I once bought a car from a big used car dealership, the back brakes were worn down to metal on metal, cheeky bastards had sprayed them in wd40 so they didn't crunch. Took it back the next day once I realised and they told me I must have been braking like a twat all night, they were fine when they sold it and they could prove it from it passing an MOT the day before. Tried everything but I couldn't do **** all about it, I couldn't prove the brakes were bad when I bought it. As its been 4 months, you're in the same situation. They could easily say it was spotless at the time of sale and that it must have had something highly corrosive get on the axle to make it rust extremely fast. They've a hundred ways to worm out of it, yet as you've only just noticed it you've no way to prove they sold it to you that way. Also they can't sue you for giving them a bad review, review sites and social media are there for a reason. Have no fear.
To the OP, this is not the case at all. Just because BS didnt know what to do about it at the time does not mean you cannot win your case. BS does say he 'once', this could be why his experience differs, regulation and law is much stricter now, we as car dealers cannot get away with just saying no now. As I said previous, the onus is on thrm to prove this issue was not present at time of sale which i highly doubt they could. Be determined and you will succeed. http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/676408/oft1242.pdf See page 10 of this link, this is the Office of Fair Trading guidance for 2nd car dealers, and particularly my point about them having to prove it, not you
Definitely go to Trading Standards and you'll have to go after the garage that sold the car, if they used a dodgy MOT place, that's their problem. That said, the East Riding Trading Standards department, is one woman in a windowless basement office in Orchard Park, so don't expect them to act too quickly(though someone selling dangerous cars might jump up their priority list).
'Once' was only 3 years ago. I tried threatening them with everything and stopped short of actually taking legal action. The ****s even told me to, they didnt care they had a way out. Buying and selling **** cars was an area of expertise of mine until I stopped bothering a year or so back. Some of my mates are still at it, they shift on some proper ****. People always ring back. The only time I've ever known anyone have to pay out was with an old 3 series Beemer where the bottom end was knocking, filled up with sawdust to silence it, and it actually went about 20 metres up the road For the sake of £200 and half a days work I'd just do it myself and exact revenge in a way that would cost them double the cost. If they're refusing to pay, even if you go down the official route and they're made to sort it, it will probably take months. If it was sold through a site like eBay or auto trader, get in touch with them, they'll help fight your corner.
If you buy anything from a member of the public you have very little recourse under the "buyer beware" law, however all commercial organisations have a responsibility Warranties to a certain degree and certainly the 6 month rule is bollox. You have a right for up to 6 years dependant on the goods ie cheap v quality. For example lap tops, tvs etc.you would expect a £2K tv to last longer than a £200 tv. Companies will try the “well it’s out of warranty” for many items they still have a responsibility. If you are buying an item over £100 and you place any amount of the purchase price on a credit card, the credit card company have joint liability for the item to perform what it is supposed to do. A very recent example of this is with laptops. Many laptops over the last 2/3 years have been overheating or the battery getting very very hot. Ring any bells with people?? This is due to a manufacturing fault called the Nvidia defect which affected millions of laptops. When you complain to the retailer they try to fob people off by saying "contact the manufacturer or "we charge a £70 fee" to inspect it. They have a responsibility to either repair/replace or money back. Comet were the worst in fobbing people off. However through the small claim courts ( or threatening to fo there) people have and are receiving hundreds of pounds. There is a process..do not give up......which most people unfortunately do.
Phil, there's a difference between brand new household electricals and 2nd/3rd/4th hand cars, which along with generally spendin their lives outside bare to the elements, do suffer general wear and tear, which is NOT covered by any sort of warranty, along with damage from misuse. If wear and tear was covered by the dealer/manufacturer, there wouldn't be a single bloody private garage in the country. And I doubt brand new cars would be available to buy in the UK as every ****er would be bankrupt.
Your right in so far as wear and tear isn't covered however under the sales of goods act there is still a responsibility whether the goods are new or second hand.
One problem is that an MOT isn't any guarantee of a roadworthy vehicle other than on the day of the MOT
