I Bought A Car From A Dealer About 4 Months Ago. The Clutch Has Suddenly Gone With No Warnings. I Haven't Done A Lot Of Mileage Since I Have Had It And Not Abused It In Anyway.

[niknax71]

Also i have been advised that the steering rod is also on it's way out.
Within 2 weeks of having the car some mount near the front wheel snapped off. He did do the job because it was within the 3 month warranty. There are a couple of other things wrong with the car. Seems one thing after another,it is getting expensive considering i have only had the car a short while.
Does anyone know whether the dealer could be liable for any of this?
Thanks
Nicky

[niknax71]

The car is a renault megane estate diesel on a 05 plate. It has done about 140,000 miles.
The service light keeps coming on, which he says is down to wires. The door lining is coming out which keeps jamming the electric window

[niknax71]

Bought it for £2800

[SirOracle]

Think you are being a tad optimistic here methyl,with a mileage of 140,000.
Looks like it has been used as a private hire car at some time in its life.

[SirOracle]

Are there any NON foreign cars in UK nowadays methyl ?

[SirOracle]

Ok methyl name me one........the last uk manufacturer to go under foreign ownership(Chinese ) was LTI who made the London cab.

[EDDIE51]

The car has done 140,000 miles what do you expect? You paid way over the odds for it, it was probably worth about £600.

[TWR]

I would give the dealer a call & state your concerns with the car, give them chance to put the car right, if they start to quibble just state that you have no choice but to contact T.S. make a note of all you cars problems, if poss get another garage or the AA RAC to come out & do a check for you( If you are a none member this will cost, other wise a friend that knows about the Mechanics of a car, when you have all the Info take this with you ( Don't phone) you are better off in person, whoever you speak to, get their name & position, the time / date of your conversation & see what they come up with, do not be fobbed off because that's what they may want, take someone with you as a witness if poss.

[TWR]

Methyl, they will have the soft ware / Dio, I can assure you.

[Hypognosis]

The asking price is consistent with a price, when new, of below £18,000 and depreciation of 15% per year for 9 years i.e.

18000 x 0.7 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85
=2918

Personally, I would be chuffed if a car lasted 70,000 miles on its original clutch so I would expect 140,000 miles to be the end of the line for its second one. In other words, I would want to see the clutch replacement paperwork in the service history before I bought the car.

Likewise, wear and tear replacements of suspension components would have been done. Steering can't be far behind.

If you think about it, the big servicing bills are -why- people with more money than you offload their cars at a certain age.

15500 miles per year would make it a rental, as suggested elsewhere, or a rep's car or someone commuting 20+ miles per day (which may or may not fit your locality). Not enough miles for it to have been a taxi.

Finally, the length of warranty offered speaks volumes for what the dealer thinks of the car. If you go there for running repairs they profit from you a second time. You are under no obligation to go back there and a free to shop around for better prices.

As for redress, the car did what it said on the tin - it lasted three months. Was it good value at that price? Perhaps not but, if it freed you from having your workdays dominated by the bus schedule then perhaps it was?

[EDDIE51]

^^ Really! Look here literally 100s on ebay and autotrader were sold at £200 to £800 but not one anywhere near £2800
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-Megane-mk2-225-230Sport-Replica-1-9-Diesel-Turbo-/311121560330?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item48704a430a
niknax71 has been well and truly ripped off!

[Linotype]

Hi there: The clutch is a wear and tear item and has a reasonable lifetime – depending how you drive, traffic density etc. Probably worth going back to the garage you bought it from, but don't hold your breath ... I'd be more worried about the other hassles that centre around the steering ... which ever way you look at it it's a high mileage vehicle, and that's the caveat I'm afraid ... safe motoring to you in the meantime ...

[Hypognosis]

Thanks, Eddie.

The figure I came up with was just an illustration. I don't know how to derive depreciation rate from mileage.

A car will still depreciate even with zero mileage after all.

So, if 15% depreciation is normal for "typical" commuter use and the typical commute is (reputedly) 10 miles per day (round trip), 300 days per year, that's only 3000 miles - 27,000 for a nine year old car.

If I change the depreciation rate to 25% per year, I can get the result down to £945. Ebay sellers are willing to sell for less because they are trying to shift the thing and salvage some cash, as an alternative to paying a scrap yard to take it away or go to the expense of a clutch or equally expensive item.

Subtract a clutch from my 945 and we're roughly in agreement. ;-)

[EDDIE51]

^^ The 15% depreciation only works for the first 5 years at most after that the bottom drops out of the market. A 9 year old car is not worth much over scrap value.

[Hypognosis]

^^^^ Things they never teach us at school, but should, part 98. (@Eddie)

@Nicky

There is no need for you to feel ashamed at being taken in. If other people in your town weren't equally susceptible to seeing those prices as fair and reasonable, that garage would not still be in business. It's not what things are worth, it is _what people are prepared to pay_, to get the thing they want.

I think a 2 grand discrepancy makes it worth getting the AA to put a valuation on it and use their report to push it through at the small claims court. Legal advice first will mean further financial outlay. It is up to you whether 'the principle of the thing' is important enough to take the risk of legal proceedings not succeeding.