In March we bought a 2007 Fiesta with 46,000 miles on the clock. It seemed ideal, but in August a coolant pipe burst and the engine overheated. It was out of the 3-month warranty so I had it fixed at my usual garage who warned me there could be an underlying cause for the burst. Sure enough, it went again a week or so later and the cause was found to be a blown head gasket.

It also transpired at this point that the engine came from a breakers yard. It belonged to an earlier model and had the details painted on it by hand. Having paid a hefty bill I phoned the original dealer but he was unwilling to admit any responsibility as it was out of warranty. I feel that we did not get what was advertised when we bought it, a newish car with low mileage, and I am concerned about how much trouble this car will give us in the future. Where do we stand legally? Is the dealer obliged to pay for our repairs or give a partial refund based on a revised estimate of how much the car is now worth? I didn't return the car to him to work on as we live 30 miles away and by the time we discovered the dodgy engine the car was lying in bits in my local garage.