August 2007
I saw a used car valued at £12,000 at an independent dealer and put a deposit of £500 down. A trade in on amy old car worth £5,000 was also agreed as part of the deal.
The deposit was paid on the condition that work was done to the car.
In the week between putting down the deposit and collecting the car I was offered an alternative deal for a better car, which would leave me better off even if I lost the deposit on the first car.
I went back to the dealer, saw the car again and was not happy with all the work done, although I did not clearly state this at the time. I did explain that I'd seen a better car and been offered a better deal elsewhere. The dealer refused to negotiate the deal being offered.
I walked away, apologising and accepting that I would lose my deposit. I immediately wrote to the dealer, explaining the situation and confirming I wouldn't be buying the car.
I bought the other car, which I'm happy with.
Two weeks later I have received a letter from a law firm saying I will be in breach of contract if I don't buy the first car and liable for losses amounting to nearly £2,000. No evidence of what these losses are have yet been provided.
My household insurance legal advice line says the dealer can indeed recover any losses incurred from my not proceeding with the deal - inclding the cost of works done to the car. Since these works were required to make the car worth what the dealer was asking I find that hard to accept.
I'm feeling this is grossly unjust, as I consider the reasonable losses the dealer suffered are covered by the deposit.
I will be pushing to see what these losses are before accepting any further liability, but wonder if there's anything else I can do.
Anyone else suffered such an experience ? Any advice on gettiong a fair outcome ?
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I have a Vauxhall Movano on a 2000 W plate. 2.8 TD engine. Does this have a rubber cam belt that required changing, or does it use a chain-cam (hopefully!)
Thanks, Dan Read more
Screwloose's info is correct as per Vauxhall's recommendation - Nov 2006.
img501.imageshack.us/img501/6703/movanobz9.jpg
I have just bought my daughter a 1.1 Saxo SX. All fine, except the heater blower in the car doesn't work. When the switch is turned on, the engine revs reduce which I assume means that power is getting through to the switch, but not activating the blower.
Not being very car mechanically minded, is this a common fault? Is it likely to be the fan is seized or possibly something else? Any help would be very gratefully received.
Thank you
Richard1159
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Richard,
I can see you're new to the site, go to "Forum Search" on the right, put "saxo" and "Heater" into the subject line and search and you should find the threads mentioned, this is why we ask for the model and fault in the subject line....
I've just purchased a Vauxhall Movano van and whilst the gear change works perfectly well and goes into/out of gear without problems, the changing feels rather "loose" and "vague". Is this down to worn/stretched linkages? The gear lever is linked to the gear box with what looks like "bicycle brake cables" (sorry its late and I cannot find the appropriate name for them :) )
Is this a maintenance issue I can deal with myself, i.e tighten up or replace the linkages?
Thanks, Dan Read more
Dan
Yes those Renaults do get that way once they've done some serious miles. New Bowden cables might help; but the slackness may be everywhere.
Got a strange fault on a micra headlight one side. 12v is present when I check with meter but when the bulb is put back it drops to 0v. Suspect a dry joint somwhere on that side wiring.
Haynes manual refers to a dim/dip unit that I want to trace but I cant find it. Haynes as usual does not show where it is.
Any ideas appreciated? Read more
No problem - am only "experienced and helpful" when it comes to Nissans though! Dim/dip relay is a common fault on a lot of Nissans, glad you got it sorted.
I've just purchased a van that came fitted with a tachograph and I'm worried that I've let myself in for trouble. The vehicle is a 3.5t gross, so doesn't need a tacho by law, but I've been told some fleet companies use them on standard vans. For a start, I haven't a clue how to use the thing, or what all the controls on it do. When I come to take the vehicle for an mot in a few months time, are they going to insist I have calibration/checks done on the tacho, or can it just be ignored?
Are there any sites on the net that take you through the operation of the things?
Thanks,
Dan Read more
Thinking a bit more about it, they would not be able to get out of the working time directive, so they would have to stop for 30 minutes after 6 hours of work now, just like we all have to.
I have driven both and what like to hear peoples views on what they believe is the better engine?
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Bear in mind that this thread was started in August 2007, and that the 2.0 engine being considered was the PD.
