Ripped off with a lemon!!!

[Canker_Canison]

I shall try to keep this rant short. It was going to be placed in the motoring section, but decided more people would see it here & possibly learn from my mistake.

Old Faithful, my 17 year old Carlton, has reached her final year. So I started looking for a replacement.

Looking to cut down on running costs I ended up with a short list of the Astra or Focus Estate. Only interested in the CDTI/TDCI less than 10 years old. Both offer cheaper tax, insurance & more MPG than Old Faithful.

A 'friend' claimed to have an Astra estate CDTI with full service history at a price I couldn't refuse.....
But after many weeks it became obvious that he couldn't get this car & lacked the balls to tell me, so just kept coming up with more & more excuses.

This left me screwed as I'd not been looking for other vehicles & my insurance renewal was fast approaching.

Hit Ebay & found an Astra estate 2.0 DTI reg in '04 on a '53 plate, ex-police dog unit, 160,000 on the clock & needed an ABS sensor on the drivers side & a new clutch. Here are his own words...

this car has been used by me for the past two years and has never let me down

the car used to belong to the police so has been very well maintained

however i have misplaced the service history

as you would expect from a car of this age and mileage there are a few marks and scratches i have tried to photo these please see the pictures

the car starts and drives but the clutch is on its way out and occasionally slips

the abs light comes on but it has been on the diagnostics machine and it is the drivers side sensor that is faulty

other than that the car drives fine

Now I was desperate for a car & didn't mind the clutch & ABS problems. So I put in a bid & won.... ?770

Picked it up Monday after a 200 mile journey. There was more damage to the car than I expected, but most was due to the police. There was also a lot of clatter from the engine, but I am aware these suffer from lifter issues, so a flush & additive should resolve the problem.

Once I started the return journey more problems came to light. Slight pulling to the right & knocking from the drivers front wheel. I took that to be the anti-roll link.
So I got the car checked on tuesday.....

Not including the clutch slip & ABS sensor

Remote fob not working.... Fixed monday night
n/s side light not working
Aircon not working
Diesel leaking from pump/injector pipe
Both front anti-roll bar bushes are shot
o/s front Anti-roll bar link showing play
o/s trackrod end worn to excess (dangerous)
o/s front shock oil leak (needs to be replaced)
Handbrake below efficiency
3 tyres illegal with excessive inner wear
Spare tyre rim damaged with the possibility of a blow out if used.


Ran the oil flush on tuesday, changed the oil & filter.

Then the engine went bang clunk. Got a friend out to check it, looked like the timing tensioner gave in. This has since been confirmed when I stripped the rocker cover off to check for play on the chain.

I've not yet contacted the ass-wipe I got it off. But I do know he has broke the Road Traffic Act 1988 by selling a car that was unroadworthy.

There's no way he didn't know of the issues with the steering & suspension. The engine issue is more questionable, but since the MOT was due around 22nd August I think he had it checked & decided it was better to get rid.


Have any of you good people has similar experiences?

It will be reported to Ebay, the email I send him will be through Ebay even though I have his email address & mobile number that I believe he uses for his business 'selling vans'.


If it wasn't for Old Faithful I'd be well ~~~~ed. But her MOT is due in November, so I only have 4 months to get a resolution.

[pantomime horse]

good luck with it mate
I've always found ebay resolutions sorted out quickly
hope its same for you

[wetdog]

Unfortunately dude I think you have a huge problem.
I had a similar experience around 12 years ago when I bought a car from a garage.
After much discussion and wrangling I reported it to the office of fair trading and the ombudsman. So as to take them to court.
The down side to all this is that I, possibly you, had to do the following:- park the car up immidiatly to preserve the mileage and it's condition. Pay for an independent inspection, preferably from tha AA. leave the vehicle parked and covered over until the court case had been resolved, around 2 years. In the meantime buy another car.

I will never trust the system again, and always have and will do my own justice.

Sorry to give a bad outlook, but you did ask.

Dont get caught, Mick.

[Canker_Canison]

Thanks Mick.

With the engine possibly fubar it hasn't moved since I towed it back home.

Just working on the email (through ebay) now. I'm hoping for between ?200-?300 back. There's no way of returning it without incurring more costs, & to be honest I don't expect him to just roll over straight away.
The best I can hope for is about ?500, giving him ?270 for scrap value.

But it's more likely he'll tell me where to go. Which will leave me calling trading standards to start the ball rolling.

Coont

[Meat-Head]

OFF TOPIC:-?

If you download something out your local paper say a lawnmower, says "SOLD AS SEEN"
you CAN bang on their door and DEMAND your money back.

