Hi, my mum and dad purchased my first car on 28/07/17, it's a 2007 mini one 1.4, they part exchanged our ford KA and payed a further £1200. Whilst initially viewing the car my dad noticed that the tread on the front tyres were low, the salesman insisted that the car would go through tests to make sure it's roadworthy before they collected it. They agreed to buy the car and a week later collected it, the owner of the garage believed that the front tyres were in good condition so they weren't replaced, the owner also tried to give my parents £500 less for the car they were part exchanging than what was agreed the week before.
When they arrived home with the car the red oil light flashed on and then off. The car has continued to do this ever since when the engine is hot and the car is going very slowly or reversing. My dad contacted the AA who towed the car back to the dealership the following day. The dealership said they would fix the car and they had it for a week however the owner was very reluctant to do any to the car and cleaned there was nothing wrong with it until my dad said the AA had towed the car and that he had a report from them. The owner said the a new oil pump, oil filter, pressure switch and exhaust vanos had been fitted to the car. But the oil light still continued to come on and off.
Yesterday my dad took the car to a mini specialist who plugged it into a diagnostic machine, which revealed that the oxygen sensor has issues. Despite these issues the engine management light was not illuminated. When my dad arrived home, he took the speedometer off the car and found that the bulb for the engine management light had been surrounded by black silicon to prevent the light being visible. My dad then looked at the oil filter, which he believes has not been changed by the garage. When my dad called the dealer he then said that the oil pump was second hand and not brand new, which had been previously implied.
Meanwhile my mum contacted the previous owner of the mini, who also bought the car from the dealership. She said that she has the car for 4 weeks but only had it at home for 2 days as there were many issues. She said that when the car had supposedly been fixed she drove down the road and all of the warning lights illuminated. She then insisted that they take it to a specialist, which they said they did but she found out that no specialist mechanic had been consulted and that the car hadn't moved from the car park, So she got her money back.When my dad told the dealer about this, he said the woman way lying and that she returned the car because she couldn't afford the finance. The woman also has a friend who is currently in court proceedings with the same dealership.
My dad has paid for new alloys, new brake pads and the diagnostics test as well as £1000 for my mums insurance (she's a new driver) and £80 to transfer a private reg onto the car. My dad feels like he's investejd too much money into the car to just return it and get his money back and ideally wants the car to be fixed if possible. He's booked it in with the specialist for a few days time but is still uncertain as to whether the dealership is willing to pay for the repairs to be done on the car. Should the dealers legally have to pay for the repairs or does it have to be one of their mechanics- considering all the cover ups and lies that they've told?
Thanks in advance,
Elisha.
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Get rid of the car ASAP, take the dealer to court, clearly citing all costs and expenses you've had. Don't waste money trying to fix it.
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Reject the car under Consumer Rights Act 2015, you've got 30 days, so only another 8 days. Take the car back to the dealership, with keys and V5C, and demand your money back - if they refuse you need to leave the car there and start legal action.
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As already said they need to reject the car quickly. There's no chance of this unscrupulous dealer will fix it properly and to be honest this (R56) generation or the earlier (R50) model of Mini aren't the best things to buy on a tight budget, there's plenty that goes wrong.
Don't worry about the cost of your mothers insurance, it can be cancelled for a pro-rata refund or swapped into another car and the plate transfer is also small fish. Ultimately it's a bad car from a bad dealer one who should've punted it to auction after it was returned last time. You won't win with dealing with a cretin like this.
Get a refund acted on now and come on here for replacement recommendations. There are far better bets than a ten year old Mini, mostly those running Japanese engines.
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Reject the car. Now.
Atempting to do anything else is pouring good money after bad. Get rid.
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