I live in the North of Scotland and bought a VW Caravelle (1997) from a dealer in Manchester (397 miles away). I paid a deposit via paypal of £300 and my husband flew down with the rest of the purchase price in cash (£2700). He was shown the vehicle, (no inspection was carried out on the vehicle) paperwork was filled in and he left to travel home.
He had gone 192 miles when he stopped for a toilet break and the car wouldn't start when he got back in it. He called out the RAC and they have said the main fault was a broken wire on the starter which is too corroded to fix this has had a temporary repair carried out to it to enable the journey to be continued and to get home but needs replaced as soon as possible. The alternator had not been charging due to a broken wire (which was repaired by the RAC) and therefore was not charging the battery.
The RAC patrol man, when carrying out the repair, also noticed the accelerator cable is frayed which could possibly explain why the pedal keeps sticking and you have to lift it up to stop it revving. There is also a slight diesel leak from the fuel pump.
Also after looking at it today in daylight (husband arrived home at 11pm last night so was too dark to look over it properly) I noticed it also has 3 different sizes of tyres fitted to the vehicle and according to VOSA, this should never have passed an MOT, which was carreid out on 18th August.
Obviously I realise that buying a car over the internet is a difficult thing but the vehicle was actually sold to me in an unroadworthy condition. I've started a letter to the trader but would like some advice on where I can go or even what to ask for, bearing in mind that the trader is over 300 miles away from me and as the vehicle is unroadworthy, I can't drive it back down to him.
thanks in advance
Tiggersbabe
He had gone 192 miles when he stopped for a toilet break and the car wouldn't start when he got back in it. He called out the RAC and they have said the main fault was a broken wire on the starter which is too corroded to fix this has had a temporary repair carried out to it to enable the journey to be continued and to get home but needs replaced as soon as possible. The alternator had not been charging due to a broken wire (which was repaired by the RAC) and therefore was not charging the battery.
The RAC patrol man, when carrying out the repair, also noticed the accelerator cable is frayed which could possibly explain why the pedal keeps sticking and you have to lift it up to stop it revving. There is also a slight diesel leak from the fuel pump.
Also after looking at it today in daylight (husband arrived home at 11pm last night so was too dark to look over it properly) I noticed it also has 3 different sizes of tyres fitted to the vehicle and according to VOSA, this should never have passed an MOT, which was carreid out on 18th August.
Obviously I realise that buying a car over the internet is a difficult thing but the vehicle was actually sold to me in an unroadworthy condition. I've started a letter to the trader but would like some advice on where I can go or even what to ask for, bearing in mind that the trader is over 300 miles away from me and as the vehicle is unroadworthy, I can't drive it back down to him.
thanks in advance
Tiggersbabe