Private seller lied about car I bought

gemini_girl

I bought a car from a seller on donedeal 2 days ago. Im on my own with small kids so I had to get seller to come to my house so I could check out the car as I have no one to drive us all around so I was limited. Anyway, a man came with the car, I checked it in as much detail as possible & asked lots of questions. One of the windows wouldnt move when i pressed the button. The man said there was no problem with it so as everything else seemed ok I went ahead & bought it, he also assured me numerous times there was no problem with it cutting out (automatic car) as i had issues with a previous automatic cutting out. I drove it & it drove fine. Yesterday when i went out to the car firstly one of the wheels was flat, when i left the car running in "park" it cut out & the window fell down half way revealing a piece of rubber that had been wedged in to keep it up. I pumped up the flat tyre & its lasted all day but is going down again. Have I any come back here seeing as i was lied to? I know a mechanic should look at it but I had no way to get to a mechanic with the man & the kids plus a mechanic wouldnt have picked up on the tyre & electrics? So, should i just let it go or can anything be done? Also if anyone knows why an automatic might cut out in park mode? Thanks

ABajaninCork

Caveat Emptor, I'm afraid...I don't think you have any comeback. You bought the car as seen.

Why didn't you get a mechanic to look over the car BEFORE you bought it? You'll have to get one out now.

michael999999

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Caveat Emptor, I'm afraid...I don't think you have any comeback. You bought the car as seen.

Why didn't you get a mechanic to look over the car BEFORE you bought it? You'll have to get one out now.

What make and year of car is it?

Sounds like your window regulator is gone.

The slow puncture should cost about a Tenner to fix.

ProudDUB

Not much you can do I'm afraid. It was up to you to get the car checked out before you bought it.

gemini_girl

michael999999 wrote: »

What make and year of car is it?

Sounds like your window regulator is gone.

The slow puncture should cost about a Tenner to fix.

Its a 01 Ford Focus auto. Just wondering how would you get the car checked by a mechanic if you havent already bought it? Can you hire a mechanic to come to your house to check it when its been brought to you by the seller? My husband usually deals with the cars but he is working abroad so I was on my own & tried my best

Jordan537

nothing to major wrong with the car. Flat tyre is no biggy and neither is the window, new regulator.

The cutting out could be a dody idle control valve or might need new spark plugs. could be a number of things.

Best of luck.

ABajaninCork

WhiteTiger wrote: »

Its a 01 Ford Focus auto. Just wondering how would you get the car checked by a mechanic if you havent already bought it? Can you hire a mechanic to come to your house to check it when its been brought to you by the seller? My husband usually deals with the cars but he is working abroad so I was on my own & tried my best

I see no reason why a mechanic can't come out to you, if you explain. You'll be paying him for his time anyway. Maybe offer E20 on top for a drink if you wanted.

I know nothing about cars either, but I would NEVER buy one without getting someone qualified to check it over first. Given the age of the car, a mechanic would've been the right person, but if I were buying something newer, then I would pay for an AA/RAC check. Couple of hundred, to be sure, but IMO money well spent!

EDIT - The slow puncture could also be a tracking problem, or the wheel's bent by hitting a pothole, thereby causing a slow puncture. I've had the same problem myself.

randy hickey

A bit late now OP, but maybe have a read of this for the next time:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056198864

Atlantic Dawn

Was the seller the actual owner of the car or was he a dealer pretending to be a private seller, did you check his name matched that on the vehicle licencing certificate? You should Google his phone number to see if multiple cars for sale show up.

sean1141

You could have easily have drove over a nail or screw yourself. Get it repaired before you destroy it. 10 quid will plug it or 30 will replace it with a half decent part-worn.
The window was not working when you looked at it so you can have no complaints about that. Window regs are common problems and not very expencive to fix.

As for cutting out you may need to get it scanned with a decent diagnostic tool and take it from there. Most likely a sensor or similar.

Del2005

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Was the seller the actual owner of the car or was he a dealer pretending to be a private seller, did you check his name matched that on the vehicle licencing certificate? You should Google his phone number to see if multiple cars for sale show up.

It's usually better to do that before buying, along with getting it professionally checked out, as with these types you'll still get no joy and waste a lot of your own time chasing up after you've handed over the money.

Tallon

OP, where are you based?

If you're not too far, I'll come get the tyre off you and get it repaired! I can have a look at the window too

L-M

He sounds like some form of dealer. Can you post up the add if its still there?

If you want to pm me his number and the reg of the car I'll do a bit of digging.

What kinda of fella would sell a car like that to a woman on her own with kids has no conscience and deserves a kick in the hole.

Del2005

Limerick man wrote: »

He sounds like some form of dealer. Can you post up the add if its still there?

If you want to pm me his number and the reg of the car I'll do a bit of digging.

What kinda of fella would sell a car like that to a woman on her own with kids has no conscience and deserves a kick in the hole.

If people did proper checks before handing over money then these type of people wouldn't be able to do what they do, they rely on people being naive.

What do you hope to achieve for OP if you find out he is a dealer? They aren't going to get their money back and I wouldn't trust someone who sold a heap like that to fix it.

While I have sympathy for the OP they couldn't have gone about getting a car any worst than they did and are now paying the price.

gemini_girl

Thanks for all the replies. The man i bought it off was v elderly (about 75) & seemed genuine. Because im stuck to an automatic I am severely restricted because money is so tight & there was literally this car or another one I couldve went with. I have been without a car for months & the walking for hours every day with 2X 2 yr olds & a 5 yr old were why I wasnt vigilent enough. I'm taking it to a mechanic next week to look it over, the tyre hasnt gone down since i pumped it up so its not too bad. I'm more annoyed at myself to be honest but hopefully it will be ok. Thanks again.
Oh & Tallon thank you for your kind offer, thats v nice of you

Tallon

Del2005 wrote: »

If people did proper checks before handing over money then these type of people wouldn't be able to do what they do, they rely on people being naive.

What do you hope to achieve for OP if you find out he is a dealer? They aren't going to get their money back and I wouldn't trust someone who sold a heap like that to fix it.

While I have sympathy for the OP they couldn't have gone about getting a car any worst than they did and are now paying the price.

Give her a break FFS!

At the end of the day, the stuff that's wrong is easily fixable, she just hasn't got the time to get it done

professore

To be honest if that's all is wrong with the car, assuming you got it at a good price, you're lucky. Both easy fixes. It's what you don't see - that's what you have to worry about. I would take it to a mechanic and get him to check it over now.

colm_mcm

I'd hope she's done something in the month that's passed.