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we purchased a second hand car from a car yard 3 weeks ago. We had the car for 4 days and the front shocks began to squeek badly. We have been in contact with the car yard regarding this and they will not fix them saying they have looked at them and they could spend $1000's looking for the problem and never find it. They say that the 30 day warranty does not cover the repairs either. Do we have any consumer rights to get the car yard to pay for these repairs? Hope to hear from you soon.

I wish Registered Motor Vehicle Traders would stop telling people their cars only have a after sales 30-day warranty or guarantee.

Vehicles they sell are covered under the Consumer Guarantees Act which states a vehicle must be 'fit for purpose' at the time of sale. There is in fact no definite time limit this guarantee lasts, but it is fair to say it becomes less effective over time.

I also don’t buy into their comments about spending a lot of time and money trying to identify the squeak. If the squeak is obvious it should be fairly easy for their mechanic to identify.

I wonder if their concerns are centred more around the actual repair costs.

If the squeak is constant and clearly audible and connected with the suspension, then I would consider it to be a dealer problem especially after only four days of ownership.

You need to remind the dealer of their responsibilities and ask them to reconsider their position.

You may also need to put those concerns in writing.

Another opinion may also be advisable but you should not let another garage carry out any repairs and expect the dealer to reimburse you costs without their prior approval. All you should be looking for is an independent inspection and opinion on what the cause of the squeak is.

You may have to pay for any independent inspection.

Trying to work with the dealer concerned is the best way forward at this stage. If you can, bypass the salesperson who sold you the car and ask to speak to the business owner or the most senior person on site.

You do have the option of taking your concerns to a Motor Vehicle Dispute Tribunal but it would be a last resort and the car would have to have a very clear and unacceptable mechanical problem.

Thanks so much for your helpful reply. What a great website this is.

The car is coming back today as it had another problem with a light coming up on the dash stating it had a computer problem - a service light. It has been back at the car yard for the last 9 days getting this sorted out. Yes they say they have fixed this problem, although last week the car was suposed to come back to us fixed (dash light problem) and the light came on again when the car yard was driving it so they took it back again to fix, again,,, properly I hope this time. Re the shocks, still they say they wont do any work on these, Yes I agree with you that they are worried about the cost of the repairs. Maybe we brought a lemon but we are right in thinking they should fix the problems. Our next step is to take it to a garage to have them look at the shocks and assess them to see what the problem is, we will then go back to the car yard to see if they will fix them. Makes me cross when we traded a perfactually fine car for this one! Thanks for your help.