GolfGTIforum.co.uk

General => General discussion => Topic started by: Tommyd on 06 March 2011, 14:42

Title: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Tommyd on 06 March 2011, 14:42
 i recently brought a mk4 golf gti for £1500 from a private sale and within an hour of buying it, it broke down on the motorway.  :angry: it cost me £130 to cover it to my house. then another £80 to get it to a garage where it needed a new engine and turbo which i managed to get for £1000 including labour.   :cry:  ive got in touch with trading standards and wrote him a letter explaining everything and spoke to the guy today. does anyone think ive got a leg to stand on? and do u think i will be able to claim any money back? just wanted your thoughts on this situation  :huh:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: tech1889 on 06 March 2011, 14:45
did you check the oil and coolant before you bought ?? why did engine fail ?? did he give you a receipt that said sold as seen ??

but pretty much its a private sale cant see what you can do..
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Lewy on 06 March 2011, 14:46
Nope.

The guy you bought it from may give you some money back as a good will gesture, but you'll still be out of pocket regardless.
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Tommyd on 06 March 2011, 14:50
i checked the oil and all that good stuff. the oil light soon came on after the the sale though. when it got to the garage the spark plug in the 3rd cyclinder had melted and put a hole in the piston and and f**ked the cylinder basically then crap went down the turbo. trading standards said cus he sold it to me as saying it was in working condition its a legalilly binding verbal contract butits my word against his
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Lewy on 06 March 2011, 14:52
i checked the oil and all that good stuff. the oil light soon came on after the the sale though. when it got to the garage the spark plug in the 3rd cyclinder had melted and put a hole in the piston and and f**ked the cylinder basically then crap went down the turbo.

You drove it with the oil light on?
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: The Mighty Elvi on 06 March 2011, 14:59
You shouldn't drive a MK4 when the oil light comes on.

Otherwise this happens.

(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr182/the_flying_elvi/vw002.jpg)

This is my sisters car.  Her then boyfriend thought it OK to do likewise on the M4.  Hence MK2 to the rescue.

 :grin:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: The Mighty Elvi on 06 March 2011, 15:01
Learn about your legal rights here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_second_hand_vehicles.htm#you_bought_the_vehicle_from_a_private_seller

Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Tommyd on 06 March 2011, 15:24
When the oil light came on I stopped at the nearest garage and top the oil up and it went off then it came back on again 2 minutes before the engine failed
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: The Mighty Elvi on 06 March 2011, 15:29
1.  Look at the original advert for how the car was described.
2.  Look at the receipt - did it just say - "sold as seen"?
3.  Get a written report from the mechanic as to what caused the engine failure.

 


Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: emery1990 on 06 March 2011, 16:05
Have you spoke to the person who sold it to you. He must of known something wasnt right.
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Tommyd on 06 March 2011, 16:46
yeah i spoke to him today. and as u can image he said there was nothing wrong in his opinion. i litterally done 30miles in it before it broke  :cry:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: danny_p on 06 March 2011, 16:56
for futcher referance.

oil light means STOP NOW IT'S f**kED. 

piston melting out means something really wrong multipul failures for the managment to allow somethign that nasty to happen or a really sh!t remap.

i'd get you ecu checked over by someone like R tech  just to be sure that somemone hasn't loaded up a really shonky map in the past that caused the fail then ether have a good map put on it or revert back to a std one.   

i allways take my diagnostic kit when looking at cars now and mates often borrow it, if the vendor won't let you scan for fault codes  don't buy it end off
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Wayne on 06 March 2011, 20:36
Private sale = no comeback, I have been down that road before.
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: tech1889 on 06 March 2011, 20:50
love that mk2 towing mk4 pic should have been the calender cover this year !!  :smiley:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: AudiA8Quattro on 06 March 2011, 22:09
Which oil light was on, the yellow or red?
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: dom on 06 March 2011, 22:19
Ooops :undecided:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Andy P on 07 March 2011, 07:47
There is comeback. When something is sold it's got to be "fit for purpose" a mate of mine bought a 500bhp skyline GTR which blew up the next day. He took the bloke to court and got a full rebuild out of him.
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: AudiA8Quattro on 07 March 2011, 15:05
Private sales are pretty much sold as seen, i doubt there will be any come back.
A trade sell has to fit for the purpose.
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: Wayne on 07 March 2011, 15:14
There is comeback. When something is sold it's got to be "fit for purpose" a mate of mine bought a 500bhp skyline GTR which blew up the next day. He took the bloke to court and got a full rebuild out of him.

Sale of goods act and fit for purpose have little meaning with a private sale.  :smiley:


Private sales are pretty much sold as seen, i doubt there will be any come back.
A trade sell has to fit for the purpose.

Yep, private sales have little comeback.
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: CCGTI on 07 March 2011, 16:16
private sale means no comeback, even if he had trade insurance selling from home i still think u have no comeback, if you looked round it and never suggested anything to him befor parting with the cash, no come back

You could still register a complaint with TS
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: The Mighty Elvi on 07 March 2011, 16:54
private sale means no comeback, even if he had trade insurance selling from home i still think u have no comeback, if you looked round it and never suggested anything to him befor parting with the cash, no come back

You could still register a complaint with TS

This is against the law: a trader doing private sales.

Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: leigh_harty on 07 March 2011, 17:42
Most you can do is take it on the chin mate, ive been there and its not nice.

Now when i go to view a car (with intent to buy) i pull it to bits and check everything. If the seller wants a sale then he'll put the kettle on and wait awhile

Very sorry to here  :sad: Next time you may just have the intelligence to buy a mk2  :cool:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: tg1 on 07 March 2011, 18:20
Most you can do is take it on the chin mate, ive been there and its not nice.

Now when i go to view a car (with intent to buy) i pull it to bits and check everything. If the seller wants a sale then he'll put the kettle on and wait awhile

Very sorry to here  :sad: Next time you may just have the intelligence to buy a mk2  :cool:

because you wouldn't expect a mk2 to work from the off  :grin: :laugh:
Title: Re: bought a golf, now its broke
Post by: opel on 18 March 2011, 17:28
sorry to hear your problem mate. i looked at the advert for that one aswell but didnt like the lights and grills on side so i thought it wasnt worth messing about.