As some of you may be aware i purchased a Seat Leon Cupra 180 back in February
I bought the Leon for £3195 with 53k on the clock, HPI report, new cam belt kit etc
When i picked it up there was not one bit of history with the car despite dealer saying there was after I paid. Should have refused but I think excitement took over and I put it to the back of my head. Once home alarm bells rung.
On day 1 the water pump failed causing the car to overheat. So RAC came to the rescue after owning the car for 4 hours and 60 miles later.
Dealer gets a flatbed to pick car up and then decided to drive my car to get it to overheat to identify the problem. Anyway dealer fixes water pump, and replaces the cambelt, thermostat and tensioners after my request to do so.
He promised me the receipts for the parts, Once i picked the car up there was no receipts at all only the old parts left in the boot. Although i checked the cambelt, it has been replaced and no longer overheating so must be done
Once i got the logbook through i checked the previous MOT history online. I found to my horror that it had been clocked from 83k to 46k miles. I then noticed that the MOT ran out on December 2006 and wasn't re mot'd until June 2008.
So the car spent a considerable amount of time off the road. Thanks to my idea of checking the online history.
I decided to get my local friendly mechanic to check it over and he confirmed to me that it has been in an accident at some point of it's life as the front leg looks like it's been repaired. I was gutted and felt so bad! On the outside it doesn't look to bad.
I phoned the dealer and informed him of my findings only to be hung up on and sworn at down the phone. Despite him breaching the conditions of the sale by selling me a car through his business without a HPI report which all the banners outside state that all cars are HPI'd before selling.
The accident explains why the car was off the road for some time during 2007 most probably for repairs.
I then HPI'd it myself and this confirmed the inconsistent mileage. So the dealer must have known when he sold me the car.
His excuse...I bought it off a mate so i could trust him.
Trading standards have helped me all the way with letters and phone calls. He is under investigation now.
I have been due to take this to the small claims court but been warned by Trading Standards that i may win the case but it won't make him give me my money back as they simply dont have the powers that the County Courts have. I would love to have given the car back and to start again but it doesn't seem an easy option.
I recieved a letter from the dealer offering me £250 as a resonable offer. I refused and simply told him i will let the courts deal with this from now on.
I have since recieved another letter from the dealer now offering me a larger sum of money which i will be taking. It makes the value of the car seem cheap enough to justify the annoyance and inconvenience.
However i will have such a hard time selling the car as i have no history and refuse to lie to the next potential buyer so will have to explain the inconsistent mileage.
Within the last few weeks the condensor on the air con has leaked and lost all it's gas so now have broken air conditioning, a broken top mount.
My point really is if you buy from a dealer and you get warranty...Well it doesn't mean anything because they can get away with so much. Sorry to rant on but thought i'd share my experience.
Still,
Not all bad news. I've since bought some nice upgraded brakes drilled and vented with some greenstuff pads and 4 new tyres. They provide some brilliant stopping power.
I've decided to keep the Leon despite all this as i think it's a lovely car and looks really nice. I look forward to the remapping next month and tuning her up to her true potential. Anyway i will hopefully get the chance to meet some of you off here at some meets?
Rant over.
I bought the Leon for £3195 with 53k on the clock, HPI report, new cam belt kit etc
When i picked it up there was not one bit of history with the car despite dealer saying there was after I paid. Should have refused but I think excitement took over and I put it to the back of my head. Once home alarm bells rung.
On day 1 the water pump failed causing the car to overheat. So RAC came to the rescue after owning the car for 4 hours and 60 miles later.
Dealer gets a flatbed to pick car up and then decided to drive my car to get it to overheat to identify the problem. Anyway dealer fixes water pump, and replaces the cambelt, thermostat and tensioners after my request to do so.
He promised me the receipts for the parts, Once i picked the car up there was no receipts at all only the old parts left in the boot. Although i checked the cambelt, it has been replaced and no longer overheating so must be done
Once i got the logbook through i checked the previous MOT history online. I found to my horror that it had been clocked from 83k to 46k miles. I then noticed that the MOT ran out on December 2006 and wasn't re mot'd until June 2008.
So the car spent a considerable amount of time off the road. Thanks to my idea of checking the online history.
I decided to get my local friendly mechanic to check it over and he confirmed to me that it has been in an accident at some point of it's life as the front leg looks like it's been repaired. I was gutted and felt so bad! On the outside it doesn't look to bad.
I phoned the dealer and informed him of my findings only to be hung up on and sworn at down the phone. Despite him breaching the conditions of the sale by selling me a car through his business without a HPI report which all the banners outside state that all cars are HPI'd before selling.
The accident explains why the car was off the road for some time during 2007 most probably for repairs.
I then HPI'd it myself and this confirmed the inconsistent mileage. So the dealer must have known when he sold me the car.
His excuse...I bought it off a mate so i could trust him.
Trading standards have helped me all the way with letters and phone calls. He is under investigation now.
I have been due to take this to the small claims court but been warned by Trading Standards that i may win the case but it won't make him give me my money back as they simply dont have the powers that the County Courts have. I would love to have given the car back and to start again but it doesn't seem an easy option.
I recieved a letter from the dealer offering me £250 as a resonable offer. I refused and simply told him i will let the courts deal with this from now on.
I have since recieved another letter from the dealer now offering me a larger sum of money which i will be taking. It makes the value of the car seem cheap enough to justify the annoyance and inconvenience.
However i will have such a hard time selling the car as i have no history and refuse to lie to the next potential buyer so will have to explain the inconsistent mileage.
Within the last few weeks the condensor on the air con has leaked and lost all it's gas so now have broken air conditioning, a broken top mount.
My point really is if you buy from a dealer and you get warranty...Well it doesn't mean anything because they can get away with so much. Sorry to rant on but thought i'd share my experience.
Still,
Not all bad news. I've since bought some nice upgraded brakes drilled and vented with some greenstuff pads and 4 new tyres. They provide some brilliant stopping power.
I've decided to keep the Leon despite all this as i think it's a lovely car and looks really nice. I look forward to the remapping next month and tuning her up to her true potential. Anyway i will hopefully get the chance to meet some of you off here at some meets?
Rant over.
![[:@]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/furious.gif "Furious [:@]")
