chriswatson99 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hi Guys, As most of you know the zed is not the most dog friendly car so after adding a goldendoodle to the family a couple of weeks ago its been my mission since to find a cheap estate which would work well in the snow when next winter comes around. Top of my list was a Subaru Forester as they are pretty reliable and have all wheel drive. I've been looking on ebay and gumtree for the last couple of weeks and found a 2001 Subaru Forester Sport for £2000, with 87k miles on the clock and MOT'd until October, took it out for a test drive and all went well so i had absolutely no idea about what was about to unfold. 4 hours had passed since i'd handed the cash over for the car and insured it then i'd been to put some fuel in it and drove it home, noticing there was a slight smell of fuel i didn't think too much about it until i reversed the car back into my drive way, turned off the ignition, popped the bonnet to try and find out what the smell was all about and all of a sudden there was flames appearing from underneath it. Luckily myself and a couple of neighbours had hoses to hand to keep the flames at bay until the fire brigade turned up to put it out. The fire bridage reckon there was a leaking fuel line and either turning off the ignition or popping the bonet created enough of a spark to send it alight. Luckily no-one was hurt so at the end of the day thats the most important and the only thing taking a beating is my protected no claims bonus. Is there any comeback on the seller or is it a case of pay your money and take your chances? Cheers, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 That's is damn unlucky bud Think your are screwed law wise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 if it was a dealership you'd have some comeback, but if it was a private sale then its very much caveat emptor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Goodness, that's just crazy. As you've had the firey's around, and they've given their summation of the incident, surely the seller would have known something wasn't right, so any comeback on negligence? Not knowing all the ins and outs of your laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Well at least nobody was hurt, I can't see you will have any comeback from a private sale, at least not easily anyway as it could have happened at anytime.... I am sure Ricey will have an idea of what to do, no doubt it will involve letters and probably turds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Thats damn unlucky If the V5 hasnt been sent off yet, tow it back to the seller and leave it on their drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Thats terrible, just glad no one was in it. Hope you are able to get some comeback but i doubt it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Wow."...least insurance will cover your losses, or some of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC350Z Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I did hear thos cars had good heaters but thats a joke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Unlucky mate Glad everyone was OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Ouch! Glad no1 was hurt Think the insurance company being an insurance company might take their time paying out because of the short time u had the car? Not sure how it works with the fire brigade do they give u a report to give ur insurance co? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 That's pretty scary. Glad everyone is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFM Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Bad luck indeed ! Faults can appear very quickly. About 20 years ago I bought new a Renault 5. The car being 18 months old I went to the shops and went back home. Then I was to take my one year old daughter somewhere. We went out to the car and it would not start. I decided to return baby to the house and then go back to the car to see what the problem was. A few minutes later, when I went back out to the car it had smoke and flames belching out of the engine area and in a few minutes the windows had shattered and two tyres had popped. Fire Brigade were called by a neighbour. The Fire Brigade inspected the car and traced the fire to a fault in the original loom leading to the dash board. Even now whenever I see a car parked up with children left inside it makes me wince. As regards your fire trashed car, take the loss or claim on the insurance and lose the 2k over time with the premiums Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswatson99 Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Afternoon Folks, hopefully it will be towed away from the driveway sooner rather than later so its more a case of our of sight out of mind. The fire brigade will file a report and i'd imagine Admiral will goto them for a copy of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 That's pretty scary. Glad everyone is ok. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 That's pretty scary. Glad everyone is ok. +1 could have been alot worse. Id maybe email the seller and tell him what happens. If he doesnt care fine but I think he should know that happened. He might of knew but not said anything. He might not have known either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andlid Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 talk to the seller... now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswatson99 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Anders, how is speaking to him going to help? Its probably going to make my more angry than i currently am. Then at the end of the day he'll probably just say its your car so its your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andlid Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Anders, how is speaking to him going to help? Its probably going to make my more angry than i currently am. Then at the end of the day he'll probably just say its your car so its your problem. it's worth a shot I think! If I sold one I'd want to know unless I tried to hide the fact it was leaking. Is there no law against selling goods not fit for purpose?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Is there no law against selling goods not fit for purpose?? If a private sale then no. Caveat Emptor and all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 it could of been a lot worse, at least your ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Glad your ok, thats very scary! What did the insurance company say out of interest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Not sure what good speaking to the seller would do. Even if they knew there was a fuel leak they are hardly likely to admit it and give the buyer 2grand back. Unfortunately its always down to the buyer to make sure they check the car over throughly. Unfortunately some things like this you cant always spot until its too late. I had a near miss many years back. I had a new clutch fitted in my car by a national high street clutch chain. They actually took 3 days longer than quoted to do the work, but finally finished it. I picked the car up and drove it back to my work car park. As I parked up I noticed a slight smell of burning, so opened the bonnet to check all was okay. To my surprise i found some of the sound proofing was on fire. I managed to pull it free and throw it on the floor. But, it was so lucky that i had noticed the smell and checked. Had I been someone who wasnt as alert then I would have just parked up and left the car. I was also lucky that i hadnt been driving home which would have given chance for the fire to really take hold. It was so close to having a burnt out shell of a car! Basically what they had done was not put the sound deading back properly so it was left resting on the exhaust manifold, so as the car got hot, it caught fire. I went straight back to the clutch place and they basically said it was nothing to do with them. Even writing to their head office resulted in "the manager said the car was fine when it left here, so your lying". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Very very difficult to prove either way, it could have been like it for a while or developed the fault during the trip home... As already said 'if' the seller knew about it he is hardly likely to admit that now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswatson99 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 The salvage company has been in touch to say the car will be collected tomorrow then i'll just have a charred driveway to sort out. Does anyone know what happens in terms of the insurance? On Saturday lunchtime i had to take out a multi car policy then cancel my single car policy. Now the subaru is up in smoke so do i have to now cancel the multicar policy to go back to a single car then change back to a multi car policy again after the insurance company hopefully pay out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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