Legal / Mechanical advice needed badly!!!!!!!

[Shmed]

I have had similar problem as I'm sure some of you may be aware (hence numerous posts for parts). Bought mine last May and when I first got under the car i noticed all over surface rust.

Having noticed the snapped spring (which had already corroded on the sheared part so had been gone for a while) I reckon the car has been put in a barn whilst wet, rotted for a few months, been done up (cosmetically)and flogged off for mass profit to some mug (Me).

Could've complained to garage, but by the time anything came of it I could 've fixed it and known for sure that the car is more than roadworthy.

Still, £900 down the line, lots of help from your friendly IMOC, and every component from top suspension bearing right down to the lower ball joint are being replaced all round. Expensive, but worth it, gonna be a new 2 when it's done!!

Agree with Leeroy, it is good to stand up for yourself, but when you just get fcuked over and still have a knackered car, whats the point?!

[Leon.]

Agree with Leeroy, it is good to stand up for yourself, but when you just get fcuked over and still have a knackered car, whats the point?!

Well, I would not go ahead with anything if the odds weren't strongly in my favour. I was suggesting if the engineers report is conclusive in showing the car to be unroadworthy after such a short time after buying the car, it would seem obvious that the condition of the vehicle was suspect at the time of sale.

Assuming success through the legal system, if it went that far, Andy would then get a full refund of the car and be able to buy another, better one, and this time he'd have more experience!!

Just my thoughts

[AndyMR2NI]

Leeroy is spot on, all I want to do is see what shape the car is actually in. Nothing is final yet. Cheers for the support, much appreciated m8!
As for Steve B, what planet are you on? You need to do a of reading to the past posts - Quote Steve B: "so what exactly is the problem?" THE PROBLEM IS I HAVE AN UNROADWORTHY CAR IS MY DRIVE AND AT PRESENT I HAVE NO IDEA OF THE EXTENT OF THE FAULTS!
And the small matter of me paying £2700 for a roadwothy, reliable, well maintained MR2 (i paid that bit extra cos i precisely didn't want these faults to come up & had reassurance from the dealer that they wouldn't.)

It is my opinion that idiot's like u Steve with no fight are making these dodgy dealers rich men and it takes people like me to highlight these problems that happen every day with nothing being said alot of the time!

Sorry to sound harsh but i'd to save years to afford my '2. Now i've been fcuked and no1 will get away with it. Power to the little guy!

[Leon.]

Big up!!

Knock him out!!!!!!!!!!! (the dealer I mean, not steve )

[steve b]

THE PROBLEM IS I HAVE AN UNROADWORTHY CAR IS MY DRIVE AND AT PRESENT I HAVE NO IDEA OF THE EXTENT OF THE FAULTS!

Did you look at the car before you bought it?

And the small matter of me paying £2700 for a roadwothy, reliable, well maintained MR2

more fool you, believe everything people say?

It is my opinion that idiot's like u Steve with no fight are making these dodgy dealers rich men and it takes people like me to highlight these problems that happen every day with nothing being said alot of the time!

never had to i checked my car out before i handed over the cash

Sorry to sound harsh but i'd to save years to afford my '2. Now i've been fcuked and no1 will get away with it. Power to the little guy!

can't believe you saved years and then bought it without an independant inspection if you couldn't see the faults yourself

If you bought a 1 year old car still under manufactures warantee and had your problems and they wouldn't sort it then i'd feel you were being treated badly. But buying old cars you MUST expect to have to replace worn bits.

[Leon.]

THE PROBLEM IS I HAVE AN UNROADWORTHY CAR IS MY DRIVE AND AT PRESENT I HAVE NO IDEA OF THE EXTENT OF THE FAULTS!

Did you look at the car before you bought it?

And the small matter of me paying £2700 for a roadwothy, reliable, well maintained MR2

more fool you, believe everything people say?

It is my opinion that idiot's like u Steve with no fight are making these dodgy dealers rich men and it takes people like me to highlight these problems that happen every day with nothing being said alot of the time!

never had to i checked my car out before i handed over the cash

Sorry to sound harsh but i'd to save years to afford my '2. Now i've been fcuked and no1 will get away with it. Power to the little guy!

can't believe you saved years and then bought it without an independant inspection if you couldn't see the faults yourself

If you bought a 1 year old car still under manufactures warantee and had your problems and they wouldn't sort it then i'd feel you were being treated badly. But buying old cars you MUST expect to have to replace worn bits.

Steve, no dis but the point here is that he was sold something that was not true to its description. Worn bits are a little different to a non roadworthy car - if the car was "sold as seen", with Andy in the knowledge of its current problems fair enough, but as I understand this was not the case.

[AndyMR2NI]

Can I make this any plainer for you Steve? THE CAR IS UNROADWORTHY, ILLEGAL, GETTIT? If any1 else cannot understand this, please say. Not "WORN PARTS", WORN TO THE ENTENT OF ILLEGAL TO SELL. And not £200 worth, possibly £1000 - that's not small pennies to me!

Right Steve, were you ever 21? Have you ever saw something so beautiful, you become consumed with desire to have it? The adrenaline was pumping, I was 1 test drive from owning my dream car, the sound of the s/steel exhaust overwhelming. And when you add the sales pitch from an experienced sales man, i was like a hooked fish. I admit i let my heart think instead of my head (can't ALL be geeky scientists u know!)
Ur not a dealer in disguise by any chance??
But as stated above, it should be proved that the dealer shouldn't have had it on the forecourt, as it was illegal. Whether i should have bought it will be irrelevant.

