I dont think the girl herself signed the form, i think she left the paperwork with her parents etc to deal with it.

The reason i didnt sign the form was because she was a guard and had no reason in the world not to believe her!!

Im assuming that Shannon will think its my signature and its being processed as we speak

Stop assuming things and find out for certain ring Shannon tomorrow and find out if they have it. If they do and your signature is forged then cease all communications with her and her family and go down the correct route with regards to that.

As for the condition of the car your going to have to prove she dishonestly sold you a lemon and intentionally defrauded you out of your money.

3ndahalfof6

Neilos wrote: »

Stop assuming things and find out for certain ring Shannon tomorrow and find out if they have it. If they do and your signature is forged then cease all communications with her and her family and go down the correct route with regards to that.

As for the condition of the car your going to have to prove she dishonestly sold you a lemon and intentionally defrauded you out of your money.

and posting here will help the OP to determine that.

Bloodwing

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

Neilos wrote: »

Stop assuming things and find out for certain ring Shannon tomorrow and find out if they have it. If they do and your signature is forged then cease all communications with her and her family and go down the correct route with regards to that.

As for the condition of the car your going to have to prove she dishonestly sold you a lemon and intentionally defrauded you out of your money.

and posting here will help the OP to determine that.

Determine what exactly? I never said the OP shouldn't post here for advice.

dudara

There's a an awful lot of speculation and inference here, with very little known facts.

Please be careful what you say.

dudara