My car needs £12k+ worth of repairs and I've only owned it for a few months - what should I do?

I have a 2014 Mazda CX-5, which I have owned for seven months. I purchased from a car trader. Last week, it failed very suddenly with loss of power and black smoke from the exhaust, there were no warning lights or other signs the car was not running as it should. I had to abandon it in the road and later it was recovered. My local garage believe it could be the turbo and potentially the DPF, repair would cost anything from £1700-£5000. I rang Mazda HQ and they advised to take to a Mazda dealer for diagnostics, so arranged recovery to local dealer. They have advised it will need a new turbo, engine and exhaust - costing £12,000 for parts alone. Obviously this outweighs the cars value. Any advice would be greatly received.

Asked on 18 March 2020 by Laura Hobbis

Answered by Dan Powell
This reads like the car was faulty when you bought it from the trader. I would recommend contacting the trader and asking them to fix it. There is no liability with Mazda, because they didn't sell you the vehicle. But I would make a copy of the diagnostics report and present it to the trader to back-up your claim. Do not give them the original copies, as you will need these if you decide to make a legal case via the small claims court. For your consumer rights, see: www.honestjohn.co.uk/how-to-reject-a-car-your-cons...s
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