hi all i bought a 2001 reg car off ebay for £650. he had listed some faults such as central locking not working with key fob, small tear in drivers seat, some scratches and chips. i did an inspection when i collected it and all seemed fine. 4 days later i discovered a very bad fuel leak, the rear wiper doesnt work and the indicator, when turning left, sometimes doesnt work. i contacted him saying that it was not as described and he basically wrote back saying that it was fine when he had it so it must have happened after he sold it to me. i have contacted trading standards who have given me some advice, one of which was to get the car repaired ASAP as it is a major safety issue to leave a car parked on the road thats leaking fuel, as if it causes an explosion i could be liable for leaving it in an unsafe manner. then to chase him for the cost of the repairs. my big thing is, although he is registered on ebay as a private seller, when he sold the car to me he told me he sells others there as well to make some money and he had other cars there ready to sell when i went to collect mine. i very much doubt he is a registered trader of any sort and is just doing this to make some extra money. he has sold 4 cars on ebay since aug 2011 (5th aug 2011, 8th aug 2011, 14 feb 2012 and 15 apr 2012), i bought mine from him on the 8th july 2012 and he has listed 2 more cars on the same day recently (15th july 2012). my point is he is obviously acting as a trader and not a genuine private seller as he is selling lots of cars, in a short space of time, for profit. what should be my approach here, as i think its going to be a case of going to the small claims court. should i try to prove he's a trader and spout the SOGA to him or go down the route of 'you didnt describe it properly'?? a mechanic friend has looked at the car and says that everything else appears fine on the car and the repairs will probably cost around £250 at a garage. i have printed out copies of the listing of the car i bought and the others he has sold in case any proof is needed. any help and advice would be more than welcome thank you

Hi there i hope somone can give me a bit of advice but i think im doooomed. I purchased a L200 Warrior two weeks ago. This vehicle came from a Garage in a local town. it cost me 4.5k and seemed to be ok when i looked round it and took it for a test drive. Unfortunalty i didnt test the 4 wheel drive on the test. I didnt test this until a week after purchase. i flicked it into 4x4 and the whole truck started banging and grinding. i immidiatly rang the garage to let them know that i thought there was a major issue. and they said i should get it checked out by a mechanic. i have now done this and it turns out that the 4 wheel drive is shot. the garage say its going to cost in the region of a grand to fix. ive spoken to the dealer i purchased the truck from and they are saying that its a sold as seen vehicle and its tough luck. unfortunatly one of the forms i signed says NO WARRANTY so i think i dont have a leg to stand on here but wanted to check. im really mad cause a grand bill after only owning the truck for 2 weeks is a lot to stomach. Any advice would be appreciated. ta Stu

