44 replies to this topic

[BVY]

Hi again,

So when I bought my Mini in April (the day before i went on holiday) it broke down 60 miles into my 200 mile drive home. Also my phone battery died so I couldn't call the guy straight away.
When i called him the next day he said he would give me £250 back. I said ok, well let's see what the garage say is wrong with the car first and ill call back when I get back from holiday. He said fair enough.
I had the car towed to a garage local to where I left it. They told me it was the head gasket and charged me £380 to do it.
After I paid the garage I called the guy I bought it from and after about 30 calls he answered his phone and agreed to pay me the money that week. Since then he has ignored all calls and texts. So I tried calling on a new number which he anwered. He said again he will pay, but it's still the same.
Does anyone have any ideas how I can get the money from this bloke?? I dont want to give up cause i paid a lot for the car, £1250 and didn't expect to have to spend another £380 on top! Not to mention the day's lost earning and a £40 train ticket to go and pick up the car from the garage! I don't want to be ****** over by him!!!

And then just to make matters worse, the head gasket went again after a few weeks. I called the garage and told them I think the HG has gone again. The bloke just said 'well bring it in then and we'll have a look'
Which I obviously couldnt due to the distance to the garage.
I did a compression test and got 150 140 140 150 which made it pretty clear that it had blown between 2 and 3.
So i changed the HG my self which i shoulda done in the first place!
here's a pic of the gasket...  IMG_1914.JPG   43.32K   47 downloads

You can clearly see it's gone between all of the cylinders! And the head seemed to have more coke on it than I expected for less than 2 months driving.
Does this look normal? The right one is after I cleaned it up...
 IMG_19131.JPG   60.46K   35 downloads

So after I finished putting everything back together it started instantly and was running much better than it had done at any time before. I'm wondering if the garage even did anything when they had the car cause it wasn't running very well when I drove it home!
How can I go about getting some money back from the garage??

If anyone can help I will be well up for buying a few beers as a thank you!!
Fingers crossed!

Chris

[ricekikr]

I did a compression test and got 150 140 140 150 which made it pretty clear that it had blown between 2 and 3.

Sorry new to Mini but not to cars. How could 150 - 140 -140 - 150 indicate blown headgasket between 2/3? Most of the cars I've worked on had a wider spread and the gasket was still fine after a hundred thousand kms. (ie not overheating / no loss of power / fuel consumption)

Edit: not questioning your knowledge, which seems your right (based on pics). Just curious, if this is a Mini thing.

And how exactly did you breakdown? Engine just stalled?

Edited by ricekikr, 29 July 2012 - 02:16 AM.

[ludiluka]

You should get your money back. Did they grind the head before refitting (maybe your head is twisted and if it is you will gasket will go again ;))

[andy pandy]

citizens advice or solicitor may help with formal letters, also trading standards if bought from a motor trader,

[SamMayfair1996]

Is it worth £40 train fair to go back there and confront him face to face and demand the payment (possibly best with a witness)?

Im not saying with a bat or anything just a physical presence may force him to pay up, as he knows youre serious.

[Shifty]

I'd be more peed at paying £380 for a head gasket to be changed!!

I'd be very surprised if you can get anything out of the guy, as long as the car was described then you have very little comeback. If it had been advertised as just having the gasket replaced then yes you stood a chance.

He would have had no idea that it was about to go and head gasket failure can happen at anytime and without warning.

I'm pretty certain that he has no legal duty to give you any money back, if he does then it will be a gesture of goodwill.

[JonnyBMX]

thats a difficult one most will say sold as seen.. and if you didnt pick it up it "cud have happened at any time" my m8 recently brought an escort turbo and it was rotten to hell! BUT the guy had got an mot for it the day previously we threatened to call vosa (who did get involved in the end)and they guy agreed to pay costs for welding.... i did the welding for my m8 for a real knockdown price and the guy said it was too much and we never heard from him.. nothing u can really do lol

[mini-luke]

I'd be more peed at paying £380 for a head gasket to be changed!!

I'm pretty certain that he has no legal duty to give you any money back, if he does then it will be a gesture of goodwill.

