Bought A Dodgy Car, Advice Wanted

[DLUD3R]

Hey guys.

About 3 weeks ago I bought a car from a dealer, who I assumed was trustworthy because I couldn't find any bad reports. The car was running fine, beautiful condition, logbooks and everything and i'm the first owner since it's been in Australia. Started having some problems with it not even a week later, and thinking it was just a fuel pump issue, I let it go (I wasn't gonna sweat the dealer over a couple of hundred dollars).

Long story short, had it checked out (2 weeks after the purchase, with only 1 week warranty from the dealer) and it is suffering from low compression and needs a rebuild.

Now, I understand I should have had the car checked out before I bought it, I admit it's my own stupid fault. However, being as the rebuild is going to cost me a few grand which I don't have, i'm wondering if I have any leg to stand on here as far as getting the dealer to either fix it or at least chip in a bit towards a rebuild? (hah, I know)

I've organised to take the car back to the dealer tomorrow so they can have a look, but i'd like to be semi prepared. Does the dealer have any legal obligation at all to fix the car, given that the damage couldn't have been caused in the 2 weeks i'd had it? Isn't there some law about a product having to be of merchantable quality? Mind you, I drove this thing like a granny, didn't even get to have any fun with it

End of the day, I know I f-ed up. The dealer told me there were no problems with the engine and I bought it. I'm just hoping to weasel my way out of paying for a rebuild

Any help would be much appreciated.

[TurboX]

I thought any car sale over $3000 had to have a warranty by law?

More info on where you are and how much you paid and what you signed?

What does your sales contract say?

[WTF-33R]

Refer to your sale papers, If the car is over 10 years or has more than 160000kms, the dealer isnt obligated to provide a warranty.

[DLUD3R]

Well it's a 1992 R32 GTR, with 114xxx kms. So I guess i'm out of luck?

EDIT: Just to answer all the questions - I'm in VIC, paid just about $20k on the dot, and i'm running to the car to grab the documents right now...

Edited July 11, 2007 by DLUD3R

[toffy]

read your contract very carefully, if you signed a spot saying "as is where is" your outta luck. i wouldnt stress too much before the car yard looks at it if i were you , but dont expect a full rebuild, most car yards will just source you another s/h motor if its fooked because theyll wanna get out of it as cheaply as possible obviously . good luck, let us know how you go

[DLUD3R]

Mmm, i've seen 2nd hand RB26 for around $4,500. Thing is, I know my kms are genuine, and I have the logbooks to prove it, so i'd rather rebuild with Nismo parts or something (havn't done any research into engine bits yet) and stick with my current engine if possible. Any engine is gonna need a rebuild at some stage, so if I can't get the dealer to do it, might as well do it now and do it properly.

Thanks for humoring me though guys, I figured my chances were pretty slim anyway. Will let you know for sure.

Here's the car by the way, just in case anyone's interested...

[j_casey87]

hey mate i have had the same problem with a dealer in melb i baught a gtr 32 and it blew up on the way home now it took me about 6 months of phone calls then lawers to try and get any thing and long story short it was going to cost me around 10g 4 court fees due to haveing to take them to a higher court i just got a replacement engine it was cheeper than 10g at the end of the day these dogey dalers need to be dealt with they caused me s*#t loads of heart ake and money. to all people out there have more than 1 mechanic look at it and look around cheers

[jake33]

most car dealers have like a 90 day warranty so see whats covered under warranty and read the print on ya sales papers. i know you know, but you really should get a full inspection done on the car before you buy. and dont accept an inspection by someone who the dealer recommends... there vampires!!

i was looking at a line from a dealer and told him i was interested and said id like to get it inspected by RACV (their policy is to take all imports to a workshop, and do a full check. no on the spot job. bit of stuffing around.. but piece of mind), which i would 100% pay for ect.. and the dealer said no. haha i was like, hang on, im willing to buy a car from you and you wont let me get it checked by someone who i want to get it check, he said he would get it checked by the dealerships mechanic and provide me with a report. i laughed at him and of course told him to f**k off.. anyway long story short, people are dodgy.

good luck with the issue, and keep us posted as to what happens to you godz

Edited July 12, 2007 by jake33

[West]

I dont' understand why you guys go out and buy R32GTR through dealers but not private?

