bought a golf, now its broke

[Tommyd]

 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.  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.     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 

[tech1889]

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..

[Lewy]

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.

[Tommyd]

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

[Lewy]

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?

[The Mighty Elvi]

You shouldn't drive a MK4 when the oil light comes on.

Otherwise this happens.



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

 

[The Mighty Elvi]

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

[Tommyd]

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

[The Mighty Elvi]

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.

 

[emery1990]

Have you spoke to the person who sold it to you. He must of known something wasnt right.