Ripped Off?!

[KarlB]

Hi everyone,

Firstly, let me apologise for this being my first post on here. I've just come back from Afghanistan about 6 months ago after losing my leg in an explosion and because I had insurance I ended up getting some compensation so I went out and purchased the car of my dreams but made one BIG mistake by the looks of things. I went and got one of the cheapest RS6 Avant's that i've ever seen. Yes it is my own fault for not realising it must have been too good to be true but basically i've not even had it a month yet but it's already had a few problems(which I have got in touch with the previous owner/garage and they've basically told me they're not interested and I wont be getting it repaired or my money and car back that I traded in for the RS6) and now it's completely off the road and maybe with a very serious and expensive problem

I were driving down a dual carriageway (around 70mph if i'm honest) and next minute I heared a clicking noise so I took my foot off the accelerator pedal and then the engine suddenly died and started to slow down pretty quickly working it's way through the gears. As I were near to a junction I just put it into neutral and let it roll just far enough so that I could get off the dual carriageway. After getting the car recovered to my house my dad has had a quick look and cannot tell me the exact problem at the moment but doesn't think it's going to be something simple. I don't know if there's anyone on here that could possibly help me out at all as I don't know too much about cars and feel like i've just been taken advantage of just cos the guy who sold it me could see I am missing a leg but If anyone things they may be able to diagnose any possible problems then that'd be VERY much appreciated. My dad seems to think it could possibly be the gearbox had no oil in it or maybe had a very small leak and has seized possibly but I can't see any dipstick for the gearbox (that's if it has one). When I try to start the engine it just makes a noise as if the starter motor is trying to engage but isn't getting anywhere, it only does one click though.

Any help will be very much appreciated though as I hope it's only something small so I can get it repaired and carry on living the dream with my favourite car that i thought i'd never be able to afford.

Thanks in advance,
Karl

[white23]

Get straight on the case. If you've had the car only a month then it will be covered by an implied warranty which lasts for 6 months. This is a grey area in the sense that it is balanced against the value of the car and how long you owned it before it went pop. I had a similar problem when I purchased my RS6 (which I sold today) when the power steering failed on me 6 days after purchase. I threatened the trader with trading standards/court and gave him one last chance to act before I took him down the legal route (you just have to be prepared to go for it). If its the gearbox message Grizz (from Chester) on here - he's an expert or depending on where you are in the country Jock at Germania in Newport, South Wales. Good luck!! Also name and shame the garage!!!

[Shoppinit]

Does it turn over? Is the oil level correct? Did you have any warning lights come on?

What was the clicking noise? Was it regular? Loud? Quiet? Did it stop when the engine died?

[KarlB]

Cheers for the quick replies!

The garage is called Stonegarth Autos in Bradford, Yorkshire and i've told him I'll be taking him to court if he doesn't sort the first problems i noticed the day afyer buying it but he now just ignores txts and doesn't answrt the phone. He tried telling me that the Audi TT I traded in had already been sold by 9:30am the day after but then a few days ago i noticed it advertised on his website. It were advertised with having one owner from new and having 30,000 miles but it had 39k when I handed it over to him and i'm the 3rd owner already but i made sure I did 'print screen' a few times and got the full advert saved in a word document.

The car wont turn over, sounds like the starter motor is trying to but it's as if it's either solid of the gearbox is solid cos it just makes one click as if the battery was dead but the battery is deffinitely fine. The engine oil level is perfectly fine but I can't see any dipstick to check the ATF level but I don't know if it's just done by a dipstick or by taking a plug out to check the level on it and with my missing a leg it's not exactly the easiest thing to do. Only warning light that came on was the usual battery, brake, oil, etc but that was after the engine had died so nothing unusual with the warning lights. Well I say that but I noticed that half of the warning lights don't even come on as if they've had the bulbs damaged in the instrument panel but I didn't think to look at the warning lights when i bought it cos it had just passed an MOT the morning i picked it up.

I don't know what the clicking noise was i'm afraid. Yes it stopped when the engine died from what i remember. I'd say it were quite loud as i heard it quite easily whilst driving at 70mph on a dual carriageway when it were quite windy. It were regular for about 5-10 seconds until the engine died.

I hope that helps you out Shoppinit

Thanks again,
Karl

[Gravitypilot]

.... a letter from a solictor would be a good idea if you get know where from phoning or paying the bastards a visit!

if he is still trading then you can turn up at his garage... garages should have liablity insurance to protect themselves from things like this im sure?

[KarlB]

I've told him i'll be getting a solicitor about the whole situation and he's just said he doesn't know what he's done wrong and the car was in perfect working order when he handed it over to me and there were no warranty so sold as seen. I got the MOT certificate and noticed that advisories had been given so with him not giving me the paperwork for them I went online and found them out and then asked why he hadn't given me the other bits of paperwork. I didn't feel like it should have passed the MOT so I appealed against it and VOSA came down to a local garage and inspected it and fail it so the original MOT tester from Bradford had to have an interview and got disciplinary points for missing a few obvious bits. I'm waiting for the paperwork off VOSA at the moment though. From what i've been told though, most solicitors wouldn't want to be getting involved in this situation cos it's such a grey area :s

[posterboyj]

first get a vagcom scan, it will tell you the fault codes.

sounds like the crank sensor, no crank sensor signal no ignition and it will cause the car to stall whilst driving

[KarlB]

Ah right ok, well that's sure better than the wholse gearbox being damaged I'll try to get someone down to scan it then and let you know how I get on

[bilko1]

Does your reg number begin ST03??? if so i was chasing that car for a while but pulled out when i found out a few things.

[MoRS6+]

Could it be the cambelt?? Any history of it being changed?

[andyt]

I'd find out what's wrong with it before threatening solicitors. An MOT only confirms basic safely, it is no guarantee that the car isn't going to blow a gasket or snap a timing belt as soon as you drive it away.

[Gravitypilot]

check whats what like andy said....

if it was me selling a car to you then yes i think thats sold as seen...

but their are different rules of a buiness selling to a member of the general public im sure of it.

[KarlB]

Ah bilko1 your right, it does..... so what did you find out? Any chance you could help out in this matter then? I had been told by the garage it had been a Cat D but had been fully repaired and had all reciepts showing everything and I made the silly mistake of not going through the massive book of reciepts to make sure I found it, I just took his word cos he seemed quite genuine and I didn't think he'd rip me off.

I can't see any history of it being changed but he did say it had been done but once again I didn't go through the whole paperwork to find it. I made some big mistakes I know

[bilko1]

You have a long pm mate.

[mrmule]

There's no such thing as 'sold as seen' anymore. The seller is still liable if something obvious was wrong with the car. It's cocks like him burning people like you who have had legislation changed.

I would diagnose the problem, then come down on him like a ton of bricks.

In retrospect though, best to do complete history check with these cars.