Hi Heliosuk Thanks again for your input. The quote is for a fully reconditioned engine with all the work done by the MG Rover specialist & with a guarantee.I think a "new" engine would be impossible in this instance due to MG Rover no longer being in existence. So this is a like for like repair so to speak.

Ok, So this is what i need to find out. Despite my attempts to contact the seller between 24th Dec & 2nd Jan i could not do so. So because i obviously needed the car to actually use it & time was going on i had the car inspected at my expense of £125. The inspection revealed k-seal in the water system (Highlighting that somebody must have been aware of the issues prior to my buying the car) & confirmed Head Gasket was gone. I was strongly advised by the Specialist to check for damage to the engine liners as this was often the cause of Head Gasket failure in the K-Series engine & also that i needed to protect myself because if the Seller simply put a new Head Gasket on it would simply blow again very quickly meaning that i was in the same position again in a couple of weeks time but now with no comeback. This involved removing the Cylinder head although it was impossible to accurately diagnose the fault without doing this & of course the Head Gasket was gone anyway so this would need to be removed regardless to repair that. The Specialist then removed the Head & confirmed Liner no.3 had dropped. This would have been caused by the engine overheating at some point though at no time during my journey home did the engine actually overheat. (Surely this is also evidence that the issue was present prior to my buying the car?). I also have a witness to this as i was following a friend all the way home & the car has not been driven since. So now the car is in a dismantled state as it would be pointless to repair it without all the issues being resolved. Clearly i wanted someone independant to inspect the damage & not the seller. I feel a highly recommended MG Rover specialist is the ideal person to do this? Also with K-Seal being present & the way the car was advertised why would i want to then trust this man to do a proper diagnosis & repair on the car? So surely i had no option other than to get the car properly inspected? So what do you do here? Does this affect my case? Did i not make a sufficient attempt to contact the seller? Can the buyer claim i should not have had the engine inspected? Should i get it "put back together" with a new Head gasket but with the liner issue still present & then try to reclaim the cost ? Also as this would be going through a small claims court is it correct that the seller cannot claim for any solicitors expenses?

Thanks Connif & everybody else who has helped with this.. Very much appreciated... as & when it all gets sorted i will pledge a donation to the site. One more quick question. In the Recorded delivery letter i sent i asked for a refund of the purchase cost & for him to collect the vehicle once he had repaid me the money. So am i still ok to now change that to asking whether he is prepared to pay for or contribute for repairs?

Other signs which became evident on inspection having driven the car home were, odd browny deposits in the water header tank (now been identified by the specialist as K-Seal), the water level had dropped & there was now some cream on the oil cap.

