Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute

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Wed 10 May 2023 15:42
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - JACK ELLIOT

Hi all, I'd just like a bit of advice please.

On 07/03/2023 I bought a Vauxhall Corsa from a private dealership. I paid £4,400 for the car despite it being a 2010 reg on the premise it was low mileage (22k) and had recent service history and that the dealership would MOT the car and pay for any major faults. They did the MOT with no major faults on 06/03/2023, the day before purchase.

It is hard to believe it was a properly done MOT as the front left tyre had an illegal tyre tread, which they agreed to replace on the day of purchase (07/03/2023). There was also no wiper fluid at all.

36 days exactly after purchasing the vehicle, I was travelling on the M40 and my overheating light started to flash. Very quickly the car started to lose power and I made an attempt to get to the hard shoulder. As I was in the middle lane, and there was a lorry in the left land behind me who did not see me, it was a potentially very dangerous situation. The lorry did not see me until my car threw out a cloud of smoke, after which I was able to rescue myself to the hard shoulder.

I paid for recoveries to my house and then to my local garage for an inspection as I wanted to get an opinion before the dealership would deal with it. Initially, the dealership refused to fix the car and let me know that it was part of my contract that if the car overheats or the head gasket blows, they will not accept claims. Much to my surprise, this was the last line of my invoice, which I missed when I bought the car.

After complaining and threatening legal action, they decided the dealership decided they would accept accountability to fix the car, but only if I went halves with them. I then got the car recovered to their mechanic (I haven't signed anything at this point) and they said he would fix it, with the damage being a suspected blown head gasket.

The mechanic fixed the head gasket and then realized that the engine was so seriously damaged, they would need a replacement engine. They found an engine of another Corsa, one that had done 10,000 more miles than my current one. They then fitted this and realised the water pump had a leak, so proceeded to fix this too.

After 28 days of the car being in the hand's of their mechanic, they sent me a document which asked me to accept the terms of final settlement paying £525 for the fix, which was exactly half of the price in total.

They also said they would include warranty, but did not state this anywhere in this document asking me to agree to settle the case. Therefore I have responded that I have 6 month warranty on the car or I will be taking legal action against their business. I have endured a lot of stress and anxiety throughout this ordeal and it has impacted my performance at work as I have not been able to commute to my office often.

Do you think I have been reasonable in my response? And do you think there is a potential case here for me to win in a small court?

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Wed 10 May 2023 16:02
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - Andrew-T

Assuming that your car has been repaired to your satisfaction, my personal opinion is that as it is 13 years old, going halves with the repair you describe seems a decent deal. Most warranties on a car of that age would hardly cover anything worth having.

Of course from the purely legal angle things could be different, so I await a more experienced opinion.

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Wed 10 May 2023 16:24
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - JACK ELLIOT

They are not willing to hand the car back until I pay the amount, therefore how is there any way of telling that the car is fixed to my satisfaction?

I feel blackmailed by their 'deal' and do not think it is fair that they promised they'd fix it on the premise they'd give me a warranty for the fix, then do not even offer it.

Yes it's 13 years old, but they sold it to me on the premise of it being a low mileage car with no major faults and a clean MOT history - which proved to be false the day after it passed an MOT after I discovered it had illegal tyre tread on the front left tyre. I don't know how they are getting away with this considering I would have given them nearly 5 grand if I pay this fee and get the car back, with another £350 spent on recoveries. Plus, the traumatic experience of a near fatal collision and the fall out of trying to sort this out causing me a great deal of stress - I believe they have broken the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and not abided to the Consumer Rights 2015 Act - surely if they take responsibility to fix the car they fix it without me paying anything, or they give me a partial refund for the car in accordance to Consumer Rights Act.

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Wed 10 May 2023 17:19
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - elekie&a/c doctor
Personally, I wouldn’t pay anything towards the repair . The car has been sold to you as not fit for purpose. The fact they have excluded overheating and head gasket repairs in the contract means they have actually dug a hole for themselves as selling a defective car . You are within the 6 months legal warranty regulations. You need a refund of the car. They may deduct some mileage use . How many miles since purchasing?
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Wed 10 May 2023 22:31
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - JACK ELLIOT

They also stipulated in the contract that I accept the car as it is on the day of purchase and that replaces any warranty on the car. So I'm not sure if that could come against me.

I did probably 1000 miles before purchasing, but now they have a new engine in the car, not sure if that comes into play or gets deducted if I go the refund route.

Just also found out the MOT done in January 2021 there was a major fault on engine misfire, engine mil inoperative indicating engine malfunction. These major faults were actually only 300 miles before my mileage started.

The things that don't go in my favour, is I signed this dodgy contract, I've never been to court over anything like this and people here are saying it could be very unpleasant. What do you reckon?

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Wed 10 May 2023 17:21
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - Andrew-T

The nub is now that you need to know whether the car has been successfully repaired, which seems to mean paying up. I suspect you may wonder, if this 'private dealership' (whatever that is) carried out the dubious MoT, whether the repair is equally dubious ; but IF they HAVE first fixed the head gasket, then found and fitted a used engine, that would normally cost something like £1500 I would guess - hence my thought that you may have had a good deal.

This is a bullet you may have to bite. If the repair has been decent you may have been lucky, so put it down to experience and perhaps find a more reputable garage for future work. If you don't learn the answer to the question, litigation may be the only way forward, and it doesn't always end pleasantly. 13-year-old cars are past middle age, so arbitrators may consider that your case is not very strong. Your nasty experience on the road was unfortunate but those happen to someone every day.

Or - as the Doc has said - reject the car and reverse the whole deal. Which course will likely also be painful :-(

Edited by Andrew-T on 10/05/2023 at 17:29

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Wed 10 May 2023 19:31
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - Adampr

I wouldn't bother trying a trauma and stress angle. It's not relevant and you'll talk yourself into it.

The law says they can either repair the car and give it back to you free of charge or keep it and give your money back. I would be pushing for the latter

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Wed 10 May 2023 20:03
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - paul 1963

Personally I would get the relevant authority's involved, it obviously has been given a dodgy mot and the warranty specifically mentioning head gasket issues makes me smell a rat.

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Wed 10 May 2023 23:17
Vauxhall Corsa 2010 Reg - Engine replaced on recently purchased car-Dispute - Andrew-T

The law says they can either repair the car and give it back to you free of charge or keep it and give your money back. I would be pushing for the latter

That is clearly the sensible thing to do, as it seems unlikely that a place that turns out dodgy MoT's (assuming it was them) is unlikely to have done serious work to fix the problem.

Making the law stick will be the next obstacle, which may cost time and persistence, and perhaps money.

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