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I bought a VW Polo in September from a Trader and the Head Gasket has already blown. Do I have legal rights?

I bought a 1999 VW Polo 1.6 'Open Air' from a Trader for £1350 in September this year, advertised in Autotrader. I had just sold my car as my financial situation was such that I needed to down-size my expenses. I have driven only approx. 300 miles in the car, 120 of which were on the day of purchase to get home. Last week whilst picking up my girlfriend from town, the car started misfiring badly, and so we chugged the 2 mile journey home. Fearing the worst I decided it best to not drive it anymore until a mechanic could get out to look at it, the earliest he could see it was yesterday. First off he checked and swapped the spark plugs which seemed to do the trick and the engine stopped misfiring for about 3 mins. The plugs were being coated in water and/or oil, so after a compression test to all the cylinders, cylinder numbers 2 and 3 were still misfiring. He checked all the usual bits and pieces, HT leads, Distributor, Water Pump, hoses etc etc, until finally after managing to remove the coolant bottle top (was overtightened) he discovered thick brown/copper gunk and severely correded particles caked around the inside of the bottle. He performed a 'sniffer' test to test for the presence of oil in the coolant tank, and sure enough the blue dye turned green. He confirmed head gasket failure, and he showed me the thick mayo sludge under the oil cap. So the cost of repair? Well, the mechanic quoted between £500-£600 to replace gasket, skim head and flush the cooling system BUT he stressed that once this job is underway, it is 'possible' that further, more severe damage may be found resulting in a cost of close to the £1350 I paid for the car. So, I guess my question is this: Do I have any legal right to request a replacement/repair/refund from the trader or is this wishful thinking? I am currently not working, and I simply don't have the money to pay for the repair, which could potentially double if it's discovered that the engine is cooked also. I have since noticed that the dials on the dash are not sitting true behind the plastic screen, and there is also a very small dried up fly in there too. Perhaps my 74000 mile polo is a 174000 mile polo. The car came with almost a years MOT, and had a new cambelt but hardly no history (last 2 MOTs) I did an HPI search all ok, so for a little run about I decided to take a chance. What a mistake! Having seen the crap inside the coolant bottle and the mayo gunk in the oil, and now the speedo issue, I feel that I've learnt a very harsh lesson indeed. A repair bill as expensive as what I paid for the car in just six weeks. Is there anything I can do or do I just take this one on the chin? Thanks for reading.

