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I was driving on the motorway when all of a sudden noticed the temperature gauge on my car going up and down, pulled over at the next services by which point there was a metallic crackling/grinding sound. As I came to a stop, the engine cut out, long story short, the entire engine needs replacing and the cylinder head gasket has gone on top of all the labour the warranty company forced by asking for the engine to be stripped.
I purchased the car just under 5 months previous to this happening from a dealer, predictably, the warranty company has rejected the repairs so I'm wondering my rights under the Consumers Rights Act 2015.
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How old is the car, mileage, cost, when last serviced.
If you have had it 5 months, how many miles have you done, do you do your monthly checks for oil level, water (coolant levels) etc.
The above information is important. a 100.000 mile ten year old car for £2500 won't have the same expectations of warranty as a newer car.
If you had bought a less than 7 year old car from a Kia dealer you would have got a 1 year Kia warranty on the mechanical bits.
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The car is from 2012, can't remember the exact mileage when purchased but the MOT in July was 53k, It was purchased the last day of October at about 55k. It's currently in the garage so not 100% sure but think it's about 59k. I did the monthly oil checks etc. without issue.
Again for the service history, that's currently in the car at the garage but it was serviced yearly, so imagine it was done June/July time alongside the MOT.
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I was driving on the motorway when all of a sudden noticed the temperature gauge on my car going up and down, pulled over at the next services
How far did you actually drive? Strange movements of the temp gauge really need investigating as soon as its safe and if there was such an opportunity before the next services I would say your actions have turned a simple head gasket replacement into a complete new engine required. To me that would mean its your fault.
If you had bought a less than 7 year old car from a Kia dealer you would have got a 1 year Kia warranty on the mechanical bits.
Wrong on 2 counts. The warranty would only be valid if the car had been fully serviced preferably by a Kia dealer or by an Indy with full proof of work done etc.
And the Kia warranty does not just cover mechanical bits, its "bumper to bumper" with a list of exclusions.
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When noticed the services were maybe half a mile? So that at 70mph about 30 seconds. Forgot to add, the car was £5000.
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Wrong on 2 counts. The warranty would only be valid if the car had been fully serviced preferably by a Kia dealer or by an Indy with full proof of work done etc.
KIA won't let a dealer sell a car without providing even a 6.9 year old car with a 1 year warranty..
I know because I bought a 6.9 year old car recently for some friends, just days before lockdown. Dealer mentioned the warranty himself and that it was a Kia warranty.
And the Kia warranty does not just cover mechanical bits, its "bumper to bumper" with a list of exclusions.
OF course wear ant tear excluded as infotainement and trim not covered. OBVIOUSLY>
Smiley face.
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KIA won't let a dealer sell a car without providing even a 6.9 year old car with a 1 year warranty.
I wasn't talking about a worthless warranty on a used car I was talking about the original 7 years Kia warranty.
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the car was £5000.
This shows just how crazy the used car market is, £5000 for a 10 year old supermini car is just plain stupid. 3 years ago you could buy a brand new Dacia Sandero, (about the same size and power as a Rio but less kit) for £5999 and for that if the car was looked after you could hope to get 12 years service doing 10,000 miles a year. A 10 year old car, whilst not nearing the end of its life (unless its been neglected and abused) is at the most only a couple of years from when big expenditure begins.
In 2015 we sold our 5 year old Kia Ceed CRDi SW for £5200, a price we were happy with. The buyer got a car that had years of life left. In fact I have just checked its MOT history. Its still on the road and in those 8 years since we sold it its done about 60,000 but looking at the recent failure it seems like its probably being neglected now. Looking on line it would be up for about £3000 at a dealers suggesting its only worth £2200 less than it was almost 8 years ago.
Its a crazy world.
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Under the CRA regulations, the dealer has to offer a minimum of 6 months warranty. If it needs a new engine , then it’s up to the dealer to sort it out . On a car this old , he will likely fit a good used motor.
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Under the CRA regulations, the dealer has to offer a minimum of 6 months warranty. If it needs a new engine , then it’s up to the dealer to sort it out . On a car this old , he will likely fit a good used motor.
Not really - the dealer is only responsible for any faults that were present at the time of sale. After 5 months it gets difficult to prove that the fault was present at the time of sale. If the car has only done 200 miles since bought then there's some argument that the fault was present at time of sale, but if it's done 5k then less so. And we don't know the root cause - a stone through the rad causing loss of coolant is clearly not covered, whereas corrosion of the rad might well be.
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Just looked on the Kia website and I was stunned to find a Rio the same age as the OP's. Its actually 11 years old (reg March 2012) and up for sale as Kia Assured for £5399, totally crazy.
As a Kia Assured car its offered with:
- Sourced by Kia Dealers
- Balance of 7 year warranty with optional warranty extension
- Optional roadside assistance from Call Assist
- Driveaway Insurance and Excess Return (worth up to £250)
- Multi-point check by dealer technicians
- Optional 1st MOT Test cover with £1000 claim limit
- Provenance checked by Kia Dealer
Obviously there is no balance of the Kia Warranty but there is no mention of what warranty you will be getting and no mention of its service history.
Weasley words at best, totally meaningless in reality but no doubt would put many punters at ease.