think i may need help on this issue, so i will begin. needed a differnt car, bought one from a local used car lot. did the deal on one car, on my way out i changed my mind a went for a new higher spec and more expensive car 24th may, as it was late by this time i did not get to test drive the car, we made arrangments (well i told them) that id be back at 12 next day (25th) to test drive the car. on the 25th i arrived at the garage to test drive the car, on arrival i was informed the car was off site getting mot and any work done completed before i could buy the car, i was told aslong as car went through its mot it would be ready for collection at some point that day. later that day i went to pick the car up, stupidly paid for it with out test driving it, but it had just been checked at garage and had a mot done and i thought that it should be ok, plus i had a 30 day warranty with the garage. here we go: 1. driving car home i noticed the steering was off, when the steering wheel is straight, the car veers off to the left, to drive the car staright you need to hole the steering wheel at arround the 2clock position tto the right. been driving for many years and have come accros this before, its either different tread pattern tyres on the front or the tracking / wheel alignment is off, checked the tyres and they are same tread pattern so not the tyres (all at correct pressures to) 2. i checked the mot form, the test sheet for the brakes is not supplied, and there are 4 addvisorys, 3 are 3 tyres nera to limit, 4th addvisory 1 tyre on limit in capital letters. 3. i emailed garage last night and no response, (they are open saturdays) pointing out that there was a fult on the streeing and this i would like fixed, i said in the email something like this, "also no body tole me it would need 4 tyres" im not sure if its my responisbilty to replace the 4 tyres ?? 4. spoke to him today on phone , straight away i was told, you might of hit a pot hole! my mind clicked and i though here we go to myself (after keeping up to date with consumer law etc, i new he had responsibiltys) but i never told him about i knowing some of my basic rights, he said bring it back monday and ill get the tracking done as thats all it can be. 5. yesterday i did very little miles, however today i took it out for a propper drive and you guesed it major problems: a) steering as above. b) treible clutch shudder, through pedal and through cab of car, strange noises coming from what i belive the transmission (when clutch is dipped all weird sounds disspare and all that can be heard is the sweet sound of a nice engine, also reved with clutch dipped, again nothing but the sound of a nice sweet engine) - basically a clutch or gear box fault (i suspect a full clutch kit is needed here as that is the most likely cause i belive) i have not cantacted the garage as yet relating to point 5b. to say im sick is a under statement, the car appears to be in other wise fab condition etc. car is a 2006 vectra 1.8 sri vvt. 61000 miles £3500, £400 trade in on my old car = £3100, £800 on one credit card, £300 on another credit card balance on visa debit car how do i proceed with this? beacuse there is not a hope in hell i am going to paying any moeny to fix any item on this car, the air con dont work, and to be picky one window switch does not close the window (common problem on this car, jsut needs a clean, which i was more then happy to do myself at a latter day) car advitised with electric windows and air con, i belive these 2 items should be in full working order? (remember ive got these 2 items as further evidence in my favour) i really like this car, it has service history to about 18000 ago, and after alot of research the 1.8 sri is the car that has the least amount of probelms out of all the vectra c range. ideally i want this car fixed and every problem fixed, including a air con re gas or fix, im not sure about the 4 tyres as i say. if not and he fails to comply with his legal obligations then i want a full refund. what are your thoughts on this? how do i proceed? what are my rights?

Hi all, I wanted to see your thoughts about my situation. Firstly, I had numerous conversations with the dealer I have bought my car from BEFORE the purchase as I live in Birmingham and they trade in Devon. On every occasion I was told that this was a UK car with a private reg and there was MOT and as much tax as I wanted to buy. So I took the day off work and went down to Devon to the dealer to have a good look at the car. After a test drive and a few questions about the servicing and factory recalls I decided to buy. I asked for the MOT certificate, he said I could look at it online but only between Mon-Fri as he didnt have a hard copy. I asked for 12 months tax (£170) which he added to my invoice and said it will be done online before I leave with car. I filled out all the relevant paperwork and V5 and was told to give them an hour to check the car over before I left. So I went next door to Little Chef and changed my insurance over and had some chips. (hope I've painted a good enough picture) At this point I had handed my old car over in part exchange and had no vehicle to return to Birmingham with. After an hour I walked back over and was handed the keys and I asked again about the tax and was again told it will be in the post ! So off I went back to Birmingham. This was on the Wednesday afternoon. Saturday morning, I received a letter from the garage stating that they were unable to tax the car and that I would have to go to the local DVLA office to get it ! So I phoned to question the letter, which didn't include a refund for my tax, and asked them if they realised that I was not only covered with road tax on the car but my insurance was void as well, and was greeted with the reply "well that shouldn't be a problem now you have the V5." I then looked abit closer at my V5 to discover it was a V5NI ! Quickly I realised that this dealer had sold this car under false pretense ! This was supposed to be a UK registered car with MOT and TAX. I phone the deader straight back and told him what was going on and that I was advised by the DVLA that the car was not legal to drive on the UK roads. I said I would have to have a new UK MOT and if anything was wrong with the car, would he pay for it? he answered "Of course, no problem" The MOT was an irish MOT disk which expired in Jan 13, which the DVLA can honour but I didnt take the chance as I need my car for work, so I quickly got booked in with my local garage to get a UK MOT. On the Monday, I took a trip to my local DVLA office to tax the car and re-register in the UK. This went without a hitch and I was very pleased. But I'm out of pocket another £170 for tax and the £45 for an MOT. I have sent my receipts and a covering letter to the dealer and asked for a refund of both the MOT and the tax. The dealer is currently "not at work" and every time I phone when he is supposed to be in, I get someone else other than the guy I was dealing with ! I'm really disappointed with the service this garage has provided and they have let me drive away from the forcort in my £7000 car ILLEGALLY! Can anybody advise me on my current legal situation with the dealer and maybe help me to resolve this issue. Many thanks ! Richard