bought a car

[valmoores]

i bought a car from e bay . it said it had recently had �800.00 spent on it and the only thing wrong was a flashing air bag light . as a woman i no nothing about cars . so i got it it looks great and drives ok. thought i had a good deal .then a day later i found out i needed a new cat �217.00 new front and back box another �200 and now a machanic i took it to says it sounds like its running on 3 cylinders . which if he is right will cost over �400 .i looked at the paper work and the work he said had been recently done for �800 was back in 2004 . what are my rights if i have any .. please help

[Whickerman]

Most probably sold as seen, you have very little comeback. The fact that you're stating that 'as a woman i no noting about cars' has nothing to do with the sale, and is pretty condescending to other women. Also, you should never buy a used car unless you've had it thoroughly checked by a knowledgable person, like your mechanic, and fully testdriven it. Do you even know if the seller had full title on the car to allow a legal sale? Finally, if you're as clueless as you say, is it possible that it's actually your garage that's trying to pull one over on you?

[cascarelli]

Sorry, but Whickerman is correct.

Nearly every secondhand car will be 'sold as seen'. How come a day after you got it you take it to a mechanic to get it checked? Seems a bit late by that time. Sorry.

[joko]

this is not the same as a usual car sale
all items listed on ebay must be honestly stated - he has not been honest - he may not have known exactly what was wrong with it, but he knew it wasn't great, and he should have noted that.

check the listing carefully for his words

i would complain to ebay for fraudulent listing

[valmoores]

thank you thats what i thougt .
even i knew the exhaust was blowing and he never said anything about that on his listing . but that was somehing i could aford to get repaired .ill contact e bay thank you

[valmoores]

whickerman .. sorry if i sounded like all women know nothing about cars . thats not what i ment i ment i know nothing about cars .. and it is not the garage trying to rip me off as i have taken it to sevaral all saying the same . sorry if i ofended anywomen drivers out there ...

[valmoores]

cascarelli
i took it to a garage because a colleauge at work said it sounds like its running on 3 cylinders and to get the exhaust looked at that even i knew was not sounding right

[Buenchico]

Be wary of the mechanic who told you that it will cost over �400 to fix the problem if the car's running on 3 cylinders. The most common cause of this is a duff HT lead. Any decent mechanic should be able to replace all 4 HT leads for �50 including parts, labour & VAT. If he only replaces just the one defective lead, the price should be around half of that figure.

Chris

[fiesata]

Don't you have time to reject it prior to handing over the money
probably to late once you've taken it home
Unless anyone knows differently

[yummymummy]

You have extra rights if you buy from a trader. If you buy from a private seller (whether through Ebay, ad in paper sign on window etc) then they only have to describe it correctly. This will include any ad, and the answers to any questions you ask.

So fiesata, sorry no right to reject in this case. As usual, buyer beware when buying privately, although you do have some rights as mentioned.

[valmoores]

buenchico.
thankyou for your reply the garage is doing the plugs and leads today so fingers crossed this is the problem .
as to leads are real caroded thanks again