Should I get the previous owner to bear part of my repair bill?

[anxious]

Guys, The law says buyer beware but I feel kind of cheated by the events of the last month. I purchased a 1995 E36 325i with less than 80000km for RM40k. At first I thought that it was a good buy but as events unfolded I realised that i had purchased a very poorly maintained car. Todate I have spent over RM18k of which RM13k has been on repairs and service. My frustration is that when I purchased the car I was unaware that the previous owner had a series of overheating that had resulted in the car having a cracked cylinder head and valve which was only detected later when upon me pestering my mech to look into a slight vibration from the engine and exhust wherein he did a compression test which reveled that Cylinder No 3 had a lower compression than the other cylinders. Upon opening up the engine it was revealed that there was a cracked valve and cracked cylinder head resulting in me having to change the head( head alone costed me RM3.7k) , do a top overhaul and change almost the entire cooling system. I now realise that even the RM40k i paid is a premium for a 95 325 with cars being sold under RM40k. I am really thinking of asking the owner to bear a part of my repair bill. Legally I have no leg to stand on but morally I feel that the owner should fork out at least RM5k to cover the cost of the cylinder head replacemeent and related work. What do u guys think?

 

[tay]

Well, i think the question is: did he misrepresent to you on issues that you have asked? if not, what ground are you on asking for cost sharing?

On another hand, if the car is superbly maintained, and problem free, while the seller is thinking that he is letting go to cheap, can he ask you for more?

Well, just relex and enjoy your ride. You may just suffer the pain a bit earlier and don't spoil your own mode lah.......

 

[OSFlanker]

Well, i think the question is: did he misrepresent to you on issues that you have asked? if not, what ground are you on asking for cost sharing?.............

Agree, if the seller did not misrepresent on those issues, then you don't even have moral grounds.

So the question is, what did the seller tell you beforehand? He is not obligated to reveal any of the car's history to you if you did not ask for specifics.

 

[anakin]

Guys,

My frustration is that when I purchased the car I was unaware that the previous owner had a series of overheating that had resulted in the car having a cracked cylinder head and valve which was only detected later when upon me pestering my mech to look into a slight vibration from the engine and exhust wherein he did a compression test which reveled that Cylinder No 3 had a lower compression than the other cylinders. Upon opening up the engine it was revealed that there was a cracked valve and cracked cylinder head resulting in me having to change the head( head alone costed me RM3.7k) , do a top overhaul and change almost the entire cooling system.

First of all, as a buyer we should aware.....and as Tay is saying, even if the car is superbly maintained and problem free(and we know!) we still asking for huge discount....aren't we?(sometime make the seller garu kepala!)

 

[thsaw99]

i doubt you have any case against the seller if he/she did not mislead you in any way into believing that the car was in tip top condition...and sorry to say..but this is the situation you have to be ready to face when buying a used car..

so like tay said...chill bro..and enjoy the ride...

 

[tombstone]

bro, forget about the past owner, concerntrate on the car and urself...

no point going back and forth arguing with the previous owner...

end of the day, he would say when i sold u the car got any problem or not? u tested the car u happy, u paid...i didnt force u ...

but then again, a responsible seller is most appreciated OF COURSE

FOR ME, i feel a seller must do all the necessary things to get the car in reliable and decent shape before selling TO A PRIVATE BUYER. THAT IS ONLY fair... why i say private buyer and not used car cos used car would have already tekan the price down to cut throat level. a private buyer is more willing to pay for the TLC poured into the car. so its only fair for the seller to sell at a higher price provided he has done all the necessary things. but as you know, cars aint perfect they do tend to break down once in a while.

cheers bro, u hang in there.

let bygones be bygones.

 

[anxious]

Agreed, i must hv put up the post last nite due to frustration and fatique. Thanks guys, u r right.

Yesterday as I was at the tyre shop changing my tyres the tyre shopp owner recognised the car and knew the car and the owner. She told me that the previous owner stinged onthe maintainance and at one time keep goin back to her to change the battery instead of trying to fix the car. That probably got me all upset and contrbute to e post.

Let my unfortunate experience be a lesson to all...there rarely is a deal out there and never fully trust ur mechanic.

 

[flash]

End of the day, it is best to buy over a car which you know has been well taken care off i.e. from a trusted friend (and I mean TRUSTED), relative, colleague, etc, etc.

 

[Mouse]

End of the day, it is best to buy over a car which you know has been well taken care off i.e. from a trusted friend (and I mean TRUSTED), relative, colleague, etc, etc.

agree, but not often can we find a car that we like and the person we know r also selling it.

 

[anaksarawak]

If I may..

I hope newbie and members who are looking for to own BMW do be extra careful when searching for your ride.

It is an expensive experience that our friend have just when thru and hope others will learn.

If your budget is limited do try get a new small car..

Just my advice..

 

[jarance]

I hope that when I sell my car, the next owner would give it the same TLC that I have given it.

