Faulty car Sold as seen

We bought a car from a dealer two weeks ago for 1300 Euro. The clutch went the next day and had to be replaced and now the engine has siezed up.

Receipt has "sold as seen" but in a drivable condition with NCT to 09 someone said that we have entitlment for refund.

What can we do if anything?

Thanks.

I thought that 'sold as seen' means just that, and you would no entitlement for refund, unless the dealer lied to you or misled you.

Complainer said:

I thought that 'sold as seen' means just that, and you would no entitlement for refund, unless the dealer lied to you or misled you.

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Agreed.

doubt it, we bought car like that few years back for 1k. worst buy ever, after spending 1k getting it fixed gave up after a few weeks, we hAD to pay a man to take it away.

go to your solictor "sold as seen" will not stand up in court the car was obvioulsy not fit for use, it's only small money if the trader wants to stay in business he'll give you back the money unless he wants his name dragged through the courts

@tallpaul04 - I don't agree.

Goods at auction are "sold as seen" and a buyer is free to inspect the goods before bidding in the knowledge that there is no expressed or implied warranty with the goods and no comeback afterwards.

When a car is "sold as seen", a buyer is free to inspect the car before purchase and with the vendor's agreement, have an independent expert check it out. If the vendor refuses to allow inspection, purchaser walks away. If the purchaser does not commission an inspection beforehand and purchases the car "as seen", with no warranty and no statement as to suitability or fitness for purpose, then as I see it (not a lawyer) "you pays your money and you takes your chances".

Unless OP, who has my sympathies in this situation, can prove the vendor lied or with-held important information in relation to the vehicle, then IMHO, there is no case for the vendor to answer.

Would tend to agree with most of what Mathepac says - tho I don't think its quite as black & white as that.

The OP paid €1300 for the car but doesn't say what type it is or anything else which would help us understand what the vehicle might actually be worth. There is such a thing as 'merchantable quality' and 'fit for purpose' - which means that the purchaser should reasonably expect something that is worth €1300 - bearing in mind that a rare or exclusive car in basket-case condition could well be worth €1300 (or more)...

However and as has been pointed out, the OP was told that no warranty was being offered and they had to satisfy themselves as to the car's condition, which is a pointer to them actually doing this rather than taking a chance. I would also have thought that a brief drive in the car would have shown up a very short clutch and surely an engine that is about to seize would sound unusually rough?

I think that while its very unfortunate that bad things have gone wrong, the seller can most probably reasonably argue that they gave every chance to the OP to have the car checked, and in the greater scheme of things, it would not be thought of as enough money to pursue.

the OP could explain their case to the FLAC service through the CIC to see if there's any hope of comeback.

Thanks all for replys. Car was advertised as very good buy excellent contition. First to see will buy etc. Was also advertised with NCT to 2010 but was infact 2009. When questioned they said that they would put it through NCT if wanted or take discount of 300. We were in quite a bad need for car and decided to take the offer.

Yes we should have had it checked but was completly sold by the advert on the dealers internet site and drove all the way from Sligo to Bray the next morning.

The consumer law should be tighter for issues like this. Car industry gets away with too much of this IMO.

Too late now, and you have my sympathies, but I always get cars independently checked.

e.g. www.carcheckireland.com I have used before and would recommend.

Strider said:

...The consumer law should be tighter for issues like this. Car industry gets away with too much of this IMO.

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I have to say, with due respect, that all the legislation in the world won't protect someone who doesn't take very basic steps to protect themselves.

If there were indications of discrepancies between the car as advertised and the car "in the flesh", alarms would go off for me immediately and in the absence of expert advice, I'd be inclined to leave it there and put the cost of the return journey down to experience.

Given the population of the "Greater Dublin Area" (apologies to Kildare, Wicklow, Louth and Meath residents) and the concentration of vehicles in the area, I have difficulty understanding why a €1,500 "runner" couldn't be sourced closer to home. Unless of course the deal was one of the "too good to be true" kind, which unfortunately it seems it was.

I do not think the clutch would just go? Mine is a hydraulic clutch so it can fail immediately in a few areas that can be easily spotted but a clutch plate wearing out would give clear symptoms it was worn. Engine seizing could just be low oil level, again a first inspection would have revealed this.