Liability When Buying a Car: Your Question Answered

Questioner

I recently bought a car online for €1400. The car has a new MOT until next year. The timing belt was recently replaced and the advertisement text stated: 'a nice car for years of driving pleasure'. The same day of purchase the engine temperature gauge went into the red zone when idling. You don't notice this during a test drive. My own expectation: blown head gasket. I informed the seller of this immediately and he offered to have the car repaired at his expense. Before I returned the car to the seller I discovered that there were 2 black stickers stuck on the black dashboard so that 2 lights were not visible (when the light does not fall on this it is absolutely not visible and therefore misleading). I decided not to say anything about this and give the seller the opportunity to solve it properly. 3 days later I get a message that the car has been repaired. Seller indicates that the cylinder head gasket was not broken but the thermostat. This has been replaced incl new coolant and the cooling system has been flushed. All this has been done at the garage where the MOT inspection was also recently carried out. The stickers were still stuck on the dashboard. I spoke to the seller about this. He indicated that it concerns the lighting and airbag. After checking, this indeed appears to be correct. For me, it is not a very serious matter, so I take it for granted. The car is driving again and the temperature is no longer rising. However, 6 days after the car comes back from the garage and I have driven it exactly 3 times, it shows the same defects again. The temperature of the car rises again to the red zone and the heating no longer works. The next day I immediately took the car to my own garage. It did not go smoothly. The car stuttered enormously during the drive and seemed to have no power anymore. Result: blown cylinder head gasket. To what extent is the seller liable? He is selling a car with stickers stuck on the dashboard behind the glass. Efforts have been made for this. The odometer is also not running properly. A problem that is not immediately noticeable. And last but not least, the cylinder head gasket. It looks like this was indeed already broken and the seller had the car repaired in such a way that I could drive on with it for a while (read: 6 days). I have sent the seller a message but he is not responding. Am I really unlucky or can I make a case out of this?

Lawyer

I don't see the story about the stickers being related to the blown cylinder head gasket, but it obviously does give a certain image of the seller. As for the cylinder head gasket, how do you know that this is the problem? Did the seller admit this or did another garage determine this? Based on your story, this problem was already present at the time of sale and the seller managed to mask it with a stopgap measure. You may therefore demand that the seller fix the defect. I am even of the opinion that, because this problem already existed at the time of purchase but was unknown to you, you can terminate the agreement on the grounds of fraud or error. This would result in returning the car and getting your money back. You ask if you can make a case of this, I think so. However, keep an eye on the costs in relation to the purchase price of the car. You could start by having a lawyer send a letter, perhaps that will be the right push in the back. But unfortunately my experience with car dealers is that often more is needed. Please feel free to contact me without any obligation to discuss your options.