This and this, unless the car came with a warranty you don't really have a leg to stand on. £380 for a head gasket which subsequently went again is however a complete rip off. Actually, it's a rip off if it didn't considering parts would cost £15 for HG, £20 for oil and say £5 for antifreeze and would take perhaps 4 hours tops, even at £50/hr it's still only £250.

[tangoed]

BVY
The car was fine when you drove away sold as seen you test drove it how was the previous owner suposed to know that the head gasket was about to fail common on a mini,150,140,140,150.doesnt seem like head gasket to me either ,live and learn suck it up move on and enjoy your mini just MHO.lifes too short

[bmcecosse]

You have been thoroughly ripped by the place that charged you £380 for the gasket change! And you have absolutely NO come-back against the seller of the car - it was up to you to check it carefully before you accepted the car. The comp figures you show are actually quite good - and certainly DO NOT show a blown head gasket! How on earth did you come to that conclusion? Just put it all behind you now - and have you retightened the head and reset the valve gaps after you changed the gasket? If not - expect it to blow anytime soon. It could well be - if you drove any distance on the first blown gasket - that the head is now distorted - probably a good idea to get a spare head in stock - ideal chance to do an upgrade!

[BVY]

I did a compression test and got 150 140 140 150 which made it pretty clear that it had blown between 2 and 3.

Sorry new to Mini but not to cars. How could 150 - 140 -140 - 150 indicate blown headgasket between 2/3? Most of the cars I've worked on had a wider spread and the gasket was still fine after a hundred thousand kms. (ie not overheating / no loss of power / fuel consumption)

Edit: not questioning your knowledge, which seems your right (based on pics). Just curious, if this is a Mini thing.

And how exactly did you breakdown? Engine just stalled?

You have been thoroughly ripped by the place that charged you £380 for the gasket change! And you have absolutely NO come-back against the seller of the car - it was up to you to check it carefully before you accepted the car. The comp figures you show are actually quite good - and certainly DO NOT show a blown head gasket! How on earth did you come to that conclusion? Just put it all behind you now - and have you retightened the head and reset the valve gaps after you changed the gasket? If not - expect it to blow anytime soon. It could well be - if you drove any distance on the first blown gasket - that the head is now distorted - probably a good idea to get a spare head in stock - ideal chance to do an upgrade!

Well after getting the car repaired it wasn't running perfectly anyway, but I just put it down to having a load of crap in the fuel tank which was pretty much dry when i picked it up from the garage. After a few weeks, whenever I started the engine it would only start on 2 or 3 cylinders until I revved it a little bit and then the others would eventually kick in. So i knew something was wrong and suspected HG letting some water into the cylinder, which is why I was using so much water. So i bought a compression tester. As soon as I took out 2 and 3 spark plugs they were rusty even though brand new. And after doing some reading found that big difference between cylinders shows a problem.
Anyway, after i changed the HG, I re-set the valves, and the engine started instantly. I ran it upto normal temp and let it cool. Then i cracked the head nuts and re-torqued everything and re-set the valves again. It was like having a new car!! I mean literally! it was a huge difference!!!
Although I've run into some problems again, possibly HG related. Who knows!?

[BVY]

I'll try and get some help from Citizens Advice about the garage...

As for the bloke who sold the car. I'm sure he did know something was wrong.
But you know what they say... What goes around comes around.

[BVY]

And thanks for the replies everyone!

[robtheplod]

The Citizens advice will probably recommend small claims court if they think its worth going for.... be aware that this is not guarenteed to work and is a long drawn out affair. Be prepared to pay for proof to be obtained from independant garages and after all that if he does not feel he wants to pay you then there is precious little you can do other than go down the bailiff route (assuming the small claims court is in your favour). forget trading standards etc as they will refer you to the small claims court....

I'd draw a line and move on - I've done all the above and it's not worth the hassle...

Edited by robtheplod, 03 August 2012 - 12:21 PM.

[Ethel]

It's not true that you have no comeback against the seller. It depends on any claims they made about its condition, also if they were selling it privately, or as a dealer makes a difference. You don't have to go back to the garage, if they undertook to repair the car then that's what they should have done. You are entitled to a full refund - assuming they undertook to repair it 'n not just change the head gasket.

The onus is on you to prove your claims though, get it in writing and understand what it means, before parting with your money is the lesson.