Faults started to appear as soon as the engine warmed up properly which is apparently usually the case according to the specialist & this is also why the faults were not apparent when i was, as a layman, checking the car over prior to buying even though the engine was running. Firstly after driving around 5 to 6 miles i noticed it seemed to get abnormally smokey from the exhaust, then that the heater was cold, then when fully warmed up i noticed the temp gauge was going higher then i thought it should to be normal & would go up even higher to around 3/4 if i went up even the slightest incline then come back down if i went downhill etc.. You could tell it was not right although it didn't boil over or anything like that although this was no doubt helped by the very cautious way i was driving upon noticing these "signs". This was all witnessed by a gentleman who came up with me to collect the car who i was following back home as a precaution. He asked me when we got back why i was driving so slowly being as though it was mostly motorway & dual carriageway on the way back (approx 50 miles). I collected the car on Christmas Eve and have not driven it since then. This could be confirmed by both my insurance, which i changed over to collect the car & then changed straight back as on seeking advice from both friends & online MG Rover forums i was advised to not drive it without getting it checked out first as everything was indicating probable Head Gasket issues. I tried calling him on the day of collection but the phone just rang out. Then i emailed him firstly on 27th December, this delay of two days was out of respect for the fact it was Christmas Day / Boxing day on the 25th & 26th. Then having seen no response, 24 hours later i sent a second message on the 28th Dec. I then waited until 2nd January and still had no response so went ahead & got the specialist in to let me know whether or not the Head Gasket had indeed failed or not. He confirmed that it had gone on looking at the engine (prior to removing the Head). Then said that it was really important now to check for further damage as this was very possible being the K-series engine. He said in view of the seriousness of the nature of purchase i would be best advised to check it thoroughly as if the seller repaired it i would want it to be repaired properly. To do this he said he would have no option but to remove the head but this was essential to accurately determine the extent of damage & he would not carry out any repairs without my say so in view of the situation. I had of course explained the situation to him. He said i was within my rights to find out the full extent of the issue(s) This took place at my home address as i did not want to drive the car again due to being advised this could cause more damage. Still i had no reply from the seller so, needing to get some kind of resolution i did try to phone him but got no reply. The the phone just rang out. I waited until after New Year & I called him again although i do admit i don't remember exactly which day this was on. This time it went to answer machine so i left him a voicemail. He eventually called me. I explained the situation to him & he said that he would indeed work with me on it but that he didn't understand what the MG Specialist was on about by saying the Liner had dropped. He asked me to get someone else to look at the engine. This i did although they appeared less knowledgeable than the MG Specialist. They did say they would try to fit a new Head Gasket however but the guy did not seem aware of the liner issue with this model & neither had he brought the correct tools to check it properly. Even so i called the seller back again & told him of the difference of opinion. He said "I told you so" in so many words although i was personally not happy with the second diagnosis having had a little time to think about it. He then asked me what i wanted from him so i said first i wanted to get the quote for repair correct before i gave him an answer. He was ok with this & said he would work with me on it. All of this was done by phone however. So i recontacted the MG Specialist & explained what had happened & asked him why there was a difference of opinion between him & the other engineer. He said that many non specialists would indeed say they could fit a new head. He said that he could indeed fit a new head but he guaranteed that because of the liner it would simply blow again within a matter of days. So i asked them to do a full engineers report which they have done. I have the report here. Then i tried to call the seller on several occasions again to no avail. I left numerous messages for him & was even told on one occasion that he would call me later that day by someone else who picked up the phone. This went on for several days. Finally i called & left him a message saying as he was ignoring my calls i would have no option but to pursue matters via a different route if i didn't hear from him very soon. Later that evening he phoned me. He basically, in a rather hostile manner, said that he would not be offering anything whatsoever towards the repairs or otherwise. He said he didn't believe that the car had a faulty head gasket & that the so called MG Rover specialist didn't know what he was on about. He also said that i didn't phone him to tell him straight away & so his "legal team" had said to him "what are you worried about if he didn't call you he hasn't got a leg to stand on" or words to that effect. He then said in a distinctly nasty tone... "So listen to me..... i will not be giving you anything towards that car... nothing"... & that was the end of the call.

So is there no issue crem that i got the car inspected? Just he seems to think his solicitor has told him that because i didn't give him fair chance to rectify the issue first then i would lose. Even though i sent 2 messages via the Ebay messaging system saying item not as described etc... which i have copies of of course.. but he says these are irrelevant because i didn't phone him?

Thank you so much everyone for your help with this . Was not very pleased when he rang & on my home number too which i think was an attempt to unnerve me as i have never given him my home number & considering his confrontational manner i can only taking it as being somewhat of a veiled threat.

Hi Conniff & thanks for getting back to me... I have been quoted £650 to get the car roadworthy again. This is for a fully recon engine. It would have been £295 if it was ok to simply repair the head gasket but because this would be pointless as it would simply just blow again very quickly according to the specialist then that is the cost. I have asked a couple of other places & the £650 price is actually very good. (This job with the specialist is normally £700 but is reduced by £50 because i have already paid £125 to get the fault identified)

Also lets say i went & i lost the case.. would i have to pay his solicitors fees like he says?

