No disrespect but this has been a very strange buy to me right from when Paul first came on the forum as he knew virtually nothing about what model it was it was he was buying or what the spec was and it was fairly obvious that he had made no checks on the car not even having checked the mot history.
It seems that he paid a £500 (non refundable)!! deposit on a £4000 car which in my opinion considering the year, mileage, condition history etc was quite a bit over what it was worth plus also no trade in so a straight buy and looks like he had agreed that it would have a new mot put on it but confirmed when I asked that he had not agreed with the seller what would be done in respect of any advisories although as it turns out this was irrelevant as the mot was advisory free although perhaps from what has been found out since should not have been and possibly have been a fail.
From the pictures Paul linked to it looked like the seller is a back street trader with no website etc.
He then started asking questions on the forum and from the answers he received started to do some checking into the background of the car and uncovered amongst other things that the fuel gauge recall had not been done and at the same sort of time the dealer started messing him about with the mot
This to me was the time to get his deposit back and look elsewhere and I did give him a link to another Elgrand that was even a bit cheaper that in my opinion was a far better buy and only about 50 miles away from him
For whatever reasons Paul decided to go ahead with the purchase and then started to investigate and spend money on parts
I do feel sorry for him as it seems that he has tried to do all the right things but has done them all in the wrong order, ie only getting it checked now by another garage when he has already bought it and not doing a carvx until he had paid the deposit although I can understand that with his own and his wife's health issues this could make it difficult.
Anyway that is all now water under the bridge and the car has been bought and I would assume with DVLA being transfered into his name.
Now for me it now seems like he now has 5 options
1. Scrap or break it for spares, either would be a big financial loss and if breaking although potentially not such a big loss may not be possible for Paul to do.
2. Try to get a refund as it does not seem as if he would be able to do the work on his Elgrand himself
3. Pay for this work to be done by a garage/ mechanic which could well be putting good money after bad and possibly would not make economic sense on what is in my opinion seems to be a £3000 car at best. (even if this could be done on the cheap as I know from personal experience that jobs on cars rarely go to plan and quite often cost more than you first thought they would often when you are doing the job uncovering more jobs that need doing especially on a car with best part of 140000 miles on the clock)
4. Try to sell it on as spares or repair although first I would consider having a pre-mot check done from another garage without a vested interest as it seems that the mot test and the health check you have had done are quite far apart and it may well be that the local garage is trying to make work for themselves for possibly £2000 to £3000 as with a year advisory free mot this may be something that is achievable even with the high miles.
5. Just live with it and spend the bare minimum on it to just keep it on the road.
If it was me I would be thinking of first trying for option 2 of trying to get a refund and although I would initially try for a full refund as a reserve option I would possibly aim for a part refund as walking away with maybe £3000 in my pocket and taking a hit on the loss of £1000 and then looking at getting a replacement but doing the proper checks before paying a deposit or buying could be the best option and definitely better than option 1
This could also work for the seller as he has made a handy profit o £1000 and still has the Elgrand to sell with no hassle regarding legal claims etc.
Remember this is all about you walking away or coming out of this with the least amount of financial loss as once you paid him the balance and the car was transferred to you a big part of your bargaining power was lost and if he wants to turn around and tell you to do one this will only leave you with going the legal route with the extra hassle this would involve.
Some reading here
Problems with a car bought from a dealer
Your consumer rights when buying a car from a dealer are more straightforward than a private sale. If your second-hand car proves unfit for purpose, you have the right to return it within 30 days under the
Consumer Rights Act 2015. This means you’re entitled to a full refund, repair or replacement.
When
buying a used car from a dealer, the car must:
- Be fit for purpose – for example, if you asked for a car that could tow a caravan, it must be able to do that.
- Be of satisfactory quality – for a used car, this takes into account the car’s age and mileage.
- Match its description – equipment/specs listed in the advert must be accurate.
If the car has any known defects, the dealer must make you aware of them before you buy it.
