Bought bad car help me

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Sun 17 Sep 2006 22:11
Bought bad car help me - Shuja1
I bought a Fiat Punto from british car auction and found that the engine is leaking a bit of oil , vehicle gettting too hot even if i just drive 4 miles. I am a first time buyer and have not got enough money to handle the repair cost of mechanics please guide me what to do to have minimum loss or is worth repair.

Really a bad experience from auctions

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Sun 17 Sep 2006 22:15
Bought bad car help me - DavidHM
I am no expert but the symptoms suggest head gasket failure to me, quite common on Puntos. Is there any "mayonnaise" in the oil filler cap?

What engine is it? How old is the car, how many miles and what did you pay for it?

Unfortunately when you buy from auction you don't have any rights with regard to the condition of the car; even if the car is sold as "all good" you only have an hour in which to inspect and then, if you need to, reject the car.
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Mon 18 Sep 2006 00:54
Bought bad car help me - Aprilia
Take it back to the auction and put it through. You'll lose a bit, but not as much as if you scrap it! And next time look for a better model of car. See if you can find a nice Micra.
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Mon 18 Sep 2006 01:06
Bought bad car help me - spikeyhead {p}
Next time buy from a dealer, then you'll have full comeback if anything goes wrong.

Buying from an auction is a gamble and it sounds like you can't afford to be gambling.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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Mon 18 Sep 2006 06:57
Bought bad car help me - Armitage Shanks {p}
With great respect, I don't think it is at all sensible for a first timer to buy at an auction, unless he/she has some very good help along there with them! Bad luck, I hope it works out with minimal loss to you.
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Mon 18 Sep 2006 09:09
Bought bad car help me - blue_haddock
One of the reasons you actually bought it may be that experienced (and knowledgable) auction regulars realised it was a lemon and didn't bid.
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Mon 18 Sep 2006 12:38
Bought bad car help me - horse
When you leave the car parked up is there a mark from dripped oil left behind?

If not, then as DeavidHM says, its probably the head gasket, check for the mayonaise type buildup in the oil.

There is a prduct that you can buy which can seal it and give you (fingers crossed) a few months. Its a worth a go, I haven't done it myself but my dad once did this on an old renault and it continued to drive ok for a year untuil the clutch went and he scrapped it.
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Mon 18 Sep 2006 14:30
Bought bad car help me - Mike H
Might not be as bad as you think - my Megane recently had the symptoms of a head gasket failure, i.e. overheating, lots of bubbles in the overflow tank etc. The breakdown service agreed with me. However, when I got it back to my friendly local garage, it turned out be a simple combination of stuck thermostat and faulty radiator cap which meant the system wasn't properly sealed. Had it been the gasket, it would have written the car off. As it was it cost £127 to include the cost of diagnosis, and I've had no trouble since.

I suggest you get a proper diagnosis before you panic.
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