Hello! After mulling over and eventually deciding against a 1.6 FSI with some potential big problems (https://www.a2oc.net/community/index.php?threads/newbie-with-1-6-fsi-sport-soon.40711/ - thanks to the wonderful help from members who replied to that thread!!), I decided finally to go with a 1.4 petrol, for the sake of simplicity and looking for an A2 that could be my reliable everyday car more or less.
I went to Southampton and found this very tidy looking Sport example, with a decent spec including climate control, rear parking sensor, DIS, audi concert. Convinced by an AA endorsed dealership, full service history (invoice for recent cam belt change and otherwise just stamps in the service book), last MOT with no advisories, and with a growing impatience to have an A2, I agreed to pay a quite high price for a 1.4, which also included a 3 star AA warranty.
After arriving back to London I took the car to a VAG independent to have a look under it, and what we found was quite depressing: among other things, o/s/f break hose insecure & rubbing on shock, o/s/f coil spring fitted incorrectly & top mount corroded badly, n/s/f shock absorber leaking, not to mention corroded exhaust system and - most ridiculous of all - wrong tyre fitted on one of the wheels. It seems that I would have to spend a lot of money only to get through the MOT which is due next month, and much more to actually keep it in a good shape. (the list continues with rear springs corroded, hand break not holding correctly and so on).
My question is, apart from getting a bad deal, is there any legal recourse I have to ask the dealer to pay for the repairs, or give me a full refund? I know it's a 17 year old car and a lot of things will need changing, but my understanding is that it's simply not roadworthy at the moment. To be honest, if I can get him to do the repairs I would quite like to keep it, driving back from Southampton was a pleasure, the 1.4 is nippier than I expected, I like the interior, the sports seats, and the exterior is extremely clean. However, I would have never paid that much for it had I known the issues.
Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated!
I went to Southampton and found this very tidy looking Sport example, with a decent spec including climate control, rear parking sensor, DIS, audi concert. Convinced by an AA endorsed dealership, full service history (invoice for recent cam belt change and otherwise just stamps in the service book), last MOT with no advisories, and with a growing impatience to have an A2, I agreed to pay a quite high price for a 1.4, which also included a 3 star AA warranty.
After arriving back to London I took the car to a VAG independent to have a look under it, and what we found was quite depressing: among other things, o/s/f break hose insecure & rubbing on shock, o/s/f coil spring fitted incorrectly & top mount corroded badly, n/s/f shock absorber leaking, not to mention corroded exhaust system and - most ridiculous of all - wrong tyre fitted on one of the wheels. It seems that I would have to spend a lot of money only to get through the MOT which is due next month, and much more to actually keep it in a good shape. (the list continues with rear springs corroded, hand break not holding correctly and so on).
My question is, apart from getting a bad deal, is there any legal recourse I have to ask the dealer to pay for the repairs, or give me a full refund? I know it's a 17 year old car and a lot of things will need changing, but my understanding is that it's simply not roadworthy at the moment. To be honest, if I can get him to do the repairs I would quite like to keep it, driving back from Southampton was a pleasure, the 1.4 is nippier than I expected, I like the interior, the sports seats, and the exterior is extremely clean. However, I would have never paid that much for it had I known the issues.
Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated!