Greetings all
I've read Honest John's advice page on Sale of Goods act etc and I'm pretty sure I'm within my rights to invoke it under my current circumstances...however it's always good to get some thoughts from others!
So here we go:
Bought a used Nissan Xtrail 2.5 SVE from a dealer on September 23rd last year for £4500 with 82K on the clock. Was told by the sales guy that I'd get their full 'gold warranty' with it so felt reassured with my purchase that if anything did go wrong I'd be covered.
Anyway, about a month and some 800 miles or so later I was doing some routine checks (coolant/screenwash/oil etc) and was shocked to see the oil level was below the 'Low' mark. I topped it up immediately and just figured that the dealer hadn't checked it before selling to me. Then at the beginning of December I checked it again before taking a trip away for a few days and was shocked to see it down near the 'Low' mark again! I therefore kept a regular check on it for the next week or so and worked out that it was using 1 litre per 300 miles. The exhaust was also throwing out a lot more smoke than it should - initially I thought it was just down to the cold temperatures but even when the car was fully warmed up I began to notice that it still smoked (white though, not blue). I took it back to the dealer with this information and he said he'd take a look. All he did was run some flushing oil through and then put a heavier viscosity oil in. So, in my view this didn't address the problem but merely masked it..possibly.
After running the car for the rest of December it transpired that the problem still hadn't been cured so I contacted the dealer again and asked for it to be repaired properly. He then told me that he wasn't under any obligation to do anything as the warranty was only for 3 months. He also denied that it was the 'Gold warranty' I was given - despite his son (the salesman) definitely telling me it was (the Gold warranty is apparently for a year). I mean, that was where I got the term 'Gold Warranty' in the first place!
I pointed out that his attempted fix during the 3 month warranty period hadn't cured the problem and that I had researched that 2.5 Nissan engine on the web - apparently lots of failures reported to do with prematurely worn piston rings and/or the pre-cat breaking up and bits of it getting sucked into the engine causing damage to the cylinder walls (especially on Altimas in the USA). He still wasn't very interested and offered to go make 'a contribution' to repair. I argued that he'd sold me a car that was faulty from the start and now he has offered to find a similar car to replace it with - however that was over 2 weeks ago and he now says he's having problems finding something as 4x4 prices are high right now but to be patient. I then said maybe a refund would be the best thing and he says that's not possible. BUT according to the sale of goods act, it is - for up to 6 months from date of purchase. So that gives me until around March 23rd to do something via official channels.
Should I give him a bit longer to find a replacement car, make him pay the £1800 for a replacement recon engine or just go for the refund???
Don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face. Any thoughts on what I should do??
Thanks!
Steve
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give him more time or you may find he shuts the door on you
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Hi Steve, welcome to the forum.
To put you in the picture - bell boy often takes the dealers side.
If the law says you have a six months warranty, then you have six months warranty. I would get the wheels rolling on this potential claim, because a little mor foot dragging and you are going to be into March.
If you go for the refund, then the dealer can do what he likes when he has the car back - repair it; resell it; or put it into a trade sale.
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To be fair drbe , steve2309 says the dealer has tried to rectify the issue and is now openly looking for a replacement ,remember this vehicle was bought 4 months ago so dealer is actively working on a solution,its not just a matter of going back throwing keys on the desk and getting your money back thats why i said give dealer some more time 2 weeks sounds reasonable to me
as the custodian of the oil burner if i was the op i would treat it with kid gloves and not abuse it in the meantime in case it does indeed need to go to court,it will then get messy as you would have to prove oil burning which would involve independant testing which isnt cheap
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As with all problems of this type, the application of some money will cure all.
In this case, £1,800.
I wonder about offering the dealer a contribution, say £500.
Yes, there's no reason why the OP should, he's probably got right on his side, could sue, etc, etc.
But if the dealer digs his heels in, that could take months and the OP is still not guaranteed a result.
I wouldn't bet on which way a county court judge would go when deciding on what is, and what is not, acceptable oil consumption.
Compromise judgments are quite common, meaning the OP might get 70/30 per cent in his favour, still leaving him with a bill.
The application of a little cash now might save a lot of time and trouble in the future.
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Random thoughts... some as others have said....
The warranty length is of no account... sale of goods clearly gives you 6mths to establish his responsibility for an existing fault.
Never buy from a dealer who calls their warranty the *gold* one.
I think you will never see a full refund... even if it gets to court. They will look at the price paid and mileage and probably agree with the dealer that higher oil consumption is a risk associated with an older, cheaper car.
Bear in mind the vehicle hasn't actually failed yet... a factor that would go against the you in court.
His offer to find another but *prices are a bit high mate* is typical horse dealers stuff.
Work out a realistic sum you'd be happy with and go for that. Sell the vehicle off and use that towards a decent one... easier and cheaper than fitting a recon engine. Many recon engines turn out to be dodgy and then you're back to square one.
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You've bought a duffer, searched the Internet and found it to be a common problem and want another....................
Whats a Pre cat?
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I had my car serviced last week, before i left the garage i checked the oil level, it was slightly low so i got the mechanic to top it up.
Any one who checks the oil level 800 miles after buying it is a pudding, then has the cheek to ask the garage to repair it?
Further, rather than check out the cars rep before you buy, you check afterwards?
I think you have a cheek to expect the dealer to repair or replace it, if he does you will have done well, after all you have probably caused the problem.
my neighbour had a new 2l fsi audi, he had to top the oil up every month, not a isolated case either.
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I wouldn't bet on which way a county court judge would go when deciding on what is and what is not acceptable oil consumption.
I would hope that figure is in the user manual, certainly is for Vauxhalls ( 1litre per thousand miles or KM, can't remember which) 1 litre per 300 miles certainly sounds way beyond reasonable to me ( there'd be no point in changing the oil at services at that rate!)
None of my leggy (160Kmiles+) bangenomics cars have consumed anything like that much.
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82k £4500 suspect that the car is what 7 or even 8 years old? unfortunatly its the risk you take at that age.... dealer won't be making much money at that price, have you seen the current prices of X-trails? is I could find decent examplse of 2.5sve for 4.5k then I would be exporting them all day long.
Good luck, but remember this is far from a new car.
Edited by Downesi1 on 09/02/2010 at 17:28
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Read the fact sheet re sale of goods on the Berr.gov.uk web site. Says it all!
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steve2039, you bought a cheap high-mileage vehicle and you can't expect it to be perfect. The dealer is doing his best to remedy your dissatisfaction and I think you should be patient.
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Appreciate all the feedback folks. Didn't really think it was that high a mileage for a Nissan and it's the most I've ever spent on a car in my life - blew all my savings on it as I thought I was buying a reliable car that would last me a few years. Can't afford for it to be a lemon...
Will give the guy more time and try not to stress about it!
Again, many thanks for your input.
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