Car purchase gone wrong…. No.2

wingman

wingman

wingman

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On the back of Volvo gate from the other day :)

Hi all,

I bought a 2007 BMW X5 on Thursday 8th December this year from a relatively local used car dealership, for circa £5.5k.

The car was sold with a one month and 1,000 mile warranty which I thought was a little light and potentially not valid however I wanted the vehicle and was happy to progress with the purchase on that basis, thinking anything major would hopefully become apparent relatively soon.

I managed two short test drives before purchasing the vehicle and on both occasions everything seemed to be fine.

We agreed an MoT before purchase, which was initially done on the 6th Dec (failed, as below), and then passed with zero advisories the following day.

  • Front Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid (3.5 (a))
  • Offside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))


So I picked up the car the day after the MoT and service had been carried out, and away I went. I've done around 500 miles since.

Since I picked it up I've had a fair few issues with the car, as outlined below:

  1. First thing first the car, since purchased, struggled to start - this didn't present itself until I'd bought it and got it home, but figured since it we've had very cold weather recently, and the fact it needed an MoT and service since I paid the deposit, I assumed it'd had a fair few cold starts and the car needed a good run. I cracked on regardless, however, 8 days after purchase, the morning of the 16th December, the car would not start. Admittedly this was a seriously cold morning for the UK, however I believed at this point that a new battery was probably in order anyway, so I bought a brand new one and fitted it myself that afternoon. Sure enough, once fitted, it fired confidently into life.
  2. The windscreen washers do not work, this was a fault on the MoT which it had on the 6th (fail) and 7th (pass), the rear wipers do, and the headlight wiper washers do, but the windscreen ones are totally knackered, I don't know how they passed that second, 7th Dec MoT.
  3. We'd booked a trip to the Lakes this weekend and had planned to set off on the 16th, fortunately the battery issue above solved the issues so we cracked on. The morning of the 17th and 18th were both cold again and both mornings the car (diesel, admittedly) had very lumpy starts, but again I figured, hey, it's an old ish car and other issues may be present, not the end of the world.
  4. Most of the journey I couldn't see particularly well, I think the lights (xenons) are pretty shocking. The lenses are quite cloudy, so I'd put it on my list of things to sort to make sure that they have the best chance, not holding that against the garage.
  5. Braking from anywhere between 40-70mph gives aggressive juddering through the steering wheel, I'm assuming front disks, but not sure why this wasn't picked up in the MoT/service. I mean, I am sure, but you know...
  6. And finally, the nail in the coffin, get all the way home tonight with no issues (other than outlined above), get back in the house, unpack, order a takeaway to collect, go out to the car and it simply will not start. The key got completely stuck in the key holder (not conventional ignition like older cars, and not new enough to have keyless start). I struggled to get it out as the car "held" it in place, and none of the interior likes now work, I can't lock the car (central locking dead), just completely stuck. I can't open the boot to check the battery earthing, although I'm confident in myself that I tightened that up well when I replaced it.
So of course I'm going to call the garage tomorrow for their take, but I'd like to gather some opinions from folk if I can...

I've lost faith in the car, it feels like a bit of a lemon, and only having the car for 10 days and it's behaving like this is putting me off. What would you do? And what are my rights, am I able to reject the car?

Thanks in advance :)
 
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Sounds like a bag of nails , but then again the car is over 10 years old.

I’d ask the garage to take it back get it all repaired or ask for full refund.

What mileage does it have?
 
Bounce said:
Sounds like a bag of nails , but then again the car is over 10 years old.

I’d ask the garage to take it back get it all repaired or ask for full refund.

What mileage does it have?
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Thanks; I didn't want to come across as being dramatic, I knew on some level I'd have to throw some money at it (I mean, I already have spent £150 on it, and two tanks of diesel), but it just feels... off? Like there's plenty of stuff that's going to go wrong with it? Can't quite explain what I mean but it doesn't feel as positive as my 2006 3 Series which I feel confident knowing 999 times out of a 1,000 it's going to just work.

109k miles on this one.
 
Old X5, take your chance to get far far away.

The problem you'll have is if you've not paid with finance or anything you'll almost certainly have to battle the dealer.
 
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tom_e said:
Old X5, take your chance to get far far away.

The problem you'll have is if you've not paid with finance or anything you'll almost certainly have to battle the dealer.
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True, I did part pay via credit card this exact reason (read somewhere that even paying for 1p on a credit card on the purchase of anything grants you protection for the whole purchase with the credit card company).
 
Why are you buying old premium bottom of the barrel cars when presumably your budget isn't large enough for a nice one?
 
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wingman said:
True, I did part pay via credit card this exact reason (read somewhere that even paying for 1p on a credit card on the purchase of anything grants you protection for the whole purchase with the credit card company).
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That's a bonus at least then, they probably won't be quite as helpful as a dedicated finance company but at least you've got some way to apply pressure to the dealer.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Why are you buying old premium bottom of the barrel cars when presumably your budget isn't large enough for a nice one?
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I'd budgeted to look after it, service/repairs as necessary, took a punt on it for something cheapish to run over winter knowing full well that the initial purchase price of the vehicle wouldn't be the end of the costs. I've run old cars for most of my driving life, mostly old BMWs, so I knew what I was getting into.

But if you still think what you wrote after reading my post then fair enough.
 
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Uther said:
I thought minimum dealer warranties were 3 months? Car sounds like a nail tbh, with a dodgy MOT.
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Figured the same, I reckon they knew they had a lemon on their hands and wanted rid. I did think it was a touch too cheap.

Yeah I hate to think about the MoT thing because they're a one off dealer that have been there 30+ years, real family vibe and a lot of expensive metal for sale, which was one of the draws to me for the X5 as it was one of the cheaper vehicles in their garage. Doesn't stop a nudge nudge wink wink MoT though, I guess.
 
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The judder under braking is more than likely front lower control arm bushings. BMWs of this age are well know for it.
 
Just out of interest how much did you budget for repairs?

Things like the washer jets and battery failing would be expected of a car that age.
 
You rejected a commonly accepted as a well built and reliable Volvo due to a simple fault (which any old car could have) to go and buy an old BMW X5? Really?

I have to say I think your expectations are way beyond the point in the marketplace you’re buying at…

You should have kept faith in the Volvo rather than going for something that had “No!” written all over it.
 
Scania said:
You rejected a commonly accepted as a well built and reliable Volvo due to a simple fault (which any old car could have) to go and buy an old BMW X5? Really?

I have to say I think your expectations are way beyond the point in the marketplace you’re buying at…

You should have kept faith in the Volvo rather than going for something that had “No!” written all over it.
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Different person.
 
norm said:
Just out of interest how much did you budget for repairs?

Things like the washer jets and battery failing would be expected of a car that age.
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Two, three grand maybe, in the first year of ownership.

Again, I've ran multiple old cars.

Yeah I agree about the battery failing, I was happy to replace the battery (I did, no less!)

Scania said:
You rejected a commonly accepted as a well built and reliable Volvo due to a simple fault (which any old car could have) to go and buy an old BMW X5? Really?

I have to say I think your expectations are way beyond the point in the marketplace you’re buying at…

You should have kept faith in the Volvo rather than going for something that had “No!” written all over it.
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Past your bedtime Scania
 
How much would it have been before prices went stupid? I mean, it might be a 3k car...
 
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