Second hand car woes!

My Wife and I recently purchased a second hand car (01D) from a dealer. Paid €5200 for it. We were told that a full service was going to be done on it before we picked it up a few days later.

Almost immediately my wife thought the gears were a bit loose and the brakes were not too responsive (had to push peddle all the way before braking). We took the car back to the garage a few days later were the nice sales man seemed to change his attitdue..'the gears are fine..the brakes are grand, the car is a few years old' we were told..My wife who is just learning to drive did not feel confident as she left the garage.
The following day we get a phone call telling us to 'bring the car back as the brakes did feel a bit spongy' to him..and just in case he would have one of the lads take a look at it. The car goes back, is picked up by my wife and indeed the brakes have improved. When asked about the gears..again they seemed fine to him.

Just recently my wife has noticed that from time to time the gears seem to slip when changing and dont seem to go back into gear..this terrifies me as she is just starting to drive and her confidence is waining and the car seems to be a accident waiting to happen. We took the car back to the garage and they took it for the weekend..Collected it on the Monday..gears seemed tighter and away we went.
Same problem but with squeaks...gears are still slipping but this time with a squeaking noise. We take the car to a local mechanic to have a look at the car for us..to confirm we are not mad. He takes a look under the hood..and sees that some tape..yes tape was put in near the linkage( whatever that is!) But it doesnt sound good to me....This I presume was used to tighten up the gears. The mechanic tells us to bring it back to were we bought it.
We ring the garage straight away and bring this to the garage's attention....What we got was a rude..arrogant excuse of a salesman telling us that if we brought it to a mechanic get him to fix it..its not under the two month warranty and that what did we expect from an 01 car...'get the mechanic to fix it' was ranted to me over the phone, finally he said that he was on his break for the next hour and hung up .

I really dont know what to do..do we go elsewhere and pay to get the car fixed( not with sticky tape) and done properly or should we pursue the garage and the manager to sort out the mess.
I am not thinking about the cash we handed over I really think it is a safety issue..I sometimes think what did they do to make the brakes work..Use glue!!!

what kind of car is it

Peugeot 206

You bought the car with no warranty? When you say a dealer do you mean a small garage or a big garage.

Sorry, the car has a two month warranty: On the gears and engine. The garage is big enough...A couple of dozen cars for sale on the lot.

You don't give much information so it is difficult to respond. With second-hand cars any faults are usually apparent during the test-drive. There is a 2 month warranty therefore anything you bring to their attention within that period they should set right.........and not with tape! Outside of those straightforward rules for second-hand car buying, it's "Caveat Emptor" (let the buyer beware). If the buyer did not test-drive the car before buying, there is no manner of establishing whether these faults were present when the vehicle was sold. The fact that a 'learner driver' is using the car would be relevant here.

If you have purchased a vehicle which you deem to be unsafe the only course of action is to take it off the road until these are sorted out. The sorting-out is free of charge from the dealer who sold it to you so long as you are within the 2-month warranty period. Outside of that you are liable for the costs of any repair. These are legally established norms for dealing with this issue.

threaten to park the car the garage with signs in the windows that you just bought, it is unsafe and they wont fix it etc.

Get the [broken link removed] to have a look at it. Has it passed its NCT for 2007

The attitute of the salesmans stinks. Put complaint in writing.

It could be that the gear-change on this car is not as slick or tight as other cars you may have driven, and if the car has a high mileage, has had lots of previous owners/drivers, then it may not have been treated very well. 01 is not old, €5.2k is expensive enough and you do have a right to a car in serviceable condition because this is how it was described to you when you bought it.

The garage seems to hope you'll shut-up and go away. They have your money and probably don't want to be bothered any more.

Problem seems to be that you suspect there's a problem with the car and are apparently reliant on them to tell you whether or not there is - and they have no real interest anymore.

You don't make it clear what your local mechanic told you about the condition of the car. To be honest, it seems that he was a bit vague - telling you about tape isn't exactly a proper assessment and does not give you any leverage with the garage.

I suggest that you get hold of an automotive engineer (phonebook) or ask for a drivetrain inspection and report from a proper Peugeot main dealer. You'll have to pay for this but at least you'll have an independent assessment and a report identifying exactly what problems are from someone who knows.

If there is a problem, take it back to the original garage pronto and tell exactly what's wrong with the car, take no flak and tell then that you expect them to fix the problem at no cost. Try to find out if the garage is a member of one of the several societies for the motor trade and if they are, report them to the society immediately and ask about recovering the cost of the inspection you had done and any other expenses. You could also contact the office for consumer affairs.

It might also be possible to recover costs using the small-claims court process, which is free of solicitors, very cheap and quite simple to use.

