I went to a trader to view a Titan Silver E46 323Ci for my wife on Saturday 7th June. I decided to buy it as "sold as seen" with no warranty but the car would have an oil & filter change done before collection.
The car was collected on Friday 13th June (can you see where this is going?) and was driven about 40 miles to my home and parked in my garage for a fortnight while I waited for the private number plate transfer from her E36 318is Coupe to be carried out.
During this time I de-chromed the window trims, fitted clear side repeaters & L.E.D. rear lights, installed 2 x 12" subs & amp in boot and cleaned the entire car inside & out (clay barred, Meguiars paint cleaner, polish & wax).
The car was put on the road on Monday 1st July.
Last Saturday morning (19th July) my wife was driving to work and had only travelled a few miles from home when she heard a knocking noise from the engine. She immediately pulled over and shut the engine off. She phoned me and I drove my works van over to where she had stopped. I started the engine and as soon as I heard the noise I shut it off immediately. I knew that there was internal engine damage straight away. I then drove the wife to work in my van and returned to where the car was parked and got a mate to tow the car to my mechanic.
On Monday after work I went to the garage where the car had been towed to. The oil filter had been removed and the oil was drained from the sump. This is what the findings were -
Now obviously the oil & filter change had not been carried out as promised by the seller. The filter is so badly clogged that it has caused oil starvation to the engine. The oil is like treacle & the filter has started to disintegrate and there are metal filings in the oil & filter. At the very least the engine is going to need new bearing shells and obviously worst case is a new engine. The extent of damage won't be known untill it is investigated further.
I phoned the seller straight away and the first thing I said was "Can you confirm that the oil service was done on my car before the sale" to which he replied "Yes it was. I paid for it to be done." I then explained the entire situation and he stated that I was not to worry about it and that he would get it repaired, either by getting the garage who he had originally paid to carry out the oil service to foot the bill or by paying for it directly himself and recovering the cost back from them.
Now he is saying that because the car was "sold as seen" he does not have any obligation to pay a penny towards the repair cost but he is willing to pay £300 towards the final bill as a "good will gesture"!
£300 is not even going to put a dent in the final cost of this and as far as I'm concerned he can stick his £300. I'd rather drag this out through the court with the possibility of losing than accept a poxy offer like that.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
(A very p1ssed off Taylor.)
Hope you get compensated OK.
drama mate good luck in sorting it out.
