Nightmare vehicle purchase

Maybe someone like Kaz could give me an opinion from a dealers point of view, if passing by.

Bought a ute on finance around 4 months back. 1992 nissan navara 2.7 diesel flatdeck 4wd. Paid 8k plus arrangement etc.

1 month ago and a few thousand kms later a small issue popped up when I used the electric winch for the first time - headlight and tail light plus a rear indicator unit went out.

Also noticed a reasonable amount of rust in the deck frame directly adjacent to mounting points behind the cab. 3 fingers wide worth of elongated hole, and enough decay on the opposite side to cause some concern in the very near future, but with fresh black paint over it!

Requested both issues to be sorted, and got the ok from the dealer to bring itin and they would take care of it. Sweet as, thanks guys (Great Chaps).

1 week later - the first time I use the headlights, pop goes another one. I get the feeling the lamp was replaced andno fault repaired. Something just didn't feel right.

Later on after inspecting the rust "repair" I find it nothing but rust swept back into the hole and black tar painted over it . the mess falls back out sooner than I look at it.

Getting a touch unhappy at this point. Having being assured by the dealer an "engineer" had repaired the rust and the electrical fault was just a blown bulb. 1 bulb! yep fine I'll believe that.but 3 bulbs ! seriously!

Have another bloody Tui mate.

I'm looking at a gaping hole right where I saw rust before and still can see rust now. And only 1 headlight works again.

The day after the night the lights blew again it rained and the battery light and fuel light both came on though I had a full tank and had just filled up that morning. Def. Electrical fault. Lookingin the engine bay I can see some melted wiring.

Ok.so I roll back to the trader and let them know I am unhappy with this and would like the problem repaired. Not patched with rust using under seal to hold it in place, or bulb just replaced. I want the issue FIXED - thanks very much.

Ute was booked to go in tomorrow for repair and now there seems to be a MAJOR fault with something completely unrelated. It's developed a grinding rubbing noise coming from underneath so loud it causes the whole ute to vibrate. Had it up on the hoist at a mechanics in the town where it happened and both front wheel bearings are very loose, I also notice an oil leak from some of the seals in the front diff.

I doubt the competence and honesty of the dealers to do a decent repair after the first attempt at hiding the rust and simply replacing some bulbs at what I thought to be an obvious sign of an electrical fault. Yet the problems are stacking up and somehow I have the feeling this will be one hefty repair bill with an independent engineers quote for the rust alone worth just over $1200 with gst.

Am I entitled to reject the vehicle at this stage or do I need to have the trader follow through the repairs!

Seems more is going wrong with this car every day and I'm pretty frustrated as a result. Don't have the time or energy to chase around dodgy repairs at this stage.

Headlamps will probably be the headlamp switch - notorious on those, repairer must be tight or stupid not to put a new one in it.
Otherwise Id say youve paid $4000 too much for an old ute sorry to say
Get a sheep shagger next time

as ZH said headlight switchs very common think im on my 4th after 13 yrs of owning a similar vechile,remind the dealer of the CGA

Yeah necessity vs what was available at the time helped allot with the purchase, I wanted one of those but it just wasn't happening that way for me back then.a good flat deck 4x4 isn't easy to find.

Looks like you need some Gin with that lemon.

The CGA is your friend the vehicle is unroadworthy and unfit for purposetake it back and ram it down their throat

Imo this could turn pretty nasty.In case it does I'd suggest the first thing you do is either e mail the dealer or ensure a written list of faults and what solution you expect from the dealer gets to him.
The electrical issue I can sorta see what happened-The dealer got his "man" to fix the blown bulb.he did just that. The rust -hmm well I can't imagine what he was thinking.
The faults should be fixed propperly or money back is how I feel

So you had the vehicle 3 months and it started having issues! You did actually "inspect" the vehicle or have someone "inspect" it for you BEFORE you bought it didn't you! Rust that size certainly would've been visible at time of purchase.wouldn't it!

Sorry but i'm going to go the opposyie and say TOUGH, you had it 3 months and it developed an electrical issue that could've happened 2 months after purchase.
So now you want the dealer to fix that along with some rust that YOU should've seen IF YOU had done your due diligence and inspected the vehicle.

This is another case of people expecting someone else to take the blame for their own ignorance.

SUCK IT UP, fix the thing yourself and move on.

Still a dealer is required to sell it inroadworthy condition ,especially the big rust holesobviously wont get Wof

I think this is where the best intentions of the CGA fail to work in practice.

How can anybody really expect a 20 year old commercial vehicle, which has probably done a half a million kms, not to require constant maintenance to remain roadworthy. It is probably 5 years over its use-by date.

I know it cost a lot because of the shortage of good light commercials, but that price is demand driven, not an indication of quality. You can buy a really sound car for $8k.

if some dealers are in the game of extorting 8000 for an old ute like that they should be made to stand behind it!fk thats extreme