[Aidy]

The important point is that you bought it 5 months ago. How can you prove what condition it was in then?

[AndyMR2NI]

Granted, I can't. The surveyor will take care of that. I'm not an expert by any stretch but, when a mechanic tells me the steering rack, trackrod, antiroll link etc are so badly corroded that they are a liability on the road that makes me think I couldn't have done this with in 4.5 months. I'm not into bombing down the M1 at 120+. For a start the insurance would crucify me!

[Aidy]

4.5 months is a fair time though. At what point did they become unroadworthy? Also why did it take you 4.5 months to have the car checked? Getting a service was the first thing I do with all my cars.

At the end of the day, things just don't look great for you given so much time has passed. Your legal rights diminish over time as you can't be certain as to what you've been doing to the car in that time.

Let's say you sell a car to someone you know is in good condition and 5 months later they turn up with a blown engine saying "it must have been duff when you sold it" what would you do? In those 5 months they could have done anything...gone racing, not maintained it, swaped the engine out....who knows?

[BenF]

OK long story but i'll try to keep it to min. Was havin my 1st service done last wk on my '2 since gettin her when the mechanic rings me and gives me the following list of faultly things that make her unroadworthy. O/S steering rack boot, O/S Trackrod badly worn (end of rack), O/S/F antiroll link, N/S/F strut, Inner antiroll bushes Fx2, gear linkage bushes worn at rear.

The car was sold to me 4.5 months ago with 61000km on clock. There is now 74000km on her, the mechanic said there's no way this could be the true mileage and no way this damage could be done in 4 months. Does this sound like I've been done?? Love my car to bits but i've had to get a 306 for a few months as the lawyer i went to thinks i've a good case.
Dealer refuses to do sweet f.a as 3 month warranty expired. '2 jus sittin in drive, corroding. Breaks my heart. ANY ADVICE PLEASE????

Mate, sorry to hear this. What's the problem with the car though - does it drive badly, clunk or what?

I'd be surprised if those bits needed doing with efffectively 40k on the clock - bits perishing (steering rack boot) are fair enough due to age, but I'd be surprised if the balljoints needed doing yet. You sure its not just your local garage looking for work to do at your expense ?

But, one thing you've got to bear in mind - The MR2 is a high performance car, its not cheap to run - you've got to expect to spend a fair amount to keep it in good condition. This includes stuff that ages with time.

FWIW I've spent £130 on parts for my Mk1 - lower balljoints, Steering rack rod ends one drop link (ebay) and that has transformed its feedback and handling. For a car worth maybe £500 that's a fair bit, but its what you've got to expect ..

[AndyMR2NI]

The car itself its running fine as it's just been serviced, although gear linkage going from 3rd to 2nd is knackered - grinding clunk. Also there's a very noticable imbalance in suspension (at first i thought this was the way the MR2 was but i've been in a m8's '2 & believe me they are nothing alike!) Been told if i'd a crash the insurance comp wouldn't touch me so my hand's been forced to take off the road.

Of course it will cost money to run it but the mechanic is convinced there's something dodgy going on here. There's no question of him trying to drum up trade for himself as it was HE who suggested I get a RAC suveyor to go through it. Don't wanna speculate what could be wrong until this report is carried out and I know the facts.

It's really unfortunate as I had big plans for my car, coming into the summer and all

[BenF]

The car itself its running fine as it's just been serviced, although gear linkage going from 3rd to 2nd is knackered - grinding clunk.

Try some Redline MT90 - that may smooth things a bit, but the Rev1 gearboxes are a little more fragile than Rev2 and then Rev3-on boxes.

Also there's a very noticable imbalance in suspension (at first i thought this was the way the MR2 was but i've been in a m8's '2 & believe me they are nothing alike!)

Might be worth checking the alignment ? If its way out it can transform a cars 'feel' on the road. Ditto choice of tyres (get good 'uns) , and tyre pressures.

Been told if i'd a crash the insurance comp wouldn't touch me so my hand's been forced to take off the road.

Don't understand this one - I don't know if in Ireland its different, but in the UK if you've got a MOT the car is deemed to be roadworthly. What you've described wouldn't cause it to fail an MOT, apart from the perished boot possibly.

Of course it will cost money to run it but the mechanic is convinced there's something dodgy going on here. There's no question of him trying to drum up trade for himself as it was HE who suggested I get a RAC suveyor to go through it. Don't wanna speculate what could be wrong until this report is carried out and I know the facts.

It's really unfortunate as I had big plans for my car, coming into the summer and all

Just one thought - for all the hassle of getting a RAC inspection, and then trying to sue the garage who sold you the car 5 months back, is it going to 'cost' you more time and effort than just buying the replacement bits?

You could have a word with the Garage you bought the car from and try to do a deal - you provide the parts, they fit them for free, everyone's happy?

Or you could continue as you are, but you take the risk that the court case won't go your way ..

[AndyMR2NI]

M8 believe me, I have tried & tried. They talk a good talk, but all the time i was without a car. If i didn't go out and get a run-a-round, i'd have been without a car for 8 days now with no contact from the dealers - unacceptable.

I'm not in the habit of taking people to court (hence asking for advice) but they have pushed me to the limit & i feel this is the only way i can get a satisfactory outcome from this.