Gear slips to neutral from 3rd and 4th

Hello,
I have recently bought a used Nissan Almera Activ 1.5, 2001 (51 Reg), 70K miles for £1700
On the first day itself I realised that it had two problems:
(1) There was a grinding noise from the engine - something similar to one when driving down the slope in a smaller gear
(2) the gear stick moved back and forth during accelaration and deceleration.
I immediately went back to the dealer but he refused to do anything about it unless I paid him to fix the problem (he said that I had taken the car in 'as is' condition). I agreed to pay pounds250.00 for this and left the car with him for 2 weeks.

I have just got the car back today and the new bill is £290.00. The mechanic has changed the gear bearings and first problem has disappeared. Though problem 2 has now worsned in the sense that not only does the gear stick moves on accelaration and deceleration but it is now so loose that it is difficult to even know if it is in a gear and shifts to neutral gear when the car is in motion and goes over a bump.
I spoke to the dealer and he said he will call me back, but still hasnt! :(. Can anyone please let me know as what kind of expense am I looking at to fix this problem?
I have bought the car for £1700.00 and already spent £290.00 on it.

Thanks in advance
 
First off you should check out your rights. Because you bought it from a dealer they have obligations which they are legally bound to uphold. In the case you describe, the following is probably the most relevant to know:

'' if you have bought the car from a dealer, the car must be of satisfactory quality. Satisfactory quality is defined as what a ‘reasonable person’ would regard as acceptable, taking into account factors such as price paid, fitness for purpose specified, appearance and finish, safety and durability. If it becomes apparent that the car was not of the quality you were led to expect, you are quite within your rights to go back to the dealer, even after some weeks or even months of use. If it was the case that you were invited to carry out a thorough inspection of the car before purchase, and then you go back to complain about something which that inspection should have revealed, you will have no legal rights in that regard.''

check out this website for more info': http://whatconsumer.co.uk/buying-a-car/

basically you have some protection under the Sale of Goods Act and you should make use of it
 
Thanks for a quick response.
I had contacted the dealer after seeing his ad on AutoTrader and the first time I saw the car, it was dark and raining. There were scratches on the bumper and right front wheel needed to be changed. Dealer agreed to do both the jobs in thetotal agreed price of £1700.00 for the car. As I did not have insurance I was not able to take a test drive. Though I put down a deposit of £200 and agreed to pick up the car after a week so that the dealer can get both the jobs done meanwhile.
When I went to pick up the car, I did have insurance then and hence took it for a test drive. The dealer came along and switched on the radio immediately and hence I was not able to hear the grinding noise in the engine. I did mention to him about the gearstick moving (it wasnt as bad as it is now after the bearing have been changed) and asked him if he would provide a warranty and he said I would need to pay another £200 for it. I agreed but said that I wasnt carrying that much additional cash with me and could do a bank transfer on Monday (it was Saturday that day). When I called him the next week to confirm if the warranty would cover both the problems, he said that it would be best to get this job done outside warranty as this would be considered as normal wear and tear and not be covered within warranty anyways.
That time I asked him if he could take the car back, but he said that the registration change slip had already been sent to DVLA and as I had bought the car in 'as is' condition he was not liable for anything. Though trying to be helpful he promised me that he will get both the problems solved in £250.00 to which I agreed and have landed up with this problem.

So with having taken a test drive before buying the car, I am not sure how much consumer right I would have. What I am trying to find out is what the problem is and an approximate amount as to how much it will cost me now if I took it to some other garage.

I would be really thankful if someone was able to tell me the problem as to what needs to be changed and how much it could cost me to fix the problem of gear slipping into neutral.

Thanks again.
 
OK. He's pulling a fast one. You didn't conduct a full mechanical inspection, and he can't claim a test drive as a mechanical inspection. The 'lets sort it outside of the warranty' is a scam to make you pay money for work that should have been done before he sold it. Alternatively the price should have been dropped to reflect the work and he should have clearly stated that the work needed doing. He probably owes you the additional money you paid and he is responsible for sorting the car out. Don't mess about - As Dan says, read all you can on trading standards and go back and tell him you want the car sorted and the money back for the repair. If you get chance speak to Citizens Advice Bureau as well. Hit him hard with your consumer rights that's what they are there for - to protect you.
 
Take I back and get your money back you paid £1000 too much the timing chain will need changing as it's a common fault this costs roughly £500- 1000 for the job fo be done depending where you get it done. I think you have been done over the car dealer must have known stuff was wrong!
 
said:
Read the thread guys - its not about mending the car its about being ripped off by a motor trader

im sorry to say but
its technically not about being ripped off!

his title is slipping out of 3rd and 4th.

the only question that actually gets asked is
Can anyone please let me know as what kind of expense am I looking at to fix this problem?

so ermm...

pictures arent uploading for some reason a the moment!

however

http://www.almeraownersclub.com/showthread.php?t=32512&highlight=n16+gearbox

is a thread for you..

would obviously prefer to have your car to work on but the problem sounds like common problem.

input shaft bearing get worn aswell as gear bearings.

you also have a selector pin the goes through the box which operates the selector this also wears.

they may have not put gear linkage back on tight!

all work can be done without taking the box off the car!
as its only a half box disassemble

if the engine or car is not miss-firing then i would rule out the timing chain and cam sensor poss even a common o2 sensor issue. only if the car was missifirng and jerking so to speak would it cause it to pop out of gear!

if the engine mounts were loose or worn again you would notice the engine rock! even whilst driving if it was causing it to pop out of gear!

in my personal opinion i would say take the original company to trading standards, but take your car to a gear box specialists! its amazing how much difference they make to standard garages, as its what they do every day :D

wayne
 
Fair comment

Just seemed a shame to see the poor guy throw even more money at the problem by offering very robust advice on repairs and making it all seem so do-able when his first job is to challenge the trader - he deserves his money back and a decent almera in its place. Almera's are brilliant and no-one deserves to have this experience when they paid so much and could get 2 half decent GTi's for the same money.

How to sort it out would be more useful to the charlatan who sold it, but he is unlikely to use the forum

probably best if I steer clear of the technical requests from now on

I shall leave you all to explain how to get it sorted

cheers
 
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