New Clutch - Garage Liability?

You are stuffed mate. The deal on fitting the clutch was between the previous owner and the fitter. It is nothing to do with you.

"Robert D." gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

So's not noticing oil drips on the ground under the car.

It's garaged overnight. No oil drips at all in the month we have had it, previous owner has mentioned none either. Previous owner is actually of a good standing, and was surprised at the issue.

In retrospect I should have pretended to be the previous owner, as they're hardly going to ask for ID.

I will part exchange the car this weekend I suppose, as quotes for a breakers gearbox, likely not even reconditioned, are in the =A3250 to =A3300 region.

Thanks,

"Robert D." gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Even easier, then.

Sounds unlikely, if the gearbox has run dry of oil in a few short months.

B'sides, I can see a speedo drive being slightly awkward to refit back in the old cable days, but not these days when it's just an electrical sensor. It wouldn't even be removed from the 'box to replace the clutch - merely the electrical plug unplugged.

Full disclosure of the problem, I hope?

I'd get the previous owner to demand recompense, warranty or no warranty, present owner or not, or 'see you in court'. If the garage gets out of this then it's a pure technicality. They are absolutely liable.

Rob Graham

The garage has no liability unless they expressly state warranties are transferable

If the prevous owner goes to court demanding recompense then he is likely to get nailed for fraud if he states he owns the vehicle when he clearly doesnt which is criminal not civil

Get hit for all the court costs too even in SCT as the case would be seen as malicous

Work has to be fit for purpose. Written warranties are not the whole picture.

I certainly wouldn't suggest he did this. I'm suggesting he tells the repairer to pay up or else.

Who would see it as malicious? And why malicious? The repairers buggered it up, for God's sake.

Rob

That is extremely early to need a clutch on a modern vehicle, was the clutch suspected because of another fault? Speedo drives are not normally touched during a clutch change. Speedo drives are always AFAIK at the top of the gearbox and so any oil leak will be trivial rather than it all fall out at once. You would certainly notice significant oil loss on a floor/parking space. You do not say what gearbox problems you have, nor how much oil was needed to top up the gearbox. Unless the box lost a very substantial quantity of oil then no damage will have been caused (by low oil level)

After such a long time it would be impossible to prove that the original job was done carelessly.

If you have changed your mind about the car then just get rid of it and get something else.

Why can't the original owner claim, on the grounds that he has had to recompense the purchaser, which he should do anyway because he sold him a pup?

Andy C

Nah let a dealer have it

They are absolutely NOT liable. You cannot pass on a warrenty unless it is agreed by all parties beforehand.

Because the car doesn't belong to him anymore. If I sell a car I can't pass on a warrenty from the guy who owned it three owners before me can I?

Agreed but the prevous owner who paid for the work had no problem with the clutch or gearbox , the op i presume inspected the vehicle prior to purchase was happy with the vehicle .

Its a case of buyer beware

Or else what he takes them to court

The action is malicous the litigant is not the owner of the vehicle , has suffered no loss and is not being persued himself by the op for losses or repairs to the vehicle .

If the op attempted to sue then the garage quite rightly would argue that they have no contract with him and again the action if persued could be viewed malicous

the ops only option would be to sue the seller , again though as its a private sale and the seller wasnt aware of the faults the ops chances of recovering any money almost zero unless he could convince the judge the seller was aware of the faults and did not disclose them when asked buyer beware

I don't see why that is relevent. He has sustained a monetary loss due to someone else's negligence and it is up to the Court to decide is he is entitled to compensation. The whereabouts of the car make no difference to that fact.

Andy C

He has not! He has no more contract with the fitter than he has with the petrol filling station the previous owner used. His contract is with the previous owner who as a private person he will have no comeback on whatsoever. Any legal action would be doomed to fail.

The original owner will have had to compensate the purchaser for the essential work and will thus be out of pocket due to the garage's negligence. I can't see how that is not the case and he must therefore have a claim against the garage. It is not a warranty issue but purely a monetary one.

The current owner has no more contract with the fitter than my Aunty Flo'. It is up to the previous owner (who did have a contract with the clutch fitter) to ask the fitter if they will help but as he is no longer the owner of the car any gesture would be one of goodwill not legality.

They might be - but not to you.

No contract exists between you and the original garage so you cannot demand money from them.

The only route would be for you to sue the person who sold you the car and then for them in turn to sue the garage that did the work. However, it was a private sale. As such there are no "implied terms" about quality which you would get in a consumer contract. Therefore the chances of successfully suing the previous owner are low.

Basically, you have little chance of getting anything back from the person from whom you bought the car and none whatsoever of getting anything directly from the original garage .