Since 2009 VW, followed with some delay by Skoda, have been replacing it with the CR engine, which is quieter and smoother, but hasn't been around for long enough for a judgement to be made on whether it can cope as well with six-figure mileages as the 1.9 TDI.
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nick: "I assume the cooling coils must be warmed periodically to melt the ice"
On one type, yes:
home.howstuffworks.com/question144.htm
On the other type, air is actively blown around the freezer and is dehumidified outside the freezer. This means there is no moisture there in the first place to freeze into ice. The downside is that anything left unwrapped for long enough (e.g. the home-made burgers I barbecued on Sunday) will dry out and be pretty much inedible through dessication.
V
1995 K11 Micra. It has just failed it's MOT due to CV joint boot problems. I guess that this is the rubber shroud over the CV joint.
LH CV boot has a split.
RH CV boot is not atttached securely.
The CV joint/driveshaft seems to work OK.
Question: What causes these splits etc.? Potholes. Or just rubber perishing with time?
Question: How much to fix this? MOT garage quoted 200 quid. Local garage quoted 90 to a 100 quid. I was told that both driveshafts would have to be removed and a new boot fitted. Is this correct? Can't the boot be fitted externally without removing the driveshaft.
Thanks
Mike Read more
I have **tried** to use the split boot kits, but they never seemed to last long. I got them glued up OK, but the seam where the glue goes is quite wide and thick (stiff) so started to split itself after a couple 1000 miles. Mind you, they might have been improved, its at least 10 years since I tried to use one.
I have a problem with my Clio 1.2 2001 car, this has been going on now for about a year and a half, what happens is when you start the car whether its hot or cold the orange electronic fault and pre heating warning light comes on, when this happens you can only drive at about 15 mph, this happens mostly when the car is started but has done this to me at traffic lights once, the engine never cuts out but the revs are higher, if I turn the engine off for 15 minutes it will right itself and the light will go off and maybe will be ok for 2-3 weeks, its been at the Renault garage where they said nothing was wrong, has anyone else had this problem.
Cheers Andy.
{Shouting amended - DD} Read more
Andy
They may not have any more success that they did last time.
If it's the fly-by-wire throttle body [75% chance] then the bill will likely be over £1000 to replace/adapt it and the loom; that's serious money - good job you're loaded.
Browse
Update and possible conclusion
Recap: I put a deposit of £500 on a car on the condition work was done to it to make it worth the asking price. Not all the work was up to standard. I saw a car elsewhere in better condition at a lower price. I wanted to renegotiate the price of the car I put a deposit on ? the dealer refused. I walked away and the dealer said I was in breach of contract and liable for losses of nearly two grand.
After the dealer?s solicitor offered me effectively an out of court settlement for £1750 and my asking for justification of the costs ? nothing, for more than a week. My thoughts at that time were that he would just go to court and justify the costs immediately prior to court proceedings. I didn?t want to go to court.
I had been aware from the time I first looked at the car that the dealer was a member of the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF), who operate a conciliation service for disputes. I wrote to the RMIF asking for the matter to be referred to this service.
Whether a coincidence or not, two days later I got a one page letter from the solicitor outlining some costs ? totalling £1600 including a loss of £700 for having sold the car for less than I?d agreed to pay. I replied to this, accepting some costs ? such as carrying out an MOT ? and not accepting in full other costs ? such as the cost of a service ? since in my view they could easily have sold the car having been serviced a week or two ago as yesterday.
I argued that I wasn?t liable for the work not done properly and I would have suffered losses in having to go back another day to pick the car up. I sent a cheque for £550, meaning I?m now £1050 out of pocket in total, due to the £500 paid previously. I?ve heard nothing for two weeks since, other than the RMIF saying they?ve written to the dealer for his response to my letter to them. I?m fairly sure this will be an end to it. I?m glad I bought my car somewhere else.
Warning to all:
Pay a deposit for anything and you?re entering a legally binding contract. If you want to back out you?re potentially liable for any losses the seller can argue he?s incurred. These losses can be up to the full purchase price, not the value of the deposit. These recoverable losses include any works done ? even if they are needed to justify the agreed price. I wasn?t aware of this ? until it cost me dear. Be very careful.