We bought a landrover the other day. 2002 reg, 60,000 miles, looked ok but we don't know anything abut cars. MOT was done in September 2014 and a mechanic was there at the sale who said he had serviced it the day before (which we now know is a lie - he wasn't our mechanic).
We drove the car home and within 4 days it was producing a bad petrol smell from the engine. I took it to a garage who identified a leak, and after fixing that have now told us that the thermostat isn't working (apparently 3 hours labour to fix), the throttle pipe doesn't fit, i.e. the wrong one has been put in (0.5 hours labour, part = £60) and we should probably change the timing/cam belt (£400?).
I don't know what to do. Obviously we've been sold a dud but chances of getting our money back from the vendor are slim (he is swearing blind none of these problems were there two weeks ago - he only owned it for 3 weeks as bought from repossession auction to sell on. He presented himself as a private seller but is more of a trader as he had a few cars lined up).
Do we fix the problems. Or cut our losses and sell the vehicle for whatever we can get for it. Is it pointless spending money on an old car? Or maybe the garage we're using is overstating the problem (e.g. timing belt - do we really need a new one, I just don't know).
I'm so annoyed about the whole thing and also at a loss about what to do. Wish I was a mechanic myself. Any advice or comparable experiences, please share...