Posted By: sugerbear
son buys car without dad present disaster - 18/05/2020 14:44
So let me tell you the cautionary tale.. and then ask for your advice.
My son has just left college and with no full time job and a large wedge of cash burning a hole in his pocket he set out on the path to find a second hand car.
Despite my advice, his mothers (and her partners) he insisted on viewing a car not very far from an advert on Facebook Marketplace.
It was fairly obvious this person was doing some "home dealing" as they had several cars available for sale from their flat. All *cough* private sales of course.
He took the car for a quick drive liked it and paid up. Then paid the balance the following day and guess what.. within twenty miles the car had boiled over and the water pump is leaking badly.
this is where Dad gets called and now has to deal with the resulting mess. Trading standards informed but a very hard position to come back from given he has handed over the money and the seller is insisting that it's a private deal. Even if it's a private sale I think he sold the car with a major fault known to him and listed the car as "excellent condition", I suspect he bought it for pennies, bodged a repair and then sold it on, but again hard to prove unless I can contact the previous owner. I think we have a case so a letter is being sent giving him time to resolve or I will sell the car and then take it to the small claims court for the loss. Garage on the service manual contacted who said they knew the car and the problems and the guy that owned it at the time has lost faith and sold it or p/x'd is somewhere.
So this is where I need the clued up residents of FCCUK for some help in diagnosing the problem.
the car is over heating and leaking coolant and this is where I could do with some advice to see if anyone has come across this before.
I think what is happening is that there is a leak / crack in the head , block or head gasket that is forcing gas into the water system (it's a diesel). This seems to be pressurising the water system and then blowing hoses, water pumps and expansion tanks. So question is.. does that sound like a reasonable explanation of the problem, anyone come across anything similar? is there anyway to diagnose this at home? Can't see any mayonnaise on the oil cap but then I suspect that may have been cleaned and serviced with new oil to hide it.
Sigh.. kids..
My son has just left college and with no full time job and a large wedge of cash burning a hole in his pocket he set out on the path to find a second hand car.
Despite my advice, his mothers (and her partners) he insisted on viewing a car not very far from an advert on Facebook Marketplace.
It was fairly obvious this person was doing some "home dealing" as they had several cars available for sale from their flat. All *cough* private sales of course.
He took the car for a quick drive liked it and paid up. Then paid the balance the following day and guess what.. within twenty miles the car had boiled over and the water pump is leaking badly.
this is where Dad gets called and now has to deal with the resulting mess. Trading standards informed but a very hard position to come back from given he has handed over the money and the seller is insisting that it's a private deal. Even if it's a private sale I think he sold the car with a major fault known to him and listed the car as "excellent condition", I suspect he bought it for pennies, bodged a repair and then sold it on, but again hard to prove unless I can contact the previous owner. I think we have a case so a letter is being sent giving him time to resolve or I will sell the car and then take it to the small claims court for the loss. Garage on the service manual contacted who said they knew the car and the problems and the guy that owned it at the time has lost faith and sold it or p/x'd is somewhere.
So this is where I need the clued up residents of FCCUK for some help in diagnosing the problem.
the car is over heating and leaking coolant and this is where I could do with some advice to see if anyone has come across this before.
I think what is happening is that there is a leak / crack in the head , block or head gasket that is forcing gas into the water system (it's a diesel). This seems to be pressurising the water system and then blowing hoses, water pumps and expansion tanks. So question is.. does that sound like a reasonable explanation of the problem, anyone come across anything similar? is there anyway to diagnose this at home? Can't see any mayonnaise on the oil cap but then I suspect that may have been cleaned and serviced with new oil to hide it.
Sigh.. kids..