MOT history looks good in the last 4 years (before that it looked normal) and since early 2020 its actually done 18,700 so its not been stood about during Covid.
Probably a decent car but they are asking way more than I would pay for any 11 year old car.
When you scroll through the photos it actually states it comes with a 3 month warranty thus even a main dealer is not offering what the law requires.
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When you scroll through the photos it actually states it comes with a 3 month warranty thus even a main dealer is not offering what the law requires.
See my comment above. No 'warranty' is required - all the CRA says is that the dealer is responsible for any defects that were present at the time of sale. The warranty should (may...) cover items that break subsequent to the sale. The further in date and mileage you are from the sale the harder it is to show that the fault was present when sold.
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To put it in simple words, up until 6 months after sale, the seller has to show there wasn't a pre-existing fault. Of course, what the law says and what the seller is prepared to agree to may not be the same.
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To put it in simple words, up until 6 months after sale, the seller has to show there wasn't a pre-existing fault. Of course, what the law says and what the seller is prepared to agree to may not be the same.
Agreed and unfortunately in this case, the OP will have little chance of getting any legal redress. Would be happy to be proved wrong though.
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5 months and 7000+ miles on an 11 year old car? Not a hope I'd think.
Really, why would there be a hope or why would you want there to be? Unless you want the starting price of any used car to be £12000.
Cars go wrong. It happens. It is also why used cars are still cheaper than new - they're not as good.
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When you scroll through the photos it actually states it comes with a 3 month warranty thus even a main dealer is not offering what the law requires.
See my comment above. No 'warranty' is required - all the CRA says is that the dealer is responsible for any defects that were present at the time of sale. The warranty should (may...) cover items that break subsequent to the sale. The further in date and mileage you are from the sale the harder it is to show that the fault was present when sold.
I would venture to suggest that as the car has apparently covered 6000-7000 miles without incident it did not have a blown head gasket at time of sale.
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<< I would venture to suggest that as the car has apparently covered 6000-7000 miles without incident it did not have a blown head gasket at time of sale. >>
No, be fair - bought at 55K, thought to be about 59K now, so somewhere about 4000 miles. Plenty far enough for it to be unreasonable to claim any fault was present at time of purchase.
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<< I would venture to suggest that as the car has apparently covered 6000-7000 miles without incident it did not have a blown head gasket at time of sale. >>
No, be fair - bought at 55K, thought to be about 59K now, so somewhere about 4000 miles. Plenty far enough for it to be unreasonable to claim any fault was present at time of purchase.
Sorry, yes, I read the 53 which was the MOT mileage.
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I’ve since spoke with my garage and checked the mileage, it’s at 56k so I’ve done a maximum of 3k in the car. They’ve also suggested that the original dealer should pay for it (they however are claiming the opposite), small claims court it is.
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I’ve done a maximum of 3k in the car. They’ve also suggested that the original dealer should pay for it (they however are claiming the opposite), small claims court it is.
Best of luck with that. I hope you are not throwing good money after bad - the car is over 10 years old and you will need a lot of sympathy.
Your story suggests that the HG failed (as shown by your temp gauge misbehaving) some months after you took delivery of the car, so it is hard to blame a trader for not guessing that was about to happen ?
Edited by Andrew-T on 02/05/2023 at 17:19
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I’ve done a maximum of 3k in the car. They’ve also suggested that the original dealer should pay for it (they however are claiming the opposite), small claims court it is.
Best of luck with that. I hope you are not throwing good money after bad - the car is over 10 years old and you will need a lot of sympathy.
Your story suggests that the HG failed (as shown by your temp gauge misbehaving) some months after you took delivery of the car, so it is hard to blame a trader for not guessing that was about to happen ?
To quote Dirty Harry, "Do you feel lucky?"
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Really can’t see any problem going down the small claims route . I’ve sat in one of these disputes as an observer , the magistrate/ arbitration are not really interested in the mileage, age of vehicle, it’s what’s written in law . If the car has failed within the 6 month period, there’s a good chance of success.
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If the car has failed within the 6 month period, there’s a good chance of success.
But that is only the first step. You then have to make the verdict stick, and there are plenty of stories on here about the evasive tactics of dodgy traders.
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Your story suggests that the HG failed (as shown by your temp gauge misbehaving) some months after you took delivery of the car, so it is hard to blame a trader for not guessing that was about to happen ?
I'd say that's about as long as you'd expect a can of gunk/head gasket repair tipped into the rad to last.
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UPDATE: After reviewing the warranty companies policy and finding contradictory information regarding gaskets (up to 12 years they would repair it but don't repair gaskets for wear and tear if over 10 years, and saying this despite my garage never diagnosing the problem as wear and tear) I gave them another opportunity before I'd initiate court proceedings and they've since offered me 50% of my limit (£1000), so not a happy ending but not a sad one so far.
Still going to pursue the same approach with the dealer (who advertises the warranty company and says gaskets are covered on their own website) but not sure whether to mention that the warranty company has offered me anything as if I can get 50% off of him as well that would essentially cover the costs.
Worst case scenario, I have £1000 off the repairs.
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Don’t waste your time and money getting the head gasket fixed . If the engine has severely overheated , it’s basically toast . Modern engines can’t cope with excessive temperatures and recover. I would source a s/hand engine and get that fitted.
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