Shafted by seller?

[obbzie]

your opinions here please those who read this, I have heard differing schools of thought on this.

I recently bought my 2nd E46 330i from a guy in JHB, the car is immaculate and was a good buy, I still feel that way. However, there are two things that have really upset me. I sent a mate to look at the car, overall he said it looked good. I fly up to take delivery, and meet the owners friend as he had just left (same day) for Austraila on vacation.

1. car was advertised with 92,000km on the clock, when I got in the car (after paying for it), vehicle had 97 on the clock. Guess I can blame my mate for this, but the purchase agreement says 92, so who is wrong here? Owners friend plays dumb.

2. 5 mins after driving away (I was now on the N1 going to Cape Town), the coolant light comes. I phone the owners friend and he says its nothing, just a fuse (they had it checked out). Yes I am so thick I "really" believe that. Anyway, car holds out all the way to CPT. Been here 2 weeks now and water/coolant now leaking everywhere so I have to take it in.


What would you guys do? Would you call this oke and ask him to honour the cost of the repairs? I mean I drove the car away with the problem, and the agreement between us is that there was nothing wrong. Apart from the legal side, do you think I have grounds to ask this of him? I feel quite screwed really, should I?

 

[calypso]

Thats a tough one. Hopefully is not a big problem and you dont have to bother.
Makes me feel not so bad about flying up to Durban and they selling just changing his mind about selling the car.

 

[zaleonardz]

Well,

What have you got in terms of paperwork, and what was the terms in the paperwork.

Also, where is it leaking from, if its pissing out, thats actually a good thing, as the leak could be easily detectable, and therefore, easily fixed, its when you dont know where the coolant is going that you have a much more serious problem.

Here is the thing, if you have any paperwork, you are probably going to find out that the terms of the contract says "voetstoots", which in turn means, your screwed, in theory, but the law overrides this in terms of the new National credit Act, and as such, there has to be other conditions.

How did you pay for the car, did you finance the car through a bank (private finance) or did you pay him cash, cause if you paid him cash, you are going to have a much tougher time, if you financed, you can get the deal cancelled if its under a certian number of days, think 30.

You also have the onbudsman who can help, but if your fighting a private individual, you are going to have a tough time, but its doable.

Here is the thing, you are in a position to fight , but its going to be a tough fight.

Determine where the leak is coming from, and if its a cracked hose, or even a cracked pump, leaking sealing seal, have it fixed, its going to be a lot less effort, and if the seller is a gentleman, have them split the cost.

You may find the repair to be under R1,000 or close by, which means, just fix it.

DO NOT... I REPEAT DO NOT let this car overheat, or your in for 30k+

Good luck bud

 

[Glenn]

It is really a tough one for me to guess but i hope it is not a big problem for you as you bought it from your friend..

 

[netercol]

i hate to say it, but i have a sneaking feeling they saw you coming. (you got shafted)

i have seen this scene before, when the car gets picked up, there is no-one avaidible who can take responsibility for anything, the friend/spouse/girlfiend/father-inlaw/mother/grandmother delivers the car, then claims they know nothing about the car. once you have taken it, they just plead voetstoots.. :mmm:

 

[M3power!]

tell me about it these guys did the same thing I had 3000km extra after agreeing to the purchase...sucks..amongst other issues , like my trade in getting R2000 tickets on my name.