Important! : Possible Car claim against trader??

18th January 2015, 00:30

Is this worth investigating and taking action on ??

Checking back on the cars history theirs been no logs of work carried out for car being water damaged or problems with any shell or structural problems ie having camber and play in rear axle and so on..

When I got the car it had MOT and Tax on car before the new ruling come out about tax been not passed on with car.

From making a full inspection on the car was and is a very clean car. No dints but when I got the car on a test run found it having no oil in it asking question and them making claims just needs topping up with oil and a service.

After getting it to my friends garage a lot of work had to be carried out on it to get it road legal and them making claims of it being road safe thus having some tax remaining on it and full MOT

I have a few questions regarding the trader selling the car on as perfect working order to me finding out later on that its got more problems and a fair few that had not been disclosed.

When I got the car to my mates garage I needed the following doing on it.

Mileage on car done 51400 ish.

Full brake disk and pads front and back.
cv boot offside nearside and just come to now doing one of the full drive shafts after failure.

New cam belt. Oil filter petrol filter - pump and air filter, Full steering fluid change, full oil change. and other bits n bobs.

I know that this is services stuff but when it comes to the next lot of stuff then am trying to work out when and what has gone on.

Last year I developed a intermittent problem being the rear light not working but everything else on it working like brake light handbrake reverse etc

After getting it into another garage after my rear indicator light went out went to the garage too see what was going on. I was told at that point will get it sorted so he fixed it.

Few weeks later got problems with the back light so ended up taking another visit back.

This time to find showing me the problem after going into the wires to take the plastic back off to strip to wire the wires inside are all blue and green. Cut into about 5 or 6 of them finding the exact same problem..

Wiring loom totally rotted.

Also in the passengers side foot well seemed to be very dame and some sort of water damage however he ripped the carpets back to the back of the car and seems their was no water damage on the under carpet or the drivers side. Just the passengers so I don't get how can be a submerged water damaged car. The only thing I can think of is that the damage has been caused by some leak in the passengers side foot well that I did find to be some problem with one of the clips that where for under the car for the brake lines or fuel pipes and since filled and stopped leak coming in.

This was also not disclosed to me on buying the car and am wondering if the actual owner knew this or it didn't pose a problem at the time of him selling on at the car traders where I bought it or they knew about it and bodged it up to make look everything was working fine.

My question is???????????????????????????

From the last few weeks I have no come to find I am needing to replace the full wiring loom and seems this is damaged from some years ago as it can take time to rot corrosion fair play maybe not long but for full thing to be rotted and finding some of the fixtures in the car like the earth points being rotted under the car too is not a good indication.

Only finding this out now and not being disclosed at the point of me buying it would this be a possible claim against the trading company who sold the car on as legit and listed as no faults or problems and safe to drive as MOT and tax on it.

Had enough work on it done to make road safe now like so wondering if I have a valid claim and can start some sort of investigation and claim off against the trader.

Spent a fair bit on getting up to road standard but question is could I make a claim and procure legal action against the company for not disclosing all problems at point of sale.

18th January 2015, 01:38

For a 51k car thats shocking. Thats IF it's a 51k car. Errr

18th January 2015, 07:58

It is bad but I doubt you would get any where with a
Claim

One side or other getting a wet carpet is common , normally down to the sunroof drain hole getting blocked or the membrane in the door been damaged.

How much Mot was on the car?
As if it wasnt a full 12 month then the cv could of been damaged afterwards, if it was 12 month you would need to report the mot test station to VOSA , but be warned they can take your car as evidence whilst this is ongoing, but as you have repaired the car they will not have anything to show

So you have had the car since October then as that's when the new tax laws came in to place, unless the trader have a six month warranty ( doubt very much on a car that age) then he can and will say it's an old car of course it will have some problems!

Rust and corrosion on a Saxo is very common

18th January 2015, 08:01

Basically I doubt you'll have a leg to stand on.

I personally wouldn't have bought a car from a dealer that had no oil in it, that's a big enough warning sign for me to look elsewhere, could easily be bottom end damage for instance.

When did you buy the car? At best, I'd have said you could have taken it back shortly after purchase if you felt the wiring loom was rotten and the car unfit for purpose, however from your description the car, albeit needing some service items and tlc has worked fine last year, with the wiring problem now rearing it's head.

To be fair to the dealer, saxos are cheap cars, he's very unlikely to strip it back to check the wiring loom and it's almost unreasonable to expect that on a car in this price bracket really, it's more down to you to check at time of purchase should any warning signs be present.

Saxos rot for fun, so it isn't unheard of, and at best you would only have likely gotten a refund for the cars purchase price anyway, so if you've put money into it in parts, you'd be better off grabbing a 2nd hand wiring loom and fitting it. It's a simple job on a saxo, a day's work tops

18th January 2015, 09:44

Quote:

got the car on a test run found it having no oil in it asking question and them making claims just needs topping up with oil and a service

I'd be gone at that point. Then water damaged cars are usually written off because too expensive to fix.

18th January 2015, 10:39

You've had the car over 12 months? or did I not read that bit right?

Sales of goods act and reverse burden of proof apply for 6 months in respect of the seller. After the 6 months up to 12 months, its your responsibility to prove it was defective/not fit for purpose yada yada yada when it was sold.

18th January 2015, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4MJT

Basically I doubt you'll have a leg to stand on.

I personally wouldn't have bought a car from a dealer that had no oil in it, that's a big enough warning sign for me to look elsewhere, could easily be bottom end damage for instance.

When did you buy the car? At best, I'd have said you could have taken it back shortly after purchase if you felt the wiring loom was rotten and the car unfit for purpose, however from your description the car, albeit needing some service items and tlc has worked fine last year, with the wiring problem now rearing it's head.

To be fair to the dealer, saxos are cheap cars, he's very unlikely to strip it back to check the wiring loom and it's almost unreasonable to expect that on a car in this price bracket really, it's more down to you to check at time of purchase should any warning signs be present.

Saxos rot for fun, so it isn't unheard of, and at best you would only have likely gotten a refund for the cars purchase price anyway, so if you've put money into it in parts, you'd be better off grabbing a 2nd hand wiring loom and fitting it. It's a simple job on a saxo, a day's work tops

Ah ok so it isn't un heard of. I have a loom for it but where its been cut I dont think its going to fit as going to be checking in a few hours time to see how far up the wire and how close to the fuse box it is rotted.

When changing can the old wires be removed totally from the fuse box and new ones put in ??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prickle

For a 51k car thats shocking. Thats IF it's a 51k car. Errr

51400 odd miles on clock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manu

I'd be gone at that point. Then water damaged cars are usually written off because too expensive to fix.

It had oil in it but not much and was topped up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sri_130

You've had the car over 12 months? or did I not read that bit right?

Sales of goods act and reverse burden of proof apply for 6 months in respect of the seller. After the 6 months up to 12 months, its your responsibility to prove it was defective/not fit for purpose yada yada yada when it was sold.

Have had the car just over a year or so. So guessing its out their hands.

19th January 2015, 09:44

No chance if you've had it 12 months, you could have been keeping it outside with the windows open for all they know

Re the loom, it's probably as much work / on a par to just replace the interior loom entirely, then at least you know there are no other gremlins and it gives you an opportunity to seal up any leaks / prevent future issues

19th January 2015, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaCrazyOne

It had oil in it but not much and was topped up.

Never lost a drop of oil in over 50k miles of driving mine. I'm assuming at this point that you had no service history either, sounds like a bit of a (poorly maintained) lemon unfortunately.

19th January 2015, 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaCrazyOne

51400 odd miles on clock.

I know, as i said. Shocking for a 51k car.

19th January 2015, 19:06

I was in a similar situation with my first saxo.
Fucking shed and a half. My local well trusted garage had a heart attack at the state of my car.
I went back to the place of purchase, they simply told me to fuck right off.
Upside, they've now shut down and I've discovered a dodgy MOT garage.

19th January 2015, 22:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manu

Never lost a drop of oil in over 50k miles of driving mine. I'm assuming at this point that you had no service history either, sounds like a bit of a (poorly maintained) lemon unfortunately.

Part of it but not all said would post and never sent but checked everything online with the MOT and services records and seems to check out but no doubt the shit that has not been disclosed or sent on am guessing their is something but to be honest their is no rot on it anywhere checked under carpets in boot seeing if warped or anything like that and engine bay is very clean tidy and rust free too checking in all gaps fittings where their normally is tuns of rot including behind the lights and other areas. Just this little bit of a mess with the loom and some other parts but am sure its going to be worth it for the end result and what it will be worth when finished.

20th January 2015, 08:59

MOT means fuck all mate. My car went flying through the past 3 MOTs without a hiccup, my garage still put through little stuff such as discs corroded but fine, brake line corroded but fine. Otherwise the VOSA agents get suspicious of complacent garages if you see what I mean.

When I bought the saxo, the sellers' garage did a new MOT on it, and did hide knackered brake pads and side skirts unsecured due to broken clips. Only I was back 24 hours later, not a complete year. They had no choice but to fix and retest the car completely or I was going to make a report to VOSA.

That said, if you only have one niggle and the rest of the car is fine, then just take it on the chin and move on. A new loom is a bit of a pain but then you should be gremlins free after that...

Quote:

Part of it but not all said would post and never sent

From experience mate: never trust those people.