Hi all,
1st post which is a major one for me, I will deal with an intro post later, but I have a rather urgent issue so please forgive me!
I drove my TD5 (a 1999 diesel/ manual gearbox) Discovery home yesterday (Kent to Surrey) with no obvious (to me, anyway) problems other than the fact that the gear change is slightly different than anything I have ever driven. I test drove a slightly newer model (2002?) a few weeks ago at a local second hand showroom and had the same experience so put it down to a quirk of this type of vehicle. Was this wrong of me? (It felt like the H shift pattern was twisted at an angle (if that makes sense), but this might be because the lever is further away from me than I am used to, and was the same on the newer model driven a few weeks earlier so I didnt see it as an issue)
The gear change did, however, seem a bit 'notchy'
This morning I loaded the dogs up in the boot and tried to put the car into first gear and it wasnt happy. It made a quiet, grinding noise (but not the sound of grinding gears!) as if the clutch wasnt engaging properly and the car struggled to move. When moved into neutral (with clutch still down) the noise persisted until the clutch was raised. Pressing and releasing clutch while in neutral did not cause the noise to return (no load?). The noise did not restart until I pressed the clutch and tried to select a gear again.
I spent about 10 minutes experimenting through the gears (reverse/first/second), and the only gear it seemed happy with was second. In short, the car wont move.
I have never previously owned a 4x4 so I asked my neighbour (a car welder) who owns a 4x4 (jeep) to have a look.
He wondered if it might be the first motion shaft into flywheel bearing (is this the same as a thrust bearing?). A 'spigot bush was also mentioned on a Google search. He suggested I get our local garage/mot centre (whose garage is 2 doors down from my house) to take a quick look tomorrow morning which Ill do.
I am unsure as to what to do at this point. I spent a little over 2 grand on this car (via Auto Trader trade) and would like, if possible, to keep it. I have read up on consumer rights and apparently I can phone the dealer and either ask for a full refund, or opt for him to pay for the repairs which I would prefer.
Would Auto Trader be able to provide me with the original advert? I ask this because it was advertised as excellent condition throughout. It was also advertised as Trade but we viewed it at his home. (He had a couple of others on his driveway at the time that he was selling.)
As a worst case scenario, I have considered looking at what the cost would be to replace the gearbox (reconditioned) and have a new clutch fitted, since that would surely solve any problem in that department. Can anyone tell me what to expect in terms of a price? I have tried Googling second-hand gearboxes for this model without success. Ball-park figures?
If I wanted to return the car, Id simply phone the seller and demand a refund under the not fit for sale category. But I dont really want to phone the guy I bought it from without first knowing what is wrong with it. If its a fairly simple problem thatll cost a few hundred pounds (below £350.00) then I would like to keep it and just ask him to foot 2/3 towards the bill. If, however, Im looking at a higher bill, its going to have to go back unless hes willing to shell out for the full repairs.
1st post which is a major one for me, I will deal with an intro post later, but I have a rather urgent issue so please forgive me!
I drove my TD5 (a 1999 diesel/ manual gearbox) Discovery home yesterday (Kent to Surrey) with no obvious (to me, anyway) problems other than the fact that the gear change is slightly different than anything I have ever driven. I test drove a slightly newer model (2002?) a few weeks ago at a local second hand showroom and had the same experience so put it down to a quirk of this type of vehicle. Was this wrong of me? (It felt like the H shift pattern was twisted at an angle (if that makes sense), but this might be because the lever is further away from me than I am used to, and was the same on the newer model driven a few weeks earlier so I didnt see it as an issue)
The gear change did, however, seem a bit 'notchy'
This morning I loaded the dogs up in the boot and tried to put the car into first gear and it wasnt happy. It made a quiet, grinding noise (but not the sound of grinding gears!) as if the clutch wasnt engaging properly and the car struggled to move. When moved into neutral (with clutch still down) the noise persisted until the clutch was raised. Pressing and releasing clutch while in neutral did not cause the noise to return (no load?). The noise did not restart until I pressed the clutch and tried to select a gear again.
I spent about 10 minutes experimenting through the gears (reverse/first/second), and the only gear it seemed happy with was second. In short, the car wont move.
I have never previously owned a 4x4 so I asked my neighbour (a car welder) who owns a 4x4 (jeep) to have a look.
He wondered if it might be the first motion shaft into flywheel bearing (is this the same as a thrust bearing?). A 'spigot bush was also mentioned on a Google search. He suggested I get our local garage/mot centre (whose garage is 2 doors down from my house) to take a quick look tomorrow morning which Ill do.
I am unsure as to what to do at this point. I spent a little over 2 grand on this car (via Auto Trader trade) and would like, if possible, to keep it. I have read up on consumer rights and apparently I can phone the dealer and either ask for a full refund, or opt for him to pay for the repairs which I would prefer.
Would Auto Trader be able to provide me with the original advert? I ask this because it was advertised as excellent condition throughout. It was also advertised as Trade but we viewed it at his home. (He had a couple of others on his driveway at the time that he was selling.)
As a worst case scenario, I have considered looking at what the cost would be to replace the gearbox (reconditioned) and have a new clutch fitted, since that would surely solve any problem in that department. Can anyone tell me what to expect in terms of a price? I have tried Googling second-hand gearboxes for this model without success. Ball-park figures?
If I wanted to return the car, Id simply phone the seller and demand a refund under the not fit for sale category. But I dont really want to phone the guy I bought it from without first knowing what is wrong with it. If its a fairly simple problem thatll cost a few hundred pounds (below £350.00) then I would like to keep it and just ask him to foot 2/3 towards the bill. If, however, Im looking at a higher bill, its going to have to go back unless hes willing to shell out for the full repairs.