brake pipe burst

[kellyleekyle]

hi guys,

I bought my X5 2000 4.4i two weeks ago from a car dealership, it came with no warranty and hubby signed for it sold as seen. the MOT came with a few advisories on it which we accepted as the car was only £6,000. Well 3 days after collecting the car the window stopped working, cost me £200 for new switch but again accepted this as bad luck. Then sunday decided on a trip to trafford centre with hubby and mum, luckely hubby was driving as i would of freaked, the brakes failed, hubby managed to get over to the hard shoulder and slow car down to a stop, called AA who couldnt fix it due to it being a corroded snaped brake pipe, 3 hour wait to be recoverd to a garrage near home, next day garage said both sides were badly corroded and he would not let me take the car in this state, we were lucky to be alive and not cause a muli pile up on motorway

surly even though there was no warrany, the car should of been roadworthy not a death trap if sold by a car dealership? are they liable to help with some of the repair costs?

traded in my chrysler crossfire and now starting to wonder if i did the right thing.

[pvr]

A dealer can not sell without warranty of some sort, and "sold as seen" does not apply.

You should have recourse from the dealer who sold you this.

Oh, and welcome to the forum ...

[X5Sport]

Given the MOT had a few advisories that should have rung alarm bells, however who did the MOT? How long ago was it done? If fresh and by or on behalf of the car dealer you might have a case, but otherwise the best thing to do is go see your local Trading Standards Office. All I can think is whether there might be something under the heading of 'Merchantable Quality' but I think your local TSO is your next stop.

I did a similar thing about 30 years ago and found that the warranty offered only covered claims for £50, which was no help when a £400 engine repair became apparent. The car was also most likely clocked too, but proving that was impossible. I was mad as hell with the dealer and myself too.

Was this a BMW Dealer or independant?

[X5Sport]

Oh and welcome too. Not the nicest way to start your owning of a BMW.....

[kellyleekyle]

thanks for the replies guys, The MOT is due in March, but the garage is doing the work now whilst its in for the brake pipes, so bill now stands at £700, but its only minor things that were advisories thats why we bought the car, only had a new gearbox fitted in march so happy one of the biggies was out the way, The dealer (indy) said no to help with the brake repair as it should of been picked up by the MOT garrage not them, surley they should do a check before selling to make sure its roadworthy? other than this the car is spotless and pleanty of extras, like prins VSI LPG conversion.

[x555]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the repairs. I don't know much about the legaside of sales etc but surely the dealer is responsible for some sort of warranty.
Check up on the sale of goods act etc....failing that listen to the guys above as thay know there stuff ...... im just a grease monkey me
Good luck.

[IanP]

I have to say that the rear pipes are right awkward to see, I only found mine during an MOT when the tester pointed them out as they are hidden under plastic covers. He had seen the corrosion in the past, it appears that the pipes move against the securing brackets which removes the protective coating then the pipes corrode. Mine was less tha 8 years old with less than 80000 miles when they were found. My Audi has 150000 miles and another 8 years on the X5 and the pioes are still perfect. Go figure. At least you got away with only a raised heart rate. Welcome to the forum as well

[Raj]

Welcome again.

I certainly would be back in touch with the garage that sold the vehicle to you. You are protected as a garage cannot sell you a vehicle sold as seen as you have statutory rights. I bought my X5 from an independant garage last year and had to have nealry £2K's worth of work done straight away as the nearly all the air suspension had to be replaced and both mirrors were broken.

I got in touch with the garage and stated the sales of goods act and trading standards, etc and they coughed up the majority of the funds for the repairs. They even offered to allow me to return the X5 and have my M5 back, etc as they were aware of legalities.

Any trader has to ensure the item they are selling is fit for purpose, not just garages.

Also if they have a website, check it out as a lot of garages state any king of checks etc they carry out on any car they sell and this could be another point to help with the costs.

Good luck.

[kellyleekyle]

thanks guys, ill keep you posted. when they said it was sold as seen, he said it was only fair as he was buying my crossfire with only my word to take it was ok? I had only got the MOT done 2 days before trading it in, it has no advisories and a full service history, 20,000 miles. He did at the time say he could get me a 1 month warranty but would cost me £350.00 for the month but said i would be able to get one cheaper online, little did i know i wouldnt be able to get one. but thought it was a rip off for 1 months cover.

[Raj]

Your trade in is irrelevant as they have the opportunity to check the vehicle over and it is why they give substantially less to cover and issues they may find.

The vehicle you purchase still has to be of a satisfactory condition.

[pvr]

From a legal point of view, a dealer / trader can NOT sell "as seen". That will be the angle you have to take.

[Powercat]

You definitely got a raw deal there,
try contacting your insurance company they normally provide legal cover, a letter from a lawyer or a threat of one can help in reminding them of their obligations
Good luck