Overheating issue used car

[Daniel79]

Hello Everyone,

After stumbling upon many places and failing to get concrete answers, I have landed here hoping to find some solutions to my problem.

I bought a Hyundai I20 (2012) petrol a month ago for £2700 for a dealer here in Birmingham. It had clocked £107k miles up until that point. I did a brief test drive before buying the car. The dealer guy delivered the car to my place as I had no insurance. It had some issues with clutch but I accepted it as it was since he was seeking £200 more if I wanted to get it fixed.

The car was driving fine until I was using it around city for 25 days after which I took it to motorways for the first time, to London. After driving for around 1 and a half hour, a strange steam leaking sound started to come from the front of the car. The engine temperature started to rise above 100. I managed to find a garage on the way and upon inspection , it was found that the rubber in the radiator cap was melted, the coolant level was dangerously low. I managed to come back to Birmingham after replacing the cap, stopping several times on the way to refill the coolant as the temperature of the engine rose again.

I spent around £110 pounds for the diagnostics and the mechanic said the issued could be the radiator fan and he'd replace the radiator fan and clutches for about £500 with other minor repairs. I talked with the dealer whom I bought the car with and he dismissed me immediately saying it's a used car and any problem that arose after he sold it isn't his problem. I talked about my rights and he basically said " good luck taking it to the lawyers. The minimum they charge is £450.

I bought the car with debt because I needed the car very badly to take my son to nursery and juggle my work schedule. I also need it to drop my wife to work since it is far from where I live. All this issue have really taken a toll on my financial and mental health. What are my options? I am willing to spend £500 because I am a very conflict-averse person and I avoid conflict wherever possible, but I don't know if that will solve the issue. What are my rights? Can I claim this against the dealer? The vehicle had a part service history and the documents provided to me shows the last full service done in 2016. The dealer had hooked me up with a 3 months warranty with a company called " Handler Protect" but I am not sure if the insurance company will cover for the costs with such tainted service history.

Do I have any options here?

Thank you everyone for reading my post.

[Pezza54]

Hi
Welcome to LB
You stated the dealer signed you up to a 3 month warranty with Handler Protect
You should read their t&cs and contact Handler Protect.
If HP refuse your claim you may have a case against the dealer for mis-selling

As you were aware there was a problem with the clutch when you bought the car, fixing the clutch won't be covered by the warranty

[Daniel79]

Hi
Welcome to LB
You stated the dealer signed you up to a 3 month warranty with Handler Protect
You should read their t&cs and contact Handler Protect.
If HP refuse your claim you may have a case against the dealer for mis-selling

As you were aware there was a problem with the clutch when you bought the car, fixing the clutch won't be covered by the warranty

Hi,
Thank you for your reply.

HP insurance coverage amount is £350 and over 90k miles, as their terms and condition state, they'll cover only 50% of the cost, if they actually did cover it. If I go through that route :

1. I won't be able to get full reimbursement from HP. For example, if the cost came to £700, I'd only be able to get £200.

If the problem came back, should I then go back to the dealer?

[Pezza54]

I am not a mechanic but imo you should get a second garage opinion about the overheating and disappearing coolant.
Your mechanic said it "could" be the radiator fan. For £110 diagnostic check the mechanic should have uncovered the actual fault (possible blown head gasket?)

[Pezza54]

Under CRA 2015, after 30 days and before 6 months is up, the consumer can ask the dealer to repair the vehicle's fault free of charge. The dealer has to be given the opportunity to do this within a reasonable time and should also pick up the vehicle.
You should write to the dealer and if the dealer ignores your letter or refuses to repair the car, you should then write that you are either rejecting the car for a refund, or intending to get the car repaired yourself and will make a court claim to recover your costs
In the meantime, when the the engine heats up, see if the fan starts working and whether there is any fluid leak under the car

[Daniel79]

Hi,

Thank you for your suggestions again.

So what shall I do about the insurance situation? He did provide me with an insurance but that is capped at £350 and will only cover half of the total repair cost. Do I need to go through insurance first, see if they approve/reject and only then go to the dealer? Or can I write to the dealer straight away?

Thank You.

[Pezza54]

Write to the dealer
HP reviews are poor

[Daniel79]

Write to the dealer
HP reviews are poor

Thank you. I'll post updates soon.

[Daniel79]

Update***

Hello,

So I wrote a letter to the dealer asking for repair as he wasn’t responding to messages/calls, but right after I posted the letter, he called me saying he’ll book in a garage and sort the issue for me. I went to the post office and withdrew the letter.

I called recovery because the clutches were gone too. I knew about the clutch issues while buying so that repair was on me. I left the car in the garage he booked for me. He called tomorrow saying the clutch needs to be changed for £260 and he will sort out the heating issue. I went tomorrow, he demanded money for clutch in cash and said there was issue with temperature sensor which affected the fan and it has been replaced.

