Car Purchase 2013

rustbucket

Registered User
Messages
802
Hi

Just looking for opinions on best course of action or what expectations I should realistically have on below

Bought a car from a dealer on 31/05/13

Traded in my old car against it (which needed timing belt done), as such price on my own car reduced slightly as dealer said he couldnt sell it on without timing belt being done.

On the basis of that argument I asked about the timing belt on the car I was purchasing and was assured verbally that it would be done if it needed to be done. (Car was 9 years old and had 65,0000 miles so if it wasnt done recently it definitely needed to be done)

Was happy enough with dealers word on this and we agreed a deal. I subsequently sent an email reminding him of it as well as other works that had to be done.

Picked up the car to find no service book with it. Dealer said he didnt have it but assured me agreed work was done.

The first 3 months of owning the car there was a litany of issues with it, all were fixed under warranty and I was dealt with very quickly each time so no complaint there.

Time has come for us to sell the car now, so when I had my mechanic do a few things to it he noticed that there was nothing written in the engine bay re when timing belt was done. Car has now 73K miles on it.

I queried this with the dealer who said that it was unusual and that he wouldnt have sold it to us if the timing belt needed to be done.

For the last 3 weeks I have been asking him to provide a document detailing when the timing belt was done. The problem is, although I believe him, I have no evidence at all that it was done and if it was done, when it was done.

He has looked back over his files and cant find anything in relation to it (he has apparently sold this car on 2 or times).

Where does this leave me? I know its a year later but what position does that leave me in? I only noticed as I was getting other work done.

Surely if he didnt do the work, he must have something indicating that it was done previously?

Do I have any recourse? Is it reasonable to expect it to be done foc at this stage?

Opinions?
 
What model and year is the car? Belt life varies from make to make, for example, the official Mazda 6 timing belt interval is 75k miles.
 
2004 Landrover Freelander

I managed to get the belt cover off and the timing belt is in good nick. Its not the original so it has been replaced but there is still the question of when it was replaced

Manufacturers recommendation is every 60,000 miles or 6 yrs. Whichever comes first