seized engine

[rich599]

Well that is a low trick to pull on a kid, I wouldn't stoop so low.

But we've all sold on cars with hidden faults and not told the buyer, haven't we ? It's just this fault was not hidden, the lad knew it was seized, he just did not realise the likely implications of buying a car with a seized engine.

The question is what was a 15 year old doing buying a car without any adult advice anyway ?

That still does not excuse the vendors actions in my book.

I have never sold a car with hidden faults and never would,i have had it done to me but i would never do it to anyone else, i struggle enough sleeping without doing tricks like to people

 

[yorkshire1]

advice

Well that is a low trick to pull on a kid, I wouldn't stoop so low.

But we've all sold on cars with hidden faults and not told the buyer, haven't we ? It's just this fault was not hidden, the lad knew it was seized, he just did not realise the likely implications of buying a car with a seized engine.

The question is what was a 15 year old doing buying a car without any adult advice anyway ?

That still does not excuse the vendors actions in my book.

well it was just letting him do a deal himself giving him confidence, when he first mentioned it I said, ask him whats wrong with it and the circumstances to which he got seemingly believable reply, so as previously mentioned why not take a colleagues word

 

[Rory]

Not by much though.

What im saying is that a new engine might still be worth it, no?

I've no idea, not really my thing to be honest. I helped my kids buy new cars when they left uni - my days of rolling around under old bangers are long gone! I suppose it's different if you got a mechanically minded son. I have two girls.

I suppose whether it's worth replacing the engine or not depends on what the rest of the car is like and the availability of a suitable engine, equipment, facilities, know-how, enthusiasm etc.

 

[Triv]

Replacement engines are cheap enough. They have to be because every TF I've ever heard of has needed one at some point!
Lot's of people like them and spend small fortunes on them keeping them running.
A friend has one and even though in her ownership it's had two replacement head gaskets in 4 years, she still insists on wasting (IMO) money on it.
A neighbour has one. He's scared to drive it far 'just in case'. What's the point?
Personally, I think they're awful cars but I don't think your son will lose out on £300 if he scraps it.

Oh, my friend is a head chef. I caught him pouring oil in the radiator to top up the engine oil....

 

[Kylinski]

I had a MGF and TF before the SLK, both cars needed head gaskets, the TF needed 2.

You only need to visit any MG website to see how paranoid members are about checking water levels daily.

if your MG is a TF160 it has a VVC engine giving out more hp than the standard TF.

The VVC part of the engine (top end) have reports of being problematic and sometimes noisy if not serviced regulary,

To change the engine over you need to remove the sub frame though I dare say there would be plenty of engines about.

Make sure you fit the upgraded ML head gasket and replace the under floor cooling pipes with stainless jobbies

Most owners fit Goodyear F1/2 tyres that are fitted standard from new. (I always fitted them). Not cheap at £102 each

Cheap to buy, expensive to maintain but fun to drive when they're going well.

Good luck

 

[d215yq]

Hang on, so a chef (ie not a mechanic who probably knows nothing about cars) sells an MGF for £300 as a non-runner and suddenly he's the bad guy because it turns out the engine is seized.

How did he know it was seized? I have a basic mechanical knowledge yet wouldn't be able to tell you if a non-running engine was seized....but i can tell you if i sold a non running car and descirbed it as a non running car to someone for £300 i wouldn't understand nor expect why I was being criticised on a forum about it!

 

[Triv]

Hang on, so a chef (ie not a mechanic who probably knows nothing about cars) sells an MGF for £300 as a non-runner and suddenly he's the bad guy because it turns out the engine is seized.

How did he know it was seized? I have a basic mechanical knowledge yet wouldn't be able to tell you if a non-running engine was seized....but i can tell you if i sold a non running car and descirbed it as a non running car to someone for £300 i wouldn't understand nor expect why I was being criticised on a forum about it!

So, when your car packs up, do you sell it immediately as a non runner or do you ask someone more knowledgeable than you as to what might be wrong with it so that you can then make an informed decision?

 

[d215yq]

So, when your car packs up, do you sell it immediately as a non runner or do you ask someone more knowledgeable than you as to what might be wrong with it so that you can then make an informed decision?

Depends, but if i was wanting to change cars anyway i'd probably just stick it on ebay/sell it to anyone as a non runner. sold as seen.

It's not as if if all the car had needed was a battery for £50 the new owner would have offered the seller extra after purchase to compensate for the fact it was such a cheap fix...buy a cheap non runner and sometimes you win sometimes you lose. No point blaming others when you lose.

 

[yorkshire1]

reading posts

Hang on, so a chef (ie not a mechanic who probably knows nothing about cars) sells an MGF for £300 as a non-runner and suddenly he's the bad guy because it turns out the engine is seized.

How did he know it was seized? I have a basic mechanical knowledge yet wouldn't be able to tell you if a non-running engine was seized....but i can tell you if i sold a non running car and descirbed it as a non running car to someone for £300 i wouldn't understand nor expect why I was being criticised on a forum about it!

If you read previous posts first, the pub grapevine after the sale alleged the chef was travelling at 140mph and then oil on the road , I would think he had a very good idea as to what happened to his engine ,any idiot knowing this would be more than aware that it would need slightly more than a starter to fix it
the "gripe" was that the said chef knowingly sold it to a much younger work colleague saying all the ignition lights come on but it wont start (true in one sense,but being very economical with the truth)and he didnt think there was much wrong with it

at the time my sons thoughts were roughly

Car £300
Starter or other ignition fault £100
MOT £40
2x TYRES £100
Sundries.. Paint/Tidying/Selling costs £100

TOTAL £640 not unreasonable and a sale price under £1000

 

[d215yq]

at the time my sons thoughts were roughly

Car £300
Starter or other ignition fault £100
MOT £40
2x TYRES £100
Sundries.. Paint/Tidying/Selling costs £100

TOTAL £640 not unreasonable and a sale price under £1000

I applaud your son for such thinking and taking initiative, i used to think like this myself (and still do to a point) but you always expect some unknown stuff at MOT time to be needed for a fully working car, £100 wouldn't even get you a decent diagnosis half the time, yet alone a fix for a non-starter.

At the end of the day no reward without risk, your son took a risk and it seems not to have paid off, so either he learns the lesson and doesn't take more or he takes many more and then covers his losses with the profits he makes when he does get it right.

I do hope he succeeds with this, but sorry, i just don't buy the "OMG, my £300 convertible non runner isn't an easy fix and absolute steal, i am a victim" sort of mindset

 

[yorkshire1]

not at all

I applaud your son for such thinking and taking initiative, i used to think like this myself (and still do to a point) but you always expect some unknown stuff at MOT time to be needed for a fully working car, £100 wouldn't even get you a decent diagnosis half the time, yet alone a fix for a non-starter.

At the end of the day no reward without risk, your son took a risk and it seems not to have paid off, so either he learns the lesson and doesn't take more or he takes many more and then covers his losses with the profits he makes when he does get it right.

I do hope he succeeds with this, but sorry, i just don't buy the "OMG, my £300 convertible non runner isn't an easy fix and absolute steal, i am a victim" sort of mindset

not that mindset at all it was more a case of losing faith in trusting a colleague

 

[R W]

Its not the sort thing you would expect from a work colleague, to be “conservative with the truth”. The young lad probably took months to save the 300 pounds & the guy deliberately didn’t tell the truth about the car. If he was selling the car to a dealer, scrap man or auction then he could be conservative with the truth. But to sell a car to a young lad that he works with knowing it had serious issues is a pretty low down trick I recon.