If there is no problem, or if the issue arises because of acceptable wear and tear on an 01 car of that mileage, you'll be out of pocket for the inspection, but it will have been worth it to establish that the car you paid so much for is actually useable. I take it tho that you won't exactly be falling over yourself to recommend this garage to anyone!!

This is yet another reason to buy from a main dealer. there is a reason that they charge more than back-street/ small dealers and sorting out this kind of problem is one of them.
Be careful how you approach the dealer that you bought the car from, there are quite a lot of very suspect people selling second hand cars around the country.

If there not a main franchise dealer with SIMI approval and possibly ISO aswell, stay away. It's a black market that people get taking advantage of every day.

You saw how the "people" got killed chopping cars a few weeks ago. Selling cars on the side of the road or on lots here and there.

I'm trying to understand the main issue.

Was this car was purchased from the apron of 'a garage' or from a car dealer, small or large? You bought the car and drove it away. Your wife reported the gears were a bit loose and the brakes were not too responsive (had to push peddle all the way before braking). You took the car back to the garage a few days later where they reassured you but next day the garage contacted you that they would check the car 'just in case'. On the second collection the brakes 'have improved'. Your wife continued to find the gears 'loose' but (again!) the garage were reassuring. Subsequently your wife noticed a new problem with the gears - that from time to time they slip when changing and dont seem to go back into gear. Her confidence as a learner-driver wanes and you are afraid the car seems to be "a accident waiting to happen". You take it back to the garage (a second time) after which 'the gears seemed tighter'.

Is there any evidence from the Service Record or LogBook you received when you bought the vehicle that there were problems with the gear-lever (is it just the lever? The gears themselves?) As far as the brakes are concerned as an earlier poster says, this or any dealer would be behind bars if they are selling unroadworthy vehicles which would not meet MOT standards.

However it is very unclear from your post what exactly the 'garage' did apart from inspect the vehicle. Did the independent mechanic who told you about the tape do any work on this car? Most importantly - how much time has elapsed since you bought it (you mentioned 2-month warranty.........are you still within that period?)

Update: The mechanic who we brought the car to asked us was the car still under warranty.. it is...about another two or three weeks left. He told us to bring the car back to the garage..it is then we rang the garage and got the tirade about us bringing the car to a mechanic and getting the mechanic to fix it. I dont drive and we both thought that it would be better to buy from a garage than privately..now we are not so sure!
Today we took the car to a Peugeot dealer and they put the car up on a ramp.and told us there is a piece missing where the 'tape' is. We are going to get this garage to get the part in, and fix the problem for once and for all. Also they will do a full service on the car. We dont want to bring the car back to the garage and the Arthur Daly style sales people. It is a safety issue with us now. I will send a letter to them.

Damien - immensely relieved you took your car to Peugeot and this worry is now being laid to rest. Ultimately the person behind the wheel is legally and morally responsible for a dangerous vehicle and you have had a scary experience.

Just as a matter of interest - what part was missing (what function did it have)? I ask because I drive a Peugot 307 diesel, find it matches the claim 'the drive of your life' and have had consistently trouble-free experience of the make and their support services.

Marie, the car is currently at a Peugeot garage. When it comes back I will let you know what part was 'missing'. We feel relieved already. It's a pity all car sales centres are not 'governed' by an industry quality standard. Our next step might be to collect the costs through small claims.

If I were you I would most definitely pursue this via the small claims court, although i think you should write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the garage first to give them an opportunity to make amends. My wife bought a car (Peugeot 206 incidentally) from a main franchised dealer (not Peugeot though) a few years ago and had a number of problems with the car. I had my suspicions about the car from the off and I eventually discovered the car had suffered a a minor collision; the dealer never disclosed this fact (he knew about it) when he sold the car (later said he didn't have to) but I hounded him and every member of staff in that garage (phone, fax, email, personal visits- I was his worst nightmare!). Eventually he got an independent engineer's assessment of the car and carried out minor repairs as a result; I also "persuaded" him to extend the warranty by six months to "prove" his faith in the soundness of the vehicle. The garage folded after a year anyway (nothing to do with me!!) and I was glad to dispose of the vehicle shortly afterwards. It taught me a valuable lesson- never buy from a garage that you don't know much about; word of mouth, personal recommendation etc are important when it comes to deciding where I'll spend my money in future.

and the second lesson should be 'Never by a peugot'

I wouldn't take advice from a person who cant even spell Peugeot.

We have had a load of Peugeot's very little ever went wrong with any of them. Most were dsl but have had a few petrols, not great but not bad.

Mr2 said:

I wouldn't take advice from a person who cant even spell Peugeot.

Click to expand...

Or "buy".

Maybe Bertson meant: 'Never, by a peugot'