We need help. Just over a week ago we bought ourselves what we thought was a nice little Fiesta diesel from a used car dealers in <snip>. The car appeared to be in good condition cosmetically and drives well apart from a slight vibration that can be felt through the steering wheel at around the 65mph mark. I'm no mechanic (by any stretch of the imagination) but the engine bay and everything looked ok to me, nice and clean. The car came with a 1 month warranty and the garage assured us that they would resolve the vibration. After their mechanic balanced the front wheels he said that it should sort it. We then drove the car home (about 40 miles) and noticed that the vibration was still there.
We realised that the car would have to go back to the garage so we decided to take the car for a good drive or two to see if any other problems emerged. As well as a few minor issues, we discovered that the battery was not being charged whilst fitted so we arranged for the car to go back to the garage so they could fix the battery problem as well as the original vibration issue. When we got the car back from the garage the problem with the battery seems to have been fixed but the vibration is still there.
We decided to let our local mechanic take a look at the car as we were beginning to have concerns (to say the least). The news the mechanic gave us upon completing his inspection was not good. He basically told us that the gear box that is fitted to the car is not the right one for the engine. He said that both the engine and gearbox have actually had bits chopped off them to make the gear box fit. He said that in his opinion it looks as though the engine has been replaced with one that is obviously not compatible. He also said that he didn't actually recognise what engine it was and that it could well be from a completely different manufacturer.
Here's a picture of the underside where you can see an example of the 'modifications' that have been made, as well as a likely candidate for the vibration.
So we decided to contact Trading Standards to see what advice they could give. They advised us that the garage is obligated to inform us that either the gear box or engine has been replaced and that because they didn't we are entitled to either a repair, replacement or refund and to emphasise that we would require a full refund. So we contacted the garage and told them what had happened and said that we would like a full refund, to which they said that they would not give us a refund and that they would fix any work that needs doing on the car.
We have arranged for the car to go back to the garage on Monday and I'm seriously worried about it. As far as we're concerned the car we have isn't the car we paid for.
So, we need advice please, just something to go on, it would appear that they have us over a barrel and it makes me feel sick to the stomach and totally powerless to do anything about it. We will phone Trading Standards again on Monday morning before we take the car back to see if they can suggest anything but I'm not feeling very optimistic tbh.
I understand that I've been a complete and total fool and probably deserve the ridicule I'll likely get from here in buying the car in the first place, but I really don't know what else I can do or where else I can go for advice. Like I say, the car looks and drives really nice, the engine bay is clean and tidy, at the time the garage staff were friendly and helpful, everything seemed as it should. I had no reason to be worried, it looked like we were getting a good car for a fair price. But as has transpired we are now stuck with a car that we feel is possibly unsafe to drive and nearly £3000 out of pocket.
The garage say they want to fix the problems but any trust we had for them is completely gone and how exactly are they going to fix the problems without putting a new engine or new gearbox or both into it? The car isn't worth the money we paid for it, it probably isn't even worth half what we paid for it, to me a new engine and gear box seems a bit pointless on a car of its value. On top of that, if the garage informed us in the beginning that the car had a new engine and/or gearbox fitted we'd have most definitely walked away, so even if they do put a new engine and gearbox in it we still paid far too much for a car we would never have bought in the first place.
Anyway, this is probably already too long so I'll leave it there and hope that someone can suggest something, anything, to help us.
We realised that the car would have to go back to the garage so we decided to take the car for a good drive or two to see if any other problems emerged. As well as a few minor issues, we discovered that the battery was not being charged whilst fitted so we arranged for the car to go back to the garage so they could fix the battery problem as well as the original vibration issue. When we got the car back from the garage the problem with the battery seems to have been fixed but the vibration is still there.
We decided to let our local mechanic take a look at the car as we were beginning to have concerns (to say the least). The news the mechanic gave us upon completing his inspection was not good. He basically told us that the gear box that is fitted to the car is not the right one for the engine. He said that both the engine and gearbox have actually had bits chopped off them to make the gear box fit. He said that in his opinion it looks as though the engine has been replaced with one that is obviously not compatible. He also said that he didn't actually recognise what engine it was and that it could well be from a completely different manufacturer.
Here's a picture of the underside where you can see an example of the 'modifications' that have been made, as well as a likely candidate for the vibration.
So we decided to contact Trading Standards to see what advice they could give. They advised us that the garage is obligated to inform us that either the gear box or engine has been replaced and that because they didn't we are entitled to either a repair, replacement or refund and to emphasise that we would require a full refund. So we contacted the garage and told them what had happened and said that we would like a full refund, to which they said that they would not give us a refund and that they would fix any work that needs doing on the car.
We have arranged for the car to go back to the garage on Monday and I'm seriously worried about it. As far as we're concerned the car we have isn't the car we paid for.
So, we need advice please, just something to go on, it would appear that they have us over a barrel and it makes me feel sick to the stomach and totally powerless to do anything about it. We will phone Trading Standards again on Monday morning before we take the car back to see if they can suggest anything but I'm not feeling very optimistic tbh.
I understand that I've been a complete and total fool and probably deserve the ridicule I'll likely get from here in buying the car in the first place, but I really don't know what else I can do or where else I can go for advice. Like I say, the car looks and drives really nice, the engine bay is clean and tidy, at the time the garage staff were friendly and helpful, everything seemed as it should. I had no reason to be worried, it looked like we were getting a good car for a fair price. But as has transpired we are now stuck with a car that we feel is possibly unsafe to drive and nearly £3000 out of pocket.
The garage say they want to fix the problems but any trust we had for them is completely gone and how exactly are they going to fix the problems without putting a new engine or new gearbox or both into it? The car isn't worth the money we paid for it, it probably isn't even worth half what we paid for it, to me a new engine and gear box seems a bit pointless on a car of its value. On top of that, if the garage informed us in the beginning that the car had a new engine and/or gearbox fitted we'd have most definitely walked away, so even if they do put a new engine and gearbox in it we still paid far too much for a car we would never have bought in the first place.
Anyway, this is probably already too long so I'll leave it there and hope that someone can suggest something, anything, to help us.
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![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
its a rear one so if you have vibration after balancing, the front wheels may have damage.