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Hi,
First time using this forum so hello to everyone and thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give re below.
My wife and I bought a used car (a 2006 mazda 5 1.8) last week from a trader with 86,000 miles recorded. He advertised the car as being mechanically 100% and it looked and drove great when we went to test drive it. We traded in our old car, paid a deposit then picked the car up a couple of days later, paying the remainder of the balance in cash, being given a receipt.
A couple of days later, I'd noticed the oil on the dipstick measured low. I figured I would top it up (with the manufacturer recommended oil mentioned in the manual) and monitor this to make sure it wasn't just a one off before contacting the trader again. I had to top up again - albeit not much, as the car only does 20 or so miles per day, nursery run, work then home.
Three days after collecting the car it juddered and misfired on changing down from 5th to 4th and the engine management light came on. I'd noticed some smoke coming out of the exhaust too. I read the code with a bluetooth code reader which was reported as "P0304 - Cylinder 4 Misfire"
It was at this point that I contacted the trader and arranged with him that I would have my own mechanic look at it, and if it turned out to be something relatively easy to fix, such as spark plugs / leads - he would send a cheque to cover the costs. If my mechanic found that it was something more serious I agreed to let the trader know and he would arrange for his own mechanic to look at it.
My wife left the car in and our mechanic advised that the cause of the fault was that there was oil around the spark plugs, causing the misfire, indicating that there was potentially a more serious problem with the engine. He advised that the fault could be fixed temporarily by replacing the spark plugs but that in all likelihood, was going to re-occur suggesting a new engine or a complete engine overhaul should sort it.
Our mechanic was asked to not do anything further and I explained to him the car had only been bought a week ago and was advertised with a 30 day warranty. He suggested we ask for our money back and to be wary of any quick fix, such as simple spark plug replacement and mopping up of excess oil around the top of the engine block.
On thinking about it and on the back of this advice, my wife and I would prefer a refund to allow us to go buy something else that would hopefully be less of a headache!
A refund was mentioned to the trader who was quick to say "that is not my policy" and attempting to claim we had caused the damage to the car (later backtracked). From what we've researched on the Sale of Goods Act, we are perfectly entitled to a refund and he was informed of this - he then said he did not have the money and it would be a couple of weeks before he would have.
We then agreed to have his (the trader's) mechanic look at the car as he assured us he would put it right. Not 100% happy, I told him that as long as it was put right properly (and not a quick-fix) there would be no issue and asked if he would stand-over any repairs, by way of warranty should any issue re-occur. He said we would have his word.
The car was left with him and he got back to us the following day saying that his mechanic has given the engine a full flush and put in a "special oil" (his exact words!) specially designed to cure piston ring issues, he says the misfire is completely gone but the exhaust is still slightly smokey. His mechanic assures him that this is normal until it begins to work on the engine and after a few miles should subside and if if not he'll have to strip the engine. He also said his mechanic cleaned the spark plugs.
Would he not have been better getting his mechanic to strip the engine and repair it properly like he said he would do? I told him that I was not happy with this so called repair and asked for my money back, we left him a letter rejecting the car and asking for a refund.
He said he would give us our refund when he had the money as he claims he does not have the funds at the minute and would need to sell a couple of cars first and offered no other solution to us. When asked how long it would take to get us our money back he was unable to tell us.
This was last Saturday. As the car was with him while we rejected it, he still has it which leaves us in the position of having no car nor any refund. I suggested to him on Sunday that, rather than give us our full refund back, he give us our traded in car back as well as the money he was given which equates to the same as a refund (our trade in value was £1500 and we paid cash £1500 bring total paid to £3000). He flat out refused this stating that he had fully serviced our traded in car and done other minor repairs including painting the boot, which had a minor dent in it.
He told us that we would get a refund once he sells the faulty mazda we rejected (he has actually re-advertised it for more than we bought it for!)
My question now is, how much time do i give him to be able to get the funds to give us a refund before going through the small claims court? I find it difficult to trust him or believe anything he says now due to his 'special-oil' fix and the fact he's actually re-advertised advertised the car knowing it's faulty and has been rejected.
