From the sounds of it the driver door hinges have worn, seeing as the vast majority of people including modern mechanics haven't the foggiest idea what an oil can is or what it does this is hardly surprising....spraying some white grease from 6 ft away onto the outside of hinge is of no use to man or beast, but it reassures the buyer for some unknown reason.

I think you needs to investigate a new hinge or possibly two, now whether these are nice easy (at a price) bolt on jobbies i do not know, some cars the hinge is welded to the A pillar and/or the door, so unless the pin is the only thing worn and replaceable, possibly a special tool needed to get it out, big hammer and drift, this could be a more involved job than at first it appears.

Wouldn't be the first hinge i've drilled out and fitted a bigger nut and bolt through as a proper hinge.

Door hinge hasn't come loose and just needs the bolts tightening i s'pose.

New door seal, remove old one and glue in the new one.

Course they maye just say to you 'bring it in Mr Bananastand and we'll sort it for you', you then come on here and tell us what a nice bunch of people The Acme Garage is and we go there to buy our cars..)

May I ask what your opinion on getting a new door seal sorted by the dealer is? It looks rather substantial and has "expensive" written on it.

Like rock you mean all the way through, that'll take some doing to replicate, but if the word is only stencilled along the length of the seal then it should be easy enough to print on..:-)...

sorry i'm in a particularly strange mood at the moment, lack of sleep following a long night reaping and fixing other's lack of attention to detail.

I can't give any view as to what they should fix under SOGA or some such, but from a common sense(ish) view....

If you got the car at a 'trade' price and it's overall in good condition and was a bargain then i'd take the view that certain things would be expected to be less than perfect, or that it might need a bit of elbow grease or touching up here and there to bring it up to scratch.

If it was A1 top book, i'd expect it to be immaculate in every way.

You can only ask the selling garage, they can only say no.

Yeah well here's another thought... I couldn't have noticed the ripped/worn seal until I drove it, because it was only after a few days' ownership I felt the draught. Which then led me to realise the door was slightly askew. Am I getting somewhere here??

Wind farms ruin lives by the way.

Thanking you

I would have thought the Parkers valuation guide is entirely irrelevant here - I'm sure the dealer sold it for what they actually sell for & guides values seem all over the place to me, especially with the more 'exotic' types of vehicle.

You bought retail from an established/large dealer, you should have a minimum warranty period by law (well you did last time I looked..) & the sealing fault is not something that you could have caused, I'd have thought. The saggy door though, could be disputed I'd assume, but if they're willing to address/negotiate over that, it doesn't seem that onerous to look at the hinges at the same time. you could, if you think you got a bargain, even offer to contribute to the cost - I'm thinking least-hassle route here.

I'd go back & chat them up a bit before quoting SoGA - look happy & pleased, but mention the faults. I'm sure SoGA would apply, however, 'forcing' that compliance could mean hassle through the Small Claims court. I'd also check the Consumer direct website & helpline, maybe also contact Trading Standards for other useful background/info on the trader.

Now then now then, spoke to Consumer Direct and been told I should be on solid ground. I have emailed the dealer principal with photographs. I am now hopping from foot to foot with my tongue out waiting for his response!

Woman on the phone at the dealer said "you are covered for three months after purchase".... How can they be so ignorant of the law? When I was shopping round NOT ONE dealer knew of the 6 months SoGA rules. Apparently.

They swore up and down it had not been bumped. The door seal looks like a big chunk has been bitten out of it. I agree I did feel like I was in a sticky wicket situation at first, but these faults weren't pointed out to me. I don't know what I would have done if they had been TBH!

OK I must go and read these FAQs and see what's what. UPDATE: the dealer has not been back in touch and as far as I remember it was monday when I emailed... with photos (it's Sunday now, for the benefit of readers in the future)

Godfrey Bloom for PM

Fair wear and tear as an integral part of the legislation. All the dealer has to do is demonstrate that a door seal wearing out from people entering and exiting the car is a fair thing on an 06 plate car.

It is not necessarily a "fault" and the dealer is under no obligation to point it out to you.

The issue is you are gambling with what is "satisfactory" on a used car and that tends to mean it starts, stops and goes in generally the correct manner and in a safe way.

Were it belching out smoke, missing 2 gears and pulling violently to the left you'd have a very tight case but be careful of landing yourself with a load of legal fees before taking proper advice.

You might be able to do it on the cheap, but the dealer probably has insurance cover for this sort of things which will go and employ a load of very expensive legal specialist bods who if you lose will in turn sue you for costs.

All I am saying is take some proper (i.e. not internet forum) advice before going all guns blazing or negoatiate a sensible ex-gratia payment from the dealer or something.

Just in case the wording there was a bit confusing...

The garage have agreed with no argument to fix the door and seal at no charge.

Ta HJ