Technical Recent car bought, terrible problems

[Cuppatea]

Hi,

I bought a fiat 500 two days ago, the seller (a trader) has gone AWOL and I am left with a car that has failed it's MOT.

I paid £3k for a 2011 fiat 500 and it has a number of major MOT defects

1. Suspension Spring mount corroded (I think rear) please see photo of the issue [5.3.6(a)(ii)]

2. Engine mil inoperative or indicate a malfunction [8.2.1.2(h)]

3. Electronic power steering, system malfunction [2.6(a)]

In your opinion, how much would you think it would cost for a garage to resolve these issues? Am I just throwing good money after bad?

 

[jrkitching]

I'm still very attracted to the idea of owning a practical classic

I've thought about this also. Unfortunately the more I've looked into it, the less attractive the idea seems.

Just some of the issues you'd need to consider are safety, fuel availability, economy, corrosion and insurance.

I think it would only work if you were doing a very modest mileage, had a sound garage to keep it in, and had a good alternative for those days when it either needed maintenance or the weather was particularly inclement.

Back around 1978, I was putting close on 35,000 miles a year onto a 1.3 Mk2 Escort & struggled to get half the fuel economy of a 1.2 Panda 169. And despite it being a brand new car, it needed a lot of servicing and maintenance. It was slow, heavy, uncomfortable on a long run and all but useless at the first hint of any snow. It was less than two years old when I got rid of it; by then it sounded like a bag of bolts and had quite noticeable bodyshell corrosion.

A colleague crashed a similar car coming to a group meeting on an icy January day. A couple of weeks later, I was one of the pallbearers at his funeral. The same accident in a modern vehicle would likely have been survivable, and possibly even preventable with current day ESP systems.

 

[steveras57]

I agree!- the terms practical & classic do not go so well together these days im afraid!
However i would have another Saab 9000 aero i an instant if i could find a good un not overpriced by "TO***SERS!!!
My old one died of RUST strangely!

 

[Cuppatea]

Continue with the court case, you never know, not only may you get your costs back, you may get a rogue trader disbarred

Hi Porta,

I flip flop between this.. I think you are right. I have paid the £100 or £200 (can't remember) for the court case. It was really cathartic to articulate my grievance.

But you are right... I will just let the legal system trundle on, and make a judgement in ita own good time.


Thank you so much for your reply. This forum has been wonderful, I have really appreciated the support!

 

[Cuppatea]

You’re not crazy nor a fool …. You have just learned a lesson a valuable one!! Like so many of us have in the case of buying a car!
It’s shocking and right now you have lost out … in trust in a car and of course the money
However… if there’s one thing guaranteed in life it’s change! And things will and for the better!

Thank you for your kind words. It is really helping

 

[steveras57]

There isnt one of us on here that hasnt made a similar error at some point in our lives, we ALL make mistakes some small others bigger!.
loosing money and being taken for a ride will always grate on us( its human nature to beat ourselves up about such things) when in reality there is no mileage in it and we are just damaging ourselves mentally and emotionally!- for your own wellbeing let go of as much as possible, so stress ,anger, and worry dont rule you!.
I and i suspect the rest of the forum members wish you well!

 

[porta]

Hi Porta,

I flip flop between this.. I think you are right. I have paid the £100 or £200 (can't remember) for the court case. It was really cathartic to articulate my grievance.

But you are right... I will just let the legal system trundle on, and make a judgement in ita own good time.


Thank you so much for your reply. This forum has been wonderful, I have really appreciated the support!

No worries…Keep the car on your drive and start it up every so often for half an hour and, if you can move it backwards and forwards to keep it ‘free’. Sometimes the courts can actually move quite quickly and many operate a victim fund (funds willing). It seems the guy is possibly a serial offender and this Will obviously assist your case.

 

[g8rpi]

No worries…Keep the car on your drive and start it up every so often for half an hour and, if you can move it backwards and forwards to keep it ‘free’. Sometimes the courts can actually move quite quickly and many operate a victim fund (funds willing). It seems the guy is possibly a serial offender and this Will obviously assist your case.

Cuppatea has started a Small Claims Court case. This is a non-punative civil resolution process. There is no compensation from victims fund or otherwise. In theroy there is no punishment either , but in some cases the seller is ordered to repay the buyer without an explict directive for the buyer to return the goods. This happened in my case which ran to several thousand pounds. When I called the dealer about payment he was somwhat aggressive and said "but you arn't going to give me the car back" (It was worth repairing even at the purchase price). I said hat I didn't say that but his statement confirmed that he was aware of the fact the judgment didn't say I had to return it. I did actually return the car because after a year of seeing it sat outside and the stress of dealing with it (particuarly for the wife) meant I didn't want to spend more time and stress chasing the dealer for money. I would have eventually got the mony through the recovery services. This was mainly because the dealer put his actual business premises, where his stock was, on the court papers rather than the registerd company address whare ther were no assets.

 

[AndyRKett]

A friend of mine bought a car for her partner, they broke up he took the car £5k worth, eventually she pursued him via small claims and won, he made one or two repayments on a repayment plan then declared himself bankrupt effectively leaving her completely out of pocket unable to take him back to court and with no way to get her money back.

 

[vexorg]

I've thought about this also. Unfortunately the more I've looked into it, the less attractive the idea seems.

Under the 25 year accepted age for "classic", the vauxhall vectra would be in there