Hi all, To update again. I sent a recorded delivery letter requesting full refund & collection of the car (as will not drive due to head being removed as part of the inpection todetermine the extent of issues) The seller rang me day after with quite aggressive tone & in a threatening manner told me it would end up costing me a fortune. He said it would cost £185 to take him to court, then said the first thing he would do is get it moved to his local court which would cost me a further £85. Then when i lost i would have to cover his very expensive solicitors bill most likely at a cost of around £2-3000. He said the last guy who tried to take him to court ended going up bankrupt as a result. His main argument is that i didn't "phone" him before getting the engine inspected. He appears to have forgotten or isn't bothered that i have evidence that i in fact sent him 2 messages via Ebay (as this was surely the correct way to contact him?) & he did not reply. So after a week of waiting & of course because i needed to find out what was wrong with the car i then paid for a specialist to inspect the engine. They did so & told me the head gasket was definitely shot & advised that they would therefore need to have a deeper look to identify the extent of the damage so they removed the cylinder head to then find one of the liners had dropped etc. They have done a full report on this which i sent to the seller. The seller is still saying that the MG speacialists do not know what they are talking about & he himself has many years experience as a mechanic etc. He is basically telling me to take him to court but threatening me that it will cost me a fortune. So is this correct? Has he got a case that i was not within my rights to get the car inspected by an independent specialist? Or is he merely trying desperately to scare me away?

Hi Surfer, Should i add something to the letter regarding the misrepresentations act? I was a bit unclear that if it goes to court, which it looks as though it may do, how does that work? I.E if i prosecute under the "Sale of goods Act 1979" & this for whatever reason falls through due to him being classed as a private seller despite the evidence showing otherwise, can i then switch my attentions to the "Misrepresentation Act" that you mention? Was just unsure how that works etc?

Hi, No i havn't done that.. I have spoken with them & i have a case no however.

To whom it may concern. With Reference to the Sale of goods act 1979. On XXXX I purchased an MG Rover XXXXfrom you, Reg no. XXXXXX I paid £XXXX for the vehicle which was paid for with cash on collection. The car was advertised as follows: ““Hi, welcome to the sale of this lovely MG ZS+. Being the Plus model it has all the extras, the car is in very good condition for the year with only the driver seat showing signs of wear. The body work is in very good condition with only the odd little mark, which I am sure with a bit of polish will come out. Engine and gearbox are sound with no head gasket problems, This car is ideal for a small family but still has the sporty features.”” Whilst driving the car home from collection various issues became apparent. The temperature gauge was running high & jumping about. The car was producing abnormal levels of fumes from the exhaust & the heater was not working. Also on arrival home I saw that the water level had dropped & a some creamy residue had built up on the oil cap. On seeking advice from both MG Rover internet forums & various mechanics I was advised these all pointed to Head Gasket failure & I should not drive the car without getting it checked out. I attempted to contact you on numerous occasions to discuss this matter but was unable to do so & I received no reply to my email messages via Ebay. Having now had the car inspected at a cost of £125.00 by a highly regarded MG Rover engine specialist it is apparent that the car has several serious faults. Blown head gasket Dropped liner(s) meaning fitting a new Head Gasket is not advisable as it is liable to blow again & so ideally a new engine is required. Drivers door window motor mechanism has twisted causing the window to pop out of it’s runners when lowered & making it impossible to close the window again. Whilst I appreciate the car was relatively cheap to purchase these faults are very serious meaning the goods are clearly “not of a satisfactory quality” under the “Sale of Goods Act 1979”. Neither are they as described in the advertisement which clearly states “No head gasket problems”. I also note that you have sold 8 cars in the 12 month period leading up to the date of sale of this car. This would indicate that you are in fact a Trader & not in fact a Private seller as you implied. This means you have also acted unlawfully by adding “Sold as Seen” to the receipt for the purchase as this infringes my statutory rights. I therefore request either, A/ A full refund of the £XXX purchase fee, or B/ The cost of repairs to the vehicle. Please respond in writing within 7 days from the date of this letter to advise me what you intend to do regarding this matter otherwise I will have no option other than to start proceedings to recover my losses including any legal costs etc. Yours Sincerely Do you think this is ok to send as is?

I should also add that the original MG specialist who said the engine liners had dropped, i have since had an in depth conversation with. I asked how come another cylinder head specialist had said they would have no problem just fitting a new gasket. They said that they may well say that but as a specialist with over 16 years of engine rebuilding experience & being a specialist in MG engines they knew that whilst it was possible to fit a new gasket it would be a pointless exercise as it would simply go again due to the issue with the engine liners... They are doing a detailed full report to back this up.