Vauxhall Corsa - Car problems on day of purchase - refund owed?

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Wed 15 Jul 2015 18:22
Vauxhall Corsa - Car problems on day of purchase - refund owed? - jess1808

So my boyfriend bought a car yesterday, it seemed fine on the test drive a few days ago, was fine on the drive home but then on a shopping trip later the same day thev engine light came on and it didnt seem full power, after taking it to a garage they said the spark plug had gone, quick and cheap to fix however they said it had broke due to hot oil getting on it, they said something about an oil seal and replacing it would be around £800 (!!! I bought the car for £1200!) however they said it might not happen again or might take a few weeks/months to happen again. The car is an 05 reg with low miles, it only passed MOT 4 weeks ago and has 6 months warranty however the warranty states it will only fix leaking oil seals if 'Rear engine oil seal and gearbox input shaft oil seal causing a major oil leak (dripping oil) necessitating immediate replacement, where removal of the unit is essential (excludes worn collars and shafts).' So I don't think it will cover this :'( the car does currently work now the spark plug is fixed but I'm worried it will happen again and I'll be left with a massive repair bill/unuseable/unsellable car, do you think I have any chance of taking it back to the garage as the fault was clearly there even if they didn't notice and isnt their fault?

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Thu 16 Jul 2015 23:18
Vauxhall Corsa - Car problems on day of purchase - refund owed? - galileo

I'm curious to know how hot oil can break a sparking plug?

Or did they mean the plug had 'oiled up', which suggests serious engine wear or the wrong grade of plug.

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Fri 17 Jul 2015 10:00
Vauxhall Corsa - Car problems on day of purchase - refund owed? - pd

Sounds like the camcover or similar is leaking and getting oil into the spark plug well.

As the car is working fine at the moment, I really can't see what the dealer can do. It is a £1200 car and there is always, something, somewhere which might go in 1/3/6/12 months time - it is a cheap car which is inevitably a gamble.

It'll probably go on for years as is - you could try and swap it and then just buy something else with a more serious fault.

You're never going to get much of a warranty at this end of the market I'm afraid.

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Fri 17 Jul 2015 10:27
Vauxhall Corsa - Car problems on day of purchase - refund owed? - RobJP

As pd has said, basically.

The car is currently working. Therefore you have no grounds to take it back and get a refund. The fear of 'what if' something fails in the next few months would not be viewed as 'reasonable grounds' for rejection, especially given the price paid for the car.

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