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Thu 7 Jan 2021 12:05

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - Strong bull

My elderly parents (in there 70's ) brought a second hand 65 plate dacia sandero 0.9 petrol in late august from a dealer. I did a bit of research and reviews suggested the dealer seemed ok but a bit of habit not supplying or honouring warranties. They went ahead and brought the car but despite me telling them to make sure he gave them a warranty he just said that .the invoice was the warranty.

Just before xmas they noticed that the heating in the car wasnt working so called the dealer who said bring it in after xmas and he would look at it. They dropped it off and he said he would look at it.He noticed there was no water in the car and put some in which obviously turned to steam. They had done around 1000 miles in the caar.

They hadn't heard anything so they asked me to have a chat with him and find out what is going on. I called him last Saturday to be told that he hadn't done anything as garages were closed for the xmas break and he would get on to it Monday. he suspected it was the head gasket but wasnt a mechanic so couldn't really offer any more help at the moment. This seemed fair and he seemed very pleasant .I verbally and emailed him asking for the warrenty details and for a report from the garage when it had been looked at which he said he would get to me,.this never happened.

I never heard back so called him Wednesday and he confirmed it was the head gasket and the garage were taking the engine apart to see what work needs doing. Again he said he couldn't speculate what happens next until the had looked at the problem. He again seemed genuine but nagging doubts are starting.

I did a bit of research on my parents behalf and as i understand it that as the car was brought between 30 days and 6 months he has to repair the car in a reasonable timescale or prove that it was caused by negligence.

I have no reason as of yet to doubt he will resolve the problem but any advice on what i can do if problems start would be most appreciated.

Also does anyone know what sort of money would a repair roughly cost

Many thanks

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Thu 7 Jan 2021 13:23

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - catsdad

Warranties are often limited in terms of coverage and repair cost limits. You are actually probably better off with the legal cover you mention.
Some Dacias lack a temp gauge but I assume they have a warning light? To that extent your parents might share the blame but the prime responsibility is the dealer's. For example if they caused further damage by adding cold water to a hot engine.

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Thu 7 Jan 2021 13:29

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - badbusdriver

A bit baffled here. You did research on the dealer and found he had a habit of not honouring or supplying warranties, so clearly not 'OK' and should have been avoided. But the car was bought anyway.

Did you also research the car?, because that 0.9 Renault engine isn't known for its reliability (unlike the naturally aspirated 1.2 and, by and large, the 1.5 diesel).

As for the dealer proving negligence on the part of your parents, assuming what he said was the truth, they drove the car to the garage with no water in it. And, again assuming he was telling the truth, there would have been (at the very least) a warning light showing on the instrument display. So that could well be proof of negligence right there (I'm no expert on these matters, just putting it out there).

But in the best case scenario and the dealer fixes the car with no cost to your parents (unlikely by the sound of it), get them to trade it in for something else.

Edited by badbusdriver on 07/01/2021 at 13:29

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Thu 7 Jan 2021 13:59

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - skidpan

He noticed there was no water in the car

Whilst a large number of modern cars lack a temp gauge they will have a temp warning light which would certainly have illuminated if the water level had dropped and the engine overheated.

A regular under bonnetbonnet check would have alerted them to issues before they became serious, did they do this? The handbook will list what and how often should be done but its not rocket science, its been the same for all the years I have been driving (47).

I fear this is going to be the dealers "get out of jail free card". Its going to be impossible for your parents to prove this was a problem since they bought the car if they never checked and needed to top up the coolant.

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Thu 7 Jan 2021 15:34

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - bathtub tom

Whilst a large number of modern cars lack a temp gauge they will have a temp warning light which would certainly have illuminated if the water level had dropped and the engine overheated.

I've heard of one case when the light illuminated briefly. It went out and the driver assumed everything was OK. Unfortunately, it went out because all the water had blown out of the system. When it seized and smoke started pouring out from under the bonnet, they poured a load of cold water over the engine! You can guess the result.

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Thu 7 Jan 2021 16:09

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - Bromptonaut

I've heard of one case when the light illuminated briefly. It went out and the driver assumed everything was OK. Unfortunately, it went out because all the water had blown out of the system. When it seized and smoke started pouring out from under the bonnet, they poured a load of cold water over the engine! You can guess the result.

I had a Mini 850 overheat due to a radiator leak. Temp light did not illuminate because the sensor was no longer submerged. Head gasket had split and when repair agent added water it spilled out.

Car was recovered home and I subsequently replaced the head gasket. Ran it for another 18months or so after that.

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Fri 8 Jan 2021 09:27

Dacia Sandero - advice on broken down car from dealer - Strong bull

Thanks all im hoping he will fix it and happy days.

Unfortunately they fell for his charm. I was in isolation at the time and they needed a runaround and this car was comfy for them.

The water and oil were regularly checked and no warning light came on . The dealer put water in which spotted out.

I'll see what happens

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