Where do I stand?

[daedos]

Hi everyone, I've been looking at the forum for a while and I picked up my 172 last Saturday (2003 FF) from a trader. On the test drive everything was fine (save a couple of rattles ;-)), but since has been a different story. On Sat night the wheel arch liner came loose and rubbed the wheel (forgivable) but tonight the car wouldn't start. I put the key in and almost every dash light blinked at me but it refused to start. After a few tries the lights have returned to normal but it still won't start - a loud clunk from the engine blinking lights/clicking noises but that's all. The clock reset a couple of times so looks like a electrical gremlin.

Assuming no implied warranty - where do I stand? If he puts up a fuss I'm going to try the Sale Of Goods Act - 'must be of satifactory quality' - anything else?

so far french reliability is living up to its reputation :-(

 

[philmots]

The clunking noise suggests more than electrical to me.

 

[gav182]

Sounds like you ve got a flat battery

 

[S22 JGS]

shoulda paid for an inspection before buying really.

dont think ull get very far unless u can prove it was a problem before you bought it, but then they will just ask why you bout it

 

[edde]

If you bought from a trader then they have to give you a warently.

 

[cat171]

^
thats what I was thinking. They ought to have gone over the warranty as well.

 

[BrianR]

A trader can not by law, absolve himself of his responsibility to sell an item as "fit for purpose intended" those days of "no guarantees" are gone.

You must avoid the common mistake of allowing the matter to linger and dealing with it by spurious phone calls and unrecorded conversations.

Write to him stating your dissatisfaction and listing the problems. Send it by SD (not recorded) and stipulate a time by which you want the matters resolved or your money back.

If you go to www.moneyclaim.gov.uk there are some sample letters there you can copy.