Trading in a car with faults.......

[Barny9339]

So our car is with a main dealer getting diagnostics at the moment, and we have heard from them it needs a new clutch (suspected) and most shocking a new engine - this was unexpected and very much out of our price range to fix!

I am just wondering if we were to trade in with W B A C or even a main dealer on a new car , do they called said main dealer and check if theres any work advised for that car? Is that such a thing?

Obviously I am wondering if theres any comeback for us trading it in , potentially knowing it needed the work doing

As I said the clutch was expected from driving the car, the engine is not. The car drives absolutely fine so am against shelling out and getting a new engine anyway.

bumpy ump

They’ll check it over before they agree to an exchange.

If the car drives fine, then I'd be very wary of a garage that says it needs a new engine! But why did you ask them to run diagnostics if it really was driving fine?

@CabbagesAndCeilingWax There was a clutch issue, and I wanted them to diagnose the clutch issue. When they called me they said as well as needing a new clutch it needed a new engine due to another issue

A new engine? How old is it? I think I'd get a second opinion unless it's 20 years old and not in great shape. I mean, engines do go, but at that point I'd expect the car to essentially be ready for the scrap heap. If that's the case, then you could sell it for parts, but you're not going to get very much for it.

Its a 69 Plate 54k miles....

Just take it to WBAC, they won't drive it and they won't phone a dealer either.

Depends. If you go to Arnold Clark they don't even start the engine before giving you a price.
I just traded mine in after it kept getting stuck in gear. Just don't mention the problem unless you can't drive it to the garage.

Only 5 years old and supposedly needs a new engine? I'd definitely get a second opinion. I'd also want to know whether it's a known fault with that brand/model of car. No way should a 5-year old car need a new engine unless it's been flogged to death.

What exactly is the fault on the engine? If you get the engine removed, it can often be fixed for less than a new engine depending on the problem.

I wouldn't be able to palm it off on anyone else if I believed there was something seriously wrong with it, without declaring it.

I would just put a new clutch in it, and if it drives fine it drives fine - I'd keep it!

I can't see that companies taking in cars for part exchange are really going to phone round all the local dealers and garages to see if the car has recently been brought in to have work done on it. I expect they check its got an MOT and its not on finance or been written off, but that's probably it.
I recently part exchanged my 12 year old car on Cinch. You get 4 categories from, in perfect condition, to, quite battered but still running, and I was honest and put it in the bottom category. It's a risk they take that something might go catastrophically wrong, but that's the risk you take too when you buy a second hand car.

@BraveFacesEveryone the dealer says it has excessive e n d float movement - whatever that is - like I said we only wanted the clutch looked at.

i am concerned now because w b a c Ts and Cs says

"you have disclosed to us all matters which a prudent purchaser would want to know about, such as physical defects in the Car (e.g. if it has any material mechanical problems or damage);"

but the thing is the car/engine drives fine - aside from the known minor clutch issue. (in traffic it sometimes gets stuck in first or second gear)

The problem with selling off to WBAC or similar is that they'll give you such a low price that you'll only be able to afford a slightly dodgier car, and you won't even know its history.

If they give you say £1k below market value, then even if there was a fault with yours, you might be able to get it fixed for that. And at least you'd know what you're getting.... (you could put an extra £1k into buying something else which quickly "develops" an expensive problem anyway!)

Don’t declare it! We were told not to by the car garage we were buying a new car from. It’s for WBAC to pick up on any problems before they offer a price. To be fair many people trade in when a car is in need of costly repairs.
We also had clutch and multiple problems with the old car! It’s sold as seen at WBAC. Once it’s sold it’s sold! Harsh but true.

@CabbagesAndCeilingWax a new engine is going to cost alot more then £1,000 unfortunately.
(even the clutch for the minor issue - £1200)

I guess I still don't really believe that a 5yo car with less than 60k miles on the clock, which is driving ok, can possibly actually need a whole new engine!

@CabbagesAndCeilingWax nor can i - im in shock! and the dealer hasnt rang me back with a price yet, 3 hours later, just sat here waiting... (I'm hoping this is good news and maybe they are internally discussing meeting some of the cost)

Asked dh and he says if you have had a clutch issue, someone is bad at changing gears and/or has being riding the clutch it puts pressure on/damage the crankshaft causing additional movement so they are likely related and that is why they checked.

I’ve traded in twice with faults. Just reset the car dashboard and hoped they didn’t come on

How on earth have you gone through a clutch in 54k miles?!

Ask anyone who works in a JLR dealer 😂

@NoTouch that is useful as to why it was checked - thank you!
we've only had the car just over a year and driven 10 months

Usually older or faulty cars that are traded in get sent to auction or are scrapped.

I traded in old car that had lots of things wrong, the garage didn't check the car at all