Public Comments

1. The law on second hand goods in England is usually "bought as seen" and "buyer beware." The head gasket is normally good for a couple of hundred thousand miles, and most cars never need a new one. A car of any age can need spares, even brand new cars. With an old car you should expect it. I am afraid you have no legal claim against the vendor. Next time you buy a used car, have someone who knows about cars check it over, make sure it is worth the price.
2. Before you bought the car you could have checked the service history through CARFAX. You could have also checked the engine oil and the radiator fluid to see if there was any motor oil mixed in the radiator or water in the engine oil. Tale tale signs of a leaking head gasket that is about to rupture. Usually moisture would be underneath the oil cap. But that can happen in damp weather as well.
3. As it's almost 10 years old and on 74k it would be very difficult for you to get some legal recourse. As mentioned in the other answers, the gunk in the oil cap is an early warning signal of what is about to happen. The trader will probably say that you were given every opportunity to bring a mechanic but after a short test drive, you decided you liked the car. It's an unfortunate and expensive lesson. You could do the repair but for similar money you could also buy a replacement engine - I paid £150 plus £300 fitting for a renault clio engine from a 2003 model which fits in the bay of a 1999. Just a thought.
4. The only time the 'bought as seen' rule (also known as 'caveat emptor) applies is if you bought the car privately. Legally if you bought from a trader then any fault present at sale and not disclosed must be rectified by the trader. Major faults appearing within six months are deemed faults present At sale unless the trader can prove otherwise. That said, have you approached the trader? You may well find them amiable enough to rectify the fault? If not, and they tell you they are not interested then speak to citizens advice, or better still your local trading standards, who will help you prepare a case against them in a small claims court (only £30!). Ultimately, you must give them the oppertunity to rectify, do not have the work done yourself before speaking to them otherwise they have no obligation. This is why we by from the traders (and pay a bit more) and not privately. Lastly, you need not necassarily worry about the speedo. Numbers can actually become misaligned on older speedo units and a fly could well get in as they are by no means air tight! Good luck!
5. Al H is spot on. Also, if recorded mileage is not disclaimed, it is in law taken to be vouched for as true by the trader. This is easy for trading standards to check. If misdescribed they could ask for damages for you on the back of a prosecution.
6. Al H is correct, a trader is expected to know about and be responsible for faults. It is a private seller who is not, and this is where "caveat emptor" applies. You should first approach him and give him the opportunity to rectify matters. If he doesn't, then go to Trading Standards. It does sound like the fault has been present for some time, what with the crud in the coolant bottle and, one might suspect, it was overtightened in an attempt to discourage you from looking in there. Don't worry about the speedo issue, you should never take any notice of any indicated mileage when buying a car. In any case, there's a fly in mine too, and I know for a fact that it has never been dismantled. Good luck. LATER: The Sale of Good Act only applies when buying from someone who is ‘acting in the course of a business’, thus not a private deal.
7. I would agree with Al for the most part: In the UK, the sale of goods act states that your purchase must be 'fit for purpose' - in the case of a car, a serious failure after 300 miles is unacceptable. This does actually apply to any trade OR private sale, regardless of such phrases as 'sold as seen'. Approach the dealer first - regardless of the warranty they gave, it's the mileage that's relevant in this case. If you get no joy, then go through small claims - this can be done online with very little fuss. With regards to the odometer, yes, the chances are it's been 'clocked', as have the majority of used cars, especially things like the Polo, which is pretty good at otherwise hiding it's mileage. You could do more detective work by checking mileages with any VW dealer - they should be able to tell you over the phone if their network has ever had your car in, what was done, when & at what mileage. You can also check the last MOTs with their mileage at http://www.motinfo.gov.uk As per the above answer, unless the car came with a mileage disclaimer, the supplying garage is guaranteeing the mileage.
8. Your mech is taking you for a ride too. No reason to skim the head. Sure took him along time to get to the coolant check.. From the description of what was in the coolant, either the rad is leaking or coolant is mixed in the oil. Should have been able to see that on the dipstick. That is why the copper colored sludge....which is meant to fill the crack. >I am amazed at the number of head gasket failures. Has nobody heard of a "torque wrench" and "tightening pattern"? I go 500,000 on a single head gasket(on a diesel which is 4x's the compression of a gas pot) As soon as the water and oil was evident on the spark plugs, head gasket because there is no way the water could get in there except past the head gasket. No other checking needed at that point. To say the head needs skimming would imply that the heads are warped -(without checking??I don't have Xray vision so cannot make that determination.) The head may just be "laying there" for show. Perfectly good. Skimming is grinding. Free money for the mechanic(but his machine shop buddy needs work too so that is where that goes to). As for the speedo.....VW had(maybe still has) a problem with them in that the speedo gear inside(a plastic cog) splits on the shaft and the odometer stops working. Speedo needle moves and on a test drive no one really pays attention to the distance driven. I have replaced mine from the autosalvage yards with another. It is not that hard to do. I have also "fixed" the gear because I want to know when the next oil change is to happen. In order to fix it, I have had to take the speedo apart and reassemble it. Alot of kitchen table work. Rather just swap for another. Can the numbers be changed? Sure, but it is alot of work for no real benefit. When working on the dash, the entire cover plate may come off as an assembly just to get to the wiring.. I have had to remove it just to install my stereo. It is a "pain". You got what you got. You didn't do a good enough check when you first bought a used car. Buyer beware. Sometimes lucky, sometimes not. Learn to work on them yourself.(all cars)