Dealer is the last place that i'd like to buy a car unless its a brand new car. Specially R32gtr. Anyway, best to speak to a lawyer or something but from what i've heard, all secondhand car from dealers has to have a minimum of 3months warranty.

[Beer Baron]

I think you're best course of action here is to approach them nicely at first. even if you get them to agree to cough up $1 or $2K up front towards the cost of a rebuild/replacement engine then you are doing well. if you can get them to compromise somehow you are doing well. maybe offer to pay for the parts/engine if they will do the labour for free at their shop?

If you think it's worth it I would consult a dealer. you may not have warranty, but if you could prove the fact that they knew, or should have known that this car had a dud motor then you may be able to make them cough up.

[HackerX]

When I bought my car (in QLD) the warranty details where as follows:

3 months if it was younger than x years (5 if I remember correctly) or

1 month if it was older.

I can't remember the number of years it was, but I remember thinking that pretty much every skyline would fit in the 1 month category (including the 99 model I bought) just to give you an idea

[DLUD3R]

Ok, so took it back to the dealer, who was pretty good about it. He basically said, if it's not my fault, they'll fix it up. Left it with them for an hour, they called me back in and did the compression test in front of me. 150 on all 6 cylinders. Called my mechanic, he said if the compression is up again then it's fine. Very possible it was a carbon build-up that has since broken off.

Took it straight to a completely different guy after the dealer. Gave him a description of the problem, he was under the hood for 30 seconds (literally) and found split vacuum hose and the idle revs were wound too high. Not necessarily what was causing the problem, but I figure it seems like he knows what he's doing, he might be the one who can fix it up. So I will definitely be organising a check-up/service with him as soon as possible.

At the end of the day, as long as the engine is ok, i'm happy

[Habler]

finding a decent mechanic might be a good start.... You would think the first guy could have picked up on things like split vacum hoses and idle revs being too high?

"Now, I understand I should have had the car checked out before I bought it, I admit it's my own stupid fault."

Its always worth the extra bit of cash now than in the long run.

I bet your more than happy its not the motor at fault though!

[dnbutts]

eeek,

when looking for my car i was very weary of the 32 gtr from the dealer for this exact reason, ended up saving some cash and goiing with a 33 gtst.

[jake33]

wow good news. now you should spend the money that you thought you would have to spend fixing, and spending it on mods LOL

[DLUD3R]

Yeah, I did a bit of a search on GTR register for similar problems. Looks like it might be spark plugs and coilpacks. The mods will come over time, i'm kinda researching and saving money so I can buy the best. Currently on the top of my list (apart from NGK Iridiums and Splitfire Coilpacks, both of which seem to have good reviews) is the Fujitsubo Super Ti exhaust, followed closely by some new rims. I like the idea of some nice dished rims (currently looking at Work Meister, but open to suggestions) but some of my friends are against the dished look.

As far as a decent mechanic goes, the first guy I took it to is my most trusted mechanic. Taken every car i've owned to him (now 4 in total) and he's always done well. He's very picky, which is why I like him. Although given what happened yesterday, I think i've found a new workshop. I've heard good things about them, just never gone to them before because i've never really had a performance car. Tell you what though if they can get my car all fixed up and running nicely, they've earned a customer for life.

I love my car

[Grinners]

Hey guys, i am a member with RACV road side assitance or whatever, so i get the monthly magazines delivered (or my parents do).

Anyway, a while ago they had an offer where they would send you a free book on EVERYTHING you need to know when buying a new or used car.

I ordered it and it is great.

One of the things i noted was that if you buy a used car you have 3 days in which you can return it for whatever reason you want. So any problems, try to have them in 3 days Obviously not if you damage the car yourself but if there is a problem, they must give you a free refund (dealer or private).

[dnbutts]

wow good news. now you should spend the money that you thought you would have to spend fixing, and spending it on mods LOL

yup, and not blow up in the process.

[MissR34]

do you not have a statury(spelt wrong i believe) warranty over in vic??? or only here in sa??

[toffy]

its spelt statutory missr34 .

http://www.aspecproducts.com/images.asp?theid=7093

definately a set of these (in chrome) , make sure its very low and the offset of the rims are in the right spot and youve got yourself a panty dropper

Edited July 16, 2007 by toffy