I didn’t have time to check it straight away. It ran fine around city just like before. The fan looked to be working. However, after a few days the clutch got stuck at halfway in the middle of the road and the gears wouldn’t move. It worked after a while after some effort. I called him the next day and I said I no longer had confidence in the car and want him to take it. He said he doesn’t have money right now and suggested me to sell it to other dealers and check online for price they were offering. The conversation ended at that point.

The next day I decided to take the car for a long ride and the engine heated up again even when the fan was running. I recorded the video and sent to the dealer on his phone. I left a message asking him to resolve the issue. He hasn’t responded. I called thrice, he hasn’t responded to that either.

What should I do now?

Although I withdrew the letter, I have messages which states I have left the car in his garage to which he has said “ Okay no problem they will have a look at it and I’ll will back to you“.

What should be my next move now?

Thank you.

[DE DOGS]

I am not a mechanic but imo you should get a second garage opinion about the overheating and disappearing coolant.
Your mechanic said it "could" be the radiator fan. For £110 diagnostic check the mechanic should have uncovered the actual fault (possible blown head gasket?)

107k
Experience tells me. More than possibly a head gasket. 107k mileage is high. problems are there and will show soon enough. As shown, advice as given goes back to the dealer, and threatening them with County Court, it sometimes works.

[Pezza54]

I agree. You should write a LBA to the dealer stating you are rejecting the car under the Consumer Rights Act

If you search on this website and other websites such as which.co.uk etc you should find example LBAs which you can adapt to suit your own situation

[Daniel79]

Hi everyone,

The dealer hasn't responded at all to my calls messages so I am left with no options than to write a LBA. But before doing that, I would like to mention a few mistakes I have made and whether that makes my claim unlikely to succeed.

Before I write the information below, I want to know that I recently arrived in the UK in November 2023 to study and so I am still new to many things in the UK, including the legislation and everything.

When I went to view the car, it was not in his garage or dealer's registered address. It was on some street. He said it's there because there's no space on his garage. As a deposit, he asked £2000 transferred to his personal bank account. The car was delivered by him to my address a couple of hours later and rest £700 was paid in cash as I was waiting for a bank transfer from my friend and it was taking some time. The dealer guy was getting impatient at waiting as it was almost 8 at night, so I asked from one of my relatives for the money who had cash. He never gave me an invoice or signed any agreement. I know that was stupid but I get manipulated pretty easily and he said we don't need any of those coz it's a used car under £3k and as some money has been transferred into his bank, that is proof enough of transfer. The cash transaction was witnessed by my sister in law who gave that money.

Another example of how I get manipulated easily is, when I booked the car for repair in the garage of his choice, he told me the clutches have gone and I have to pay it coz it is wear and tear. He'll take care of the overheating issues. When I went to collect the car, he demanded cash as he said his chosen mechanic only accepts cash. The only evidence of payment I have is the cash withdrawal made from cash machine just before I paid him. I am not sure if there are cameras around the garage which can pick up me paying him in cash. I asked for invoice but he said the garage is almost close now and he'll provide invoice later. I am the stupidest guy you could meet I know, but is there any way I can include the £260 I paid to fix the clutches in the LBA ?


The car was listed on motors.co.uk and I recently contacted them since the listing was deleted. They have provided me with a raw data provided with the listing which has price, and all the vehicle's description. I also have a mail from Handler Protect after the dealer set me up with a 3 month warranty. The mail says " Handler Protect are pleased to be administrating your Warranty Plan on behalf of "**********" (dealers' name as mentioned in motors.co.uk website) . Please review the information below."

I also have copies of messages he sent me on my phone. Messages such as :
1. " It would have to be payment in full as WE don't provide finance... the best I can do is £2750."
2. We usually charge customers for delivery."


Also, two more things. Firstly, on the listing it was advertised as the car with a 12 month MOT. He showed me a paper which was a little blurry and said " Look there are zero issues in last MOT". I didn't know at that time we can check MOT history online. Recently after I found out about it, I was checking the MOT history again to see if there was anything linked to the overheating issue with the car and I found out now that the MOT expires in October 2024 and the car was bought in April. Secondly, the car was advertised with 106,000 mileage. I looked at the last MOT in October 2023 and it says 106,891. I bought the car in April 2024. Can I add these to my claims?

I would be grateful if you could suggest me whether my claim is weak in this scenario.

[Pezza54]

Yes, in my opinion it is very weak
It doesn't sound to me that you are likely to get any money back from the "dealer" or scammer

[Daniel79]

Is it because the sale would be seen as private sale and sold as seen?
Can the messages, warranty mail and listing not be used to oppose this?

Thank you.

[Pezza54]

It would be difficult to prove in court. You bought the car off dealer premises, paid a mixture of bank transfer (to a personal account) and cash and didn't receive an invoice or receipt
The seller sounds the sort to duck and weave at every opportunity and even in the unlikely event you were to win your claim, he would avoid refunding you