First time using this forum so hello to everyone and thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give re below.
My wife and I bought a used car (a 2006 mazda 5 1.8) last week from a trader with 86,000 miles recorded. He advertised the car as being mechanically 100% and it looked and drove great when we went to test drive it. We traded in our old car, paid a deposit then picked the car up a couple of days later, paying the remainder of the balance in cash, being given a receipt.
A couple of days later, I'd noticed the oil on the dipstick measured low. I figured I would top it up (with the manufacturer recommended oil mentioned in the manual) and monitor this to make sure it wasn't just a one off before contacting the trader again. I had to top up again - albeit not much, as the car only does 20 or so miles per day, nursery run, work then home.
Three days after collecting the car it juddered and misfired on changing down from 5th to 4th and the engine management light came on. I'd noticed some smoke coming out of the exhaust too. I read the code with a bluetooth code reader which was reported as "P0304 - Cylinder 4 Misfire"
It was at this point that I contacted the trader and arranged with him that I would have my own mechanic look at it, and if it turned out to be something relatively easy to fix, such as spark plugs / leads - he would send a cheque to cover the costs. If my mechanic found that it was something more serious I agreed to let the trader know and he would arrange for his own mechanic to look at it.
My wife left the car in and our mechanic advised that the cause of the fault was that there was oil around the spark plugs, causing the misfire, indicating that there was potentially a more serious problem with the engine. He advised that the fault could be fixed temporarily by replacing the spark plugs but that in all likelihood, was going to re-occur suggesting a new engine or a complete engine overhaul should sort it.
Our mechanic was asked to not do anything further and I explained to him the car had only been bought a week ago and was advertised with a 30 day warranty. He suggested we ask for our money back and to be wary of any quick fix, such as simple spark plug replacement and mopping up of excess oil around the top of the engine block.
On thinking about it and on the back of this advice, my wife and I would prefer a refund to allow us to go buy something else that would hopefully be less of a headache!
A refund was mentioned to the trader who was quick to say "that is not my policy" and attempting to claim we had caused the damage to the car (later backtracked). From what we've researched on the Sale of Goods Act, we are perfectly entitled to a refund and he was informed of this - he then said he did not have the money and it would be a couple of weeks before he would have.
We then agreed to have his (the trader's) mechanic look at the car as he assured us he would put it right. Not 100% happy, I told him that as long as it was put right properly (and not a quick-fix) there would be no issue and asked if he would stand-over any repairs, by way of warranty should any issue re-occur. He said we would have his word.
The car was left with him and he got back to us the following day saying that his mechanic has given the engine a full flush and put in a "special oil" (his exact words!) specially designed to cure piston ring issues, he says the misfire is completely gone but the exhaust is still slightly smokey. His mechanic assures him that this is normal until it begins to work on the engine and after a few miles should subside and if if not he'll have to strip the engine. He also said his mechanic cleaned the spark plugs.
Would he not have been better getting his mechanic to strip the engine and repair it properly like he said he would do? I told him that I was not happy with this so called repair and asked for my money back, we left him a letter rejecting the car and asking for a refund.
He said he would give us our refund when he had the money as he claims he does not have the funds at the minute and would need to sell a couple of cars first and offered no other solution to us. When asked how long it would take to get us our money back he was unable to tell us.
This was last Saturday. As the car was with him while we rejected it, he still has it which leaves us in the position of having no car nor any refund. I suggested to him on Sunday that, rather than give us our full refund back, he give us our traded in car back as well as the money he was given which equates to the same as a refund (our trade in value was £1500 and we paid cash £1500 bring total paid to £3000). He flat out refused this stating that he had fully serviced our traded in car and done other minor repairs including painting the boot, which had a minor dent in it.
He told us that we would get a refund once he sells the faulty mazda we rejected (he has actually re-advertised it for more than we bought it for!)
My question now is, how much time do i give him to be able to get the funds to give us a refund before going through the small claims court? I find it difficult to trust him or believe anything he says now due to his 'special-oil' fix and the fact he's actually re-advertised advertised the car knowing it's faulty and has been rejected.
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