I'm an idiot

Babylegs

Well I did exactly what I didn't want to do and ended up with a second hand car that has problems the seller isn't willing to address. I bought an Opel Astra 06 just before Christmas. Seems a lovely car, good mileage, very clean no obvious probs on test. I bought it from a crowd on Done deal which said it's a dealer but having done a bit of digging I now think is just an individual guy. (That's where I'm an idiot , that I didn't dig before). After 2 days the heating stopped working in the car so I checked the coolant tank and it was empty. Topped up, empty again bu the next day. I called the guy back and he was very abrupt and said fine! Bring it back I'll give you your money back I told you not to buy a second hand car! (He didn't) I said perfect thank you, I'll call you in a day or two wh3n I can arrange a lift back (opposite sides of the city). I did that and he didn't answer so I texted and said sorry I missed you, I'm ready to come today or I can come the 27th (this was the Saturday before Christmas ). No reply

Called another few times no answer. Finally got through today and he said well you were supposed to drop it back and you didn't so I can't do anything. I said no that's no true, I called to arrange it and you never answered and he said yeah well trying to conduct business over text message is ridiculous. I said listen I texted you because you never answered your phone. Ultimately I just want a solution here, I'm happy to have the car fixed I don't even need a full refund. He basically was really aggressive and was only short of telling me to f* off.

Now, I fully realise I'm the fool here, I should have done my homework on him a bit better. Having Googled I can't find anything except a landlord service connected to his phone number (plus his home address). I accept that I'm just stuck now but I'm upset with myself because the whole reason I bought such an old car was just to get me around for a few months while I'm not working and I can't afford repairs on a car that cost 1300. Anyway posting this mainly out of frustration at myself but also on the off chance that I can do anything about it.

Thanks

RossieMan

Short answer. No.

bazz26

If the coolant level is dropping that fast then either you have a coolant leak or worse still the car's head gasket is on it's way out which is a very common problem on that model Astra.

If he has other cars for sale then maybe get a relative/ friend to contact him pretending to be interested and arrange a test drive. You then go meet him (bring a few big intimidating friends) at that time with your car and insist on getting your money back. The hope then is that he just gives you your money back because he just wants rid of you. However these guys can be very slippery and this guy might just disappear and your stuck with the car.

Unfortunately there may be a hard lesson for you here but I hope though it has a better outcome.

Squatman

yea, get the heating fixed. wont cost the world, and issues like this should be expected with a 13 year old car

Babylegs

bazz26 wrote: »

If the coolant level is dropping that fast then either you have a coolant leak or worse still the car's head gasket is on it's way out which is a very common problem on that model Astra.

If he has other cars for sale then maybe get a relative/ friend to contact him pretending to be interested and arrange a test drive. You then go meet him (bring a few big intimidating friends) at that time with your car and insist on getting your money back. The hope then is that he just gives you your money back because he just wants rid of you. However these guys can be very slippery and this guy might just disappear and your stuck with the car.

Unfortunately there may be a hard lesson for you here but I hope though it has a better outcome.

Yeah I think you're right, I'd say I have 2 chances tbh and it's my own fault for not being more clever about it. I'm more angry at being ripped off than I am about the car if that makes sense but as you say, lesson learned! Thanks for the advice!

razorblunt

If he's offering your money back take it and get a taxi home and never darken his door again.
Why would a guy selling used cars tell you not to buy a used car??

bazz26

I don't think he is actually offering the OP their money back though. All he is doing is is giving the OP the run around by not answering his phone, saying one thing then saying another and disappearing when the OP turns up. Just trying to frustrate them into giving up chasing him.

OP, does this guy work out of a dealer premises or just a guy from donedeal that met you at a car park? Did you get any sort of invoice/receipt from him. If he is legitimate motor trader then you might be able to go through the small claims court. Not a guarantee but might be worth investigating and only costs €25 to lodge a case so very little to lose. If he is just a guy from donedeal you bought a car from in a supermarket car park then I'm afraid it's a case of buyer beware.

kerten

bazz26 wrote: »

I don't think he is actually offering the OP their money back though. All he is doing is is giving the OP the run around by not answering his phone, saying one thing then saying another and disappearing when the OP turns up. Just trying to frustrate them into giving up chasing him.

OP, does this guy work out of a dealer premises or just a guy from donedeal that met you at a car park? Did you get any sort of invoice/receipt from him. If he is legitimate motor trader then you might be able to go through the small claims court. Not a guarantee but might be worth investigating and only costs €25 to lodge a case so very little to lose. If he is just a guy from donedeal you bought a car from in a supermarket car park then I'm afraid it's a case of buyer beware.

Also if he is a part time dealer dodging tax(no receipts, no premises, No VAT number), telling him that you will contact revenue to understand if they can help can make him more cooperative.

Squatman

kerten wrote: »

Also if he is a part time dealer dodging tax(no receipts, no premises, No VAT number), telling him that you will contact revenue to understand if they can help can make him more cooperative.

plenty of part time dealers are declaring their business- easy to do, harder to prove that they are making a profit

Avatar MIA

Did the dealer sell it with a warranty, which is doubtful? If not, not sure what come back you have with a 13 year old car.

It is possible (although we'd have our doubts) that any issue arose after you took ownership.

MetzgerMeister

A co-worker had the same problem with his 2008 Astra. We fixed it here at work, took a bit of time but it solved it.

With the car running, look at the front right hand side of the engine bay. There's a small rubber pipe nearly behind the headlight that will be leaking. €30 for the part and a mechanic will have it done in a few hours.

Brasso

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

A co-worker had the same problem with his 2008 Astra. We fixed it here at work, took a bit of time but it solved it.

With the car running, look at the front right hand side of the engine bay. There's a small rubber pipe nearly behind the headlight that will be leaking. €30 for the part and a mechanic will have it done in a few hours.

Similar to my friend's 05 Astra, a little piece of plastic on the coolant return pipe snapped and the coolant emptied. Mechanic said it was fairly common on that model and it was an easy fix.

clfy39tzve8njq

Be careful if those astras are losing coolant they're not equipped with a temp guage very easy to cook the engine

Babylegs

Elianna Little Zeal wrote: »

Be careful if those astras are losing coolant they're not equipped with a temp guage very easy to cook the engine

Well exactly, the engine was cooked. The mechanic tried everything even to get a few more months out of it which was all I expected really, but he said he felt the guy before me had been driving it after seeing the red light. So I finally got the final word on Friday that it's too expensive to fix.

He was listed as a dealer on done deal and there's a crap website , but I'm not sure he's really a dealer at all. I am fully aware that I'm the one at fault here btw! I should have been more careful. I'm just disgusted that I basically set fire to the money - if id gotten 6 months id have been happy but I'm fairly sure he knew what he was doing. Anyway thanks for the replies everyone