Father got ripped off - what to do

leigh_boy said:
its about a 3 hour job and the cam chain from euro car parts in £80 mid range highest was 115

so average garage costs are £35 an hour so. 35x3+parts = £225 so i would expect it to cost between that and 300
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Best advise in this thread so far ^^ depending on labour i wouldn't expect to part with more than £400 for this.

Iim pretty sure corsas have a reputation for noisy chains as it is. They have a pretty long life span to be fair so it probably isnt as close to breaking as it might seam. Either way i would have it replaced ASAP.

I doubt that the 20 year old was intentionally tying to pass off a car with a known issue, its probably been making that noise for some time.
 
He wasn't ripped off tbh, he made a poor purchase.
As above tho a lot view it pretty much as a service part once xk miles are hit.

You can help as above, making sure you doesnt actually get ripped off with the cost of repairs :)
 
I was going to try and do the math but leigh_boy got it nailed down.

Sadly nothing you can do, and I agree its a scummy thing to do selling a car with (if known) problems, especially to an OAP, but that's sadly irrelevant for the situation you are now in.

If the problem is a guaranteed fix by replacing the cam chain, buy the cam chain as suggested and ask the garage to fit it (or DIY). Only real outcome that's best IMO. Or flog it yourself to another OAP .....
 
Absolutely no comeback, unless you can prove the seller deliberately lied in court.

An example of that might be an undeclared and unrectified MOT advisory relating to the fault or something written on previous paperwork handed over with the car.

A private seller's only real obligation is not to actually tell a bare faced lie or knowingly sell a car in undeclared unroadworthy condition. I think you'll have no chance whatsoever with any comeback on this one.
 
Not the seller's fault that he didn't hear the noisy chain and I'm sure he wasn't forced to buy it. Just because someone is old shouldn't mean that they get treated any differently. People get shafted buying cars all the time, regardless of age. Sure it's unfortunate but that's life I'm afraid.
 
Take it yourself to a garage, get it fixed (for a reasonable cost) and pay it yourself. Return it to your dad and say you got it sorted for free / got the owner to pay or whatever.

You dad probably feels a bit daft right now, because no matter how old they are they still expect to know more than their sons, especially about traditional 'dad' things!

You can't do anything about the car, but you can make him feel better about it.
 
Sagalout said:
Take it yourself to a garage, get it fixed (for a reasonable cost) and pay it yourself. Return it to your dad and say you got it sorted for free / got the owner to pay or whatever.

You dad probably feels a bit daft right now, because no matter how old they are they still expect to know more than their sons, especially about traditional 'dad' things!

You can't do anything about the car, but you can make him feel better about it.
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^^ Sounds good advice to me.
 
jimjamuk said:
Assuming someone is intentionally trying to rip someone off then advising to go to court and lie - seriously? I dont think you understand the phrase "fair play" at all

You are missing the point - I dont see any intentional rip off here

Car makes rattly noise
Seller lets buyer drive car who normally would have noticed this (seller unaware buyer was deaf)
Buyer happy with test drive and pays

Maybe if the seller had refused to start engine then that might have been a problem
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Would not by the same argument that mean that the seller was hiding / lying about information (assuming he was asked). As after all you're saying it would be obvious and normally noticed, so how could the seller not be aware of it.

And would that open up the possibility of small claims for the OP if he desired to do so (or possibly some compromise action between the buyer and seller for an easier life).
 
Sagalout said:
Take it yourself to a garage, get it fixed (for a reasonable cost) and pay it yourself. Return it to your dad and say you got it sorted for free / got the owner to pay or whatever.

You dad probably feels a bit daft right now, because no matter how old they are they still expect to know more than their sons, especially about traditional 'dad' things!

You can't do anything about the car, but you can make him feel better about it.
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+2
 
Orion21 said:
Would not by the same argument that mean that the seller was hiding / lying about information (assuming he was asked). As after all you're saying it would be obvious and normally noticed, so how could the seller not be aware of it.

And would that open up the possibility of small claims for the OP if he desired to do so (or possibly some compromise action between the buyer and seller for an easier life).
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I think any suggestion of a attempting legal action should be dropped as it has been made quite clear that you will not get anywhere.
 
To be fair - I've sold a car that was making all soorts of funny noises with a bit of a ticking sound that could have been from a noisy camchain. I didn't know what caused all the the creaks and rattles though but did mention the noises in my advert. It was sold as a no reserve auction on ebay for a few hundred quid (wouldn't have been worth a lot more if it was all fine due to the age). A long while later the buyer left me positive feedback just saying "honest bloke".
 
Its buyer beware with private sales.

I dont buy private, or from back street garages and surprisingly, I dont get any of these problems with my cars.
 
Unfortunately your tough out of luck. Unless the seller said the car is perfect, he hasn't done much wrong and your dad was happy with it when he bought it.
 
[TW]Fox;26339590 said:
How would it? How exactly do you intend to prove that somebody sold a car to somebody else who only bought it because they were 'under duress'? Its utter nonsense.
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It's actually pretty simple, he claims he paid for it under duress, the little scrote denies unduly pressuring him, it's one persons word against another, the court rules in favour of the poor old man. Tried and tested abuse of our legal system :P
 
[TW]Fox;26340302 said:
Nonsense.
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It may be unfair to the trader but lets be honest here, you don't accidentally sell an audibly dying car to a deaf pensioner while your masquerading as a private seller, sounds like karma is overdue catching up with this scum.
 
the car isnt dying - it just needs its cam belt changed - also theres no evidence in the thread this is nothing but a private sale - not a business seller. What planet are you on?

Frankly the first question buying a used car is when was the cam belt last changed
 
The seller may not have even realised the fault and I'm afraid even if he did then there is no comeback for a private sale. This is why you pay a premium to buy from a reputable dealership. Warranty and obligation to fix anything that goes wrong.

Would never buy an expensive car from a private seller for this very reason.
 
Look at the registration certificate. Is the seller (name and address) shown as the owner and if so for how long? If it's not his details, or if he only bought the car very recently then chances are he's a trader or was selling it on because he bought a lemon himself.

But if it's a genuine private sale then as far as I'm aware you have no legal comeback unless (just maybe) you can prove that he actually lied about the condition of the car. Seems a bit of a stretch to achieve though.
 
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