Bought a used car - poor repair work advice
Discussion
I'm hoping for a bit of advice on a used car we've just purchased from Cazoo for my partner. I live in NE Scotland and purchased a Citroen C5 Aircross for our expanding family. Brought the car back from their Manchester branch. I bought the car because it was 1 owner, high spec (inc rare napa leather) and FSH.
Their '300 point inspection' brought up a tyre repair to drivers side front. Otherwise on collection the car seemed ok. Missing floor mats (despite being in the listing photos) and a dead key fob they hadn't even replaced the battery in is no shock to me nowadays.
Driving back home, it became apparent the steering is slightly off centre, and a slight vibration through wheel at 70mph. I was not massively impressed. I put it down to the tyre repair and wheel not balanced.
However upon having another good look round the car this weekend it has become apparent that there is more to the wheel issue that I expected. Please see attached photos. It seems the car has had some sort of bump and has been badly repaired.
Can anyone offer me any advice? Have had the car 16 days now (past the 7 day return). I usually buy private and feel more than a bit sick I've let my guard down here, especially with this sort of bodge repair. I don't know if I should be trying to reject the car or trying to get it re-repaired? It looks like there is filler and I can't yet determine if the sill has been badly 'jacked' to change the wheel for example or if the cars met a high bolder on a verge etc.
I had planned to keep the car for a good few years. Mrs really likes the car and I've kept the stress to myself for now. I have filed the issue with Cazoo today.
Their '300 point inspection' brought up a tyre repair to drivers side front. Otherwise on collection the car seemed ok. Missing floor mats (despite being in the listing photos) and a dead key fob they hadn't even replaced the battery in is no shock to me nowadays.
Driving back home, it became apparent the steering is slightly off centre, and a slight vibration through wheel at 70mph. I was not massively impressed. I put it down to the tyre repair and wheel not balanced.
However upon having another good look round the car this weekend it has become apparent that there is more to the wheel issue that I expected. Please see attached photos. It seems the car has had some sort of bump and has been badly repaired.
Can anyone offer me any advice? Have had the car 16 days now (past the 7 day return). I usually buy private and feel more than a bit sick I've let my guard down here, especially with this sort of bodge repair. I don't know if I should be trying to reject the car or trying to get it re-repaired? It looks like there is filler and I can't yet determine if the sill has been badly 'jacked' to change the wheel for example or if the cars met a high bolder on a verge etc.
I had planned to keep the car for a good few years. Mrs really likes the car and I've kept the stress to myself for now. I have filed the issue with Cazoo today.
mmcd87 said:
I'm hoping for a bit of advice on a used car we've just purchased from Cazoo for my partner. I live in NE Scotland and purchased a Citroen C5 Aircross for our expanding family. Brought the car back from their Manchester branch. I bought the car because it was 1 owner, high spec (inc rare napa leather) and FSH.
Their '300 point inspection' brought up a tyre repair to drivers side front. Otherwise on collection the car seemed ok. Missing floor mats (despite being in the listing photos) and a dead key fob they hadn't even replaced the battery in is no shock to me nowadays.
Driving back home, it became apparent the steering is slightly off centre, and a slight vibration through wheel at 70mph. I was not massively impressed. I put it down to the tyre repair and wheel not balanced.
However upon having another good look round the car this weekend it has become apparent that there is more to the wheel issue that I expected. Please see attached photos. It seems the car has had some sort of bump and has been badly repaired.
Can anyone offer me any advice? Have had the car 16 days now (past the 7 day return). I usually buy private and feel more than a bit sick I've let my guard down here, especially with this sort of bodge repair. I don't know if I should be trying to reject the car or trying to get it re-repaired? It looks like there is filler and I can't yet determine if the sill has been badly 'jacked' to change the wheel for example or if the cars met a high bolder on a verge etc.
I had planned to keep the car for a good few years. Mrs really likes the car and I've kept the stress to myself for now. I have filed the issue with Cazoo today.
You say it's been badly repaired, but I can't see that any body/paint work has been done?Their '300 point inspection' brought up a tyre repair to drivers side front. Otherwise on collection the car seemed ok. Missing floor mats (despite being in the listing photos) and a dead key fob they hadn't even replaced the battery in is no shock to me nowadays.