ALSO

NO IDEA the number, but's 'not a lot' if you see something in a catalogue - "pay weekly like poor people do" - you can only pay X (? the number) of payments, refuse to pay the rest and get away with it.

[Wolfpack]

I'm sorry you seem to got taken Canker but what do you expect for the price you paid. Ebay has a service that looks at cars for buyers. Did you pay thru ebay? Once i heard the noise from the engine i would of asked for my money back since the person who selling the car is a liar. Flushing the motor most likely damaged the timing chain adjuster. That is what the seller is going to say. I feel bad you lost the money but just chalk it up a life experience and move on.


What is ~~~~ is "Meat Head Week" and what will anyone do during this week?

[drawflex]

See here - Car might of failed or have multiple advisories on certain points in its history that were not rectified properly, giving you a bit more of a standpoint :

Check vehicles MOT status and failure history back to 2005

Sounds like he blatantly knew and was getting rid rather than pay to fix MOT defects. Thats the first big alarm bell.. , selling 1 month before mot with no offer of him renewing it. I thought the seller is resonsable for making sure that to his knowledge, the discription is a full and acurate representation of the item ? So, After accepting it wasnt an honest mistake or coincedence, i'd be on a mission to send some bad karma back his way and hopefully get some of my cash back , i'd try if nothing else.

Flushing the motor most likely damaged the timing chain adjuster. That is what the seller is going to say. I feel bad you lost the money but just chalk it up a life experience and move on.

Should change your name to man-cub.

Yeah, thats a really worthwhile post... how d'you americans say it ?....... NOT ! my post aint exactly helpful, but thats plain patronising... if, everytime someone shits on you, 'you just chalk it up to life experience and move on', youre gonna be knee deep in turds. You saying anyone who buys a car off ebay deserves to be tucked-up ? If you bow your head and let someone take you for a cnut.. then you are a cnut.

[torchy]

Sorry to hear about the problems with your car I do hope it gets sorted quick. Any car with that mileage and no service history is going to be a problem.Can you not fix your carlton up?.

[Meat-Head]

What is ~~~~ is "Meat Head Week" and what will anyone do during this week?

Dam Emericans!

Week starting from and ending from underneath.

At this rate off-line playing with myself in a hotel.

[xant14]

You can go the way wetdog describes, AA inspection, ombudsman, Small Claims court etc, and even win the case... but these are gonna cost you more money, and if you win, the bloke doesn't have to pay... he simply doesn't.. you see these things on watchdog...
So when he doesn't, you go back to court and go the bailiffs way.
All these are NOT free... and we all know, Bailiffs CAN be beaten..

All I am saying is watch the costs don't overtake the prize mate, I genuinely hope you get recompense mate, but as Wolfpack says, I would chalk it down to experience. Karma will get the coont in the end.

Did you pay cash? or Paypal?

[Canker_Canison]

I've had a reply to the mail I sent him. He is trying to wash his hands of any responsibility...but in the process landed himself in the sh!t.

Done some online searching & confirmed has has broken the law. The Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it illegal to sell an unroadworthy car. Trading standards will only get involved if it was a trade sale & not a private sale. Once involved TS will pick up the costs.

In his mail he has clearly described it as a trade sale with no warranty, and confirmed he was aware of the knocking sound from the wheel.
He claims a mechanic told him this was from the ABS sensor in the hub. But at the time of the sale he said the ABS light had been on for 6 months.

My emails to him are carefully worded to allow him to dig a deeper hole. But there is no way he can avoid the fact that the car should not of been driven due to the defects.

I'll keep you all posted

[pantomime horse]

go on canker
shaft the coont

[buccanneer20]

nice to hear some good news mate hate to see anyone ripped off by ka*kheads ,stick to your guns

[Meat-Head]

Have you contacted the office of UN-fair trading?

[Canker_Canison]

Still working on my next move. But I have arranged to get the engine out & check the damage to any valves. From there I can work out how much it will cost to get the car back on the road.

But before that starts I'll be taking photo's & video footage of all the faults that were not listed. Especially those that made the car unroadworthy. These will be sent to the git that sold me the car.

The MOT garage I took the car to will supply a report on all the defects they found.

I also have access to an automotive engineer who will be looking at the car soon.

(I think he's an automotive engineer. I know he can do the reports required after a CAT C or D car is put back on the road or you make serious changes to the engine or chassis)

Total cost to myself so far.... ?0

Will be raising an Ebay dispute after my next email to him.

23 days remaining to contact Trading Standards to report the sale.