Second hand car bought from dealer is faulty

[mollymop]

Hi

 

I just bought a second hand car from what I thought was a second hand car dealer on Gumtree called West Cars. I bought the car on 6th Nov. I had only driven it a couple of times and it seemed fine at first but yesterday driving back from work the engine cut out on five separate times when slowing down at various junctions and it took several attempts to restart it. I also noticed a burning smell coming from the back of the car which wasn't there when I test drove it. The car was delivered to me at my home address. The ad said it was a good runner, had a long MOT and only one previous owner, all of which turned out not to be true.

 

I have tried to Google the company but it doesn't seem to exist and having looked closer at the receipt, the car dealer is down as TW Cars. I have also requested a refund by sending a text to the contact number on GT but the guy refuses to give me a refund and more or less told me to F off. I have alerted Gumtree about this, they say they are unable to give me details of the company, but have temporarily removed all ads (approx 25) placed by this company. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get my money back when all I have to go on is a mobile number and two fake company names.

[BankFodder]

How much did you pay for the car?

 

Frankly I think that you are in a very difficult position and you will probably have to end up just saying that it is a lesson learned and that you will have to take it on the chin.

 

You could try contacting DVLA and get information about the previous owner. I expect the previous owners details should be on the cards documentation somewhere. However, I can imagine that if you bought a car in the circumstances that it was probably very cheap – but please let us know what you paid.

 

It would be difficult to attack Gumtree about this unless you can show that they hadn't exercised some level of diligence in accepting adverts from a trader – compared to the level they normally exercise. However, I think this would be very difficult.

 

Have you had any kind of assessment as to the cost of putting the car right. Have you had any kind of assessment as to what is wrong with the car?

 

Frankly I think that Gumtree is somewhere to steer well clear of when it comes to buying cars – but you probably realise that now.

[mollymop]

Hi and thanks for your reply.

 

I paid £425 for it, not a lot to some people I know but it is to me. In addition, my insurance has increased and I'm incurring costs for travelling to and from work on public transport.

 

I'm not one to give up easily so I will carry on pursuing until I have exhausted all avenues. I am certain this trader is selling these cars illegally (about 20 + cars), it's just a matter of getting it investigated by someone. I was going to contact the DVLA today to see what I can find out about the car I bought. I was told the car was insured/taxed when I test drove it but I checked and the tax ran out on 31st Oct, a few days before I bought it and I am now wondering whether I was actually allowed to drive it under their "trade insurance".

 

Having looked on Gumtree again, I have noticed they have not removed any of the trader's ads and the trader is now selling under two different trading names. They informed me they are looking into this but I am not sure they will.

 

The trader has given me an email address (not sure if it is a genuine one) so I have emailed him to again ask for a full refund or he can have the car inspected by a mechanic and pay for repairs. I will myself, also be getting the car checked over this weekend to see what is wrong with it. If I do not hear from this trader, I will just have to get the ombudsman involved after eight weeks.

[oddjobbob]

I appreciate it was all you could afford but £425 really is banger money, you would be very pushed to buy a decent car for that money.

 

Personally I don't think you'll get far regarding repairs, you might get a partial refund of some sort if you can track the bloke down.

 

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but that's life. Sorry!

[ericsbrother]

the car was delivered to me.... that says everything we need to know. All you can do is report to Trading Standards and hope they already have a file on these people.

In futute, you go to whoever is selling you the vehicle and you make sure that you see what property they go into to collect keys etc. If they arent obliging on this front you walk away with your money.