Driving back home, it became apparent the steering is slightly off centre, and a slight vibration through wheel at 70mph. I was not massively impressed. I put it down to the tyre repair and wheel not balanced.
However upon having another good look round the car this weekend it has become apparent that there is more to the wheel issue that I expected. Please see attached photos. It seems the car has had some sort of bump and has been badly repaired.
Can anyone offer me any advice? Have had the car 16 days now (past the 7 day return). I usually buy private and feel more than a bit sick I've let my guard down here, especially with this sort of bodge repair. I don't know if I should be trying to reject the car or trying to get it re-repaired? It looks like there is filler and I can't yet determine if the sill has been badly 'jacked' to change the wheel for example or if the cars met a high bolder on a verge etc.
I had planned to keep the car for a good few years. Mrs really likes the car and I've kept the stress to myself for now. I have filed the issue with Cazoo today.
Looks to me like someone missed the jacking point, or the jack slipped & caused a bit of superficial damage.
The "slight" steering vibration will be unrelated.
No ground to reject unless they gave you a bodywork/paintwork guarantee which seems unlikely on a used car - how old is it?
You seem to be excessively stressed over this for no apparent reason - it's something that can be sorted in a couple of hours by a bodyshop, not a cut & shut!
Edited by OzzyR1 on Tuesday 27th February 01:52
Doesn't look great imo. Have you put a magnet on it to check for filler. I'm not sure if it's grounds for a return though being a used car and not a fault as such?
Looks like the underseal needs replacing on the chassis around the jacking point as well.
It will cost you a few quid, but if it were me, I'd be taking it for an alignment and wheel balance first off. That will soon tell you if there are any bent suspension issues and will hopefully cure the wheel wobble. If there are any suspension issues, then you have a case to fight.
Looks like the underseal needs replacing on the chassis around the jacking point as well.
It will cost you a few quid, but if it were me, I'd be taking it for an alignment and wheel balance first off. That will soon tell you if there are any bent suspension issues and will hopefully cure the wheel wobble. If there are any suspension issues, then you have a case to fight.
OzzyR1 said:
You say it's been badly repaired, but I can't see that any body/paint work has been done?
Looks to me like someone missed the jacking point, or the jack slipped & caused a bit of superficial damage.
The "slight" steering vibration will be unrelated.
No ground to reject unless they gave you a bodywork/paintwork guarantee which seems unlikely on a used car - how old is it?
You seem to be excessively stressed over this for no apparent reason - it's something that can be sorted in a couple of hours by a bodyshop, not a cut & shut!
I maybe wrongly assumed that with the crack and pin holes in the paint finish that the sill contained filler. Unless anyone knows otherwise and a stone chip finish would do this?Looks to me like someone missed the jacking point, or the jack slipped & caused a bit of superficial damage.
The "slight" steering vibration will be unrelated.
No ground to reject unless they gave you a bodywork/paintwork guarantee which seems unlikely on a used car - how old is it?
You seem to be excessively stressed over this for no apparent reason - it's something that can be sorted in a couple of hours by a bodyshop, not a cut & shut!
Edited by OzzyR1 on Tuesday 27th February 01:52
It's a 2019 car.
I’m pretty sure it’s been tidied probably by the previous owner and I wouldn’t be surprised if Cazoo know nothing about it . I think you will struggle to reject the car purely on this basis . If I were you I would have the extent of the damage properly checked and assuming you uncover nothing further the paintwork remedied . Put it down to experience and move on .
If it was mine the priority would be to find out the extent of the damage - it might be a minor repair due to a slipped jack or something similar.
My concern would be that the split is due to filler or movement, neither of which are ideal in that area. Even if it is something minor, it's in a perfect place to get salt & s*** washed into in at every oppertunity, so it will not be getting smaller any time soon.
My concern would be that the split is due to filler or movement, neither of which are ideal in that area. Even if it is something minor, it's in a perfect place to get salt & s*** washed into in at every oppertunity, so it will not be getting smaller any time soon.
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