Anxiuos, how long did you have the car before you discovered you have a cracked cylinder head.

IMHO, a cracked cylinder head is not a easy thing to "hide". Sign of coolant loss or air bubbles in the radiator are symthoms of crack cylinder or gasket blown. Another thing is loss or lack of power.

In my case, if I buy a second hand car, I would sent the car to my workshop for a full inspection and parts changing due to wear and tear.

 

[flash]

agree, but not often can we find a car that we like and the person we know r also selling it.

It will be like striking lottery... that was how my wifey got her City... friend wanted to sell and she just bought it with nary a thought. The City is problem free until today (touch wood).

 

[anxious]

Jarance

I got the car last mth...on a Fri, drove it over the weekend and sent it for servicing and replacing wear and tear on Mon. Got the car back on Thurs same week..drove it the weekend and sent it in for spray painting. All this while only sign is vibration and pom pom exhaust.

Then after getting car back from painters two weeks later, car still had vibration and pom pom exhaust...pestered mech who finally did compression test...discovered one cylinder out.

Waited anor 2 weeks for mech to get back from hoilday and opened up engine...confirm cylinder head and valve crack....replaced it last week, got car on last Fri and driving it since.

 

[Daredevil]

The moral of the story is always to send the car you are interested to purchase to your workshop to do the necessary check up and tests. Use the results as a tool for bargaining. E.g. before I got my ride, I sent it in for a full inspection and the mechanic told me about RM12k of parts need to be replaced to bring the car back to tip top condition. Well, it's a used car so can't expect it to be perfect. And I didn't need to replace every single part simultaneously. I brought the list to the seller and miraculously, she agreed to replaced all the wear and tear parts. So you'll never know if you never ask.

Take it slow and things will slowly fall into place. Enjoy your new ride.

 

[Mont-o]

Don't be cheated by low mileage and number of car ownership. Get car with full service history...send for full mechanic checking b4 buy.

Seriously...peoples always asking what is the mileage of the car...1st owner???? when getting 2nd hand car.

Anxious forget about the seller...since you already spend 18k for it, just try to enjoy the ride. Your case give a very bad reputation to E36.....very high maintainance car. My E36 328i since a bought it ....trust me i spend only for oil service and new set of 18" rim. When i search for the car i only look for car with full service history....and i am a firth owner of the car.

Cheers

 

[jarance]

Jarance

I got the car last mth...on a Fri, drove it over the weekend and sent it for servicing and replacing wear and tear on Mon. Got the car back on Thurs same week..drove it the weekend and sent it in for spray painting. All this while only sign is vibration and pom pom exhaust.

Then after getting car back from painters two weeks later, car still had vibration and pom pom exhaust...pestered mech who finally did compression test...discovered one cylinder out.

Waited anor 2 weeks for mech to get back from hoilday and opened up engine...confirm cylinder head and valve crack....replaced it last week, got car on last Fri and driving it since.

So basically, you have the car for a month and did not drive it much considering that it spent most of time in the workshop(6 days for servicing) and spray shop(2 weeks).

It is strange that the problem arises after servicing. However, let not speculate.

My advise is since you already repair the car and it is good condition, just enjoy the UDM. You might considered to inform the previous owner about the problem and hope for some compensation based on goodwill but don't put too much hope it. Just take it as bad luck and moved on.

 

[Silver]

Ya bro.... there's no way the previous owner is going to pay you 5K for the repairs... as the saying goes - LET THE BUYER BEWARE!

So just forget about the past and enjoy your all done up UDM... the car must feel like new now that you just did an overhaul....

 

[burn]

"head alone costed me RM3.7k"...

new or potong... didn't know it's that expensive!
since money have already been spend, no point pin pointing on the seller.
just pakai, jalan and be happy! lagi pikir banyak, lagi berbulu!

sometimes the previous owner might not know about this problems. not all owners treat their 2nd or 3rd wife well. yang diaorang tau, start and jalan!

 

[blackrobe]

Guys,

The law says buyer beware but I feel kind of cheated by the events of the last month.

I purchased a 1995 E36 325i with less than 80000km for RM40k.

As you very well put it caveat emptor. I guess you already know the answer to your question. Sorry for ur dilemma though. I know I would be pissed too..

 

[fabianyee]

Anxious, were u 'anxious' when u knew that the car had low mileage and it looks like good value when u first saw it... U made a decision then based on the few factors known to u. And at that time it seem to be the best deal anyone can get. Maybe the seller didn't need to coax u into buying the car, maybe u were 'blinded' by ur own anxiety..

Point is let's not be too kancheong when hunting for your next ride. Check the car properly before u sign the deal. No point looking back and regret about it. Cos we made our choice then based on wat we knew best at that point in time.

There's a chinese (cantonese) saying : "Yau Joe Zhi, Mo Hak Yi". It basically means: "if everyone knows better, there won't be any beggars on the street"