Sister act

I wonder if you could help? My sister bought a Vauxhall Astra from a private car dealer. Not sure how old, but it’s certainly not new. She got it for £800 and has had nothing but problems with it since, so she is giving to the people who buy any car. They are paying her £250. She has also spent £400 on repairs. The car cut out on a number of occasions with my sister and her two young children in it, and is also leaking oil. She has contacted the guy who sold it to her with no reply. How can people get away with this? Is there nothing else she can do? She’s out of pocket and still has no car.

Asked on 10 July 2010 by AM, via email

Answered by Honest John
Dealers have limited liability when they sell old bangers like this. All problems have to be referred back to the dealers anyway and they must be given the opportunity to fix them. It is obviously not reasonable to expect a car that originally cost maybe £16,000 bought for £800 to behave like a new car. Most complaints against dealers concern cars bought for less than £3,000 that the buyers expect to perform like new cars.
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