Answers to your car questions
QUESTION
I always read your column and I never thought that I would be writing to you but here I am. I purchased a vehicle from a used car lot about seventeen days ago and I started to notice, that when going over railway tracks, the car would make a thumping noise in the front end. I took the car to my mechanic and he found that one of the front ball joints was loose and he told me that the car should never have passed the mechanical safety with the ball joint in this worn condition. He suggested that I take the car to the Ministry of Transportation and have them go after the mechanic who had done the safety. Since that mechanic put my family and me in jeopardy, do you think that I should follow my mechanic’s advice and report him or should I have it repaired, as the dealer has agreed to do for us?
Donna from Dunnville
ANSWER
If the garage is willing to fix the problem then let them do just that. Yes, you can get the garage and the mechanic into trouble with the Ministry of Transportation and they might fine the garage or write them up but the Ministry will not tell the garage to fix the problem nor can they order the garage to do the repair. A ball joint is certainly a questionable item and one that can be damaged by hitting a curb or a large pothole within the thousand kilometers that you have put on the car since you purchased it. The ball joint may or may not have been defective when you purchased the car. Your focus should be on getting the car fixed rather than, as your mechanic suggested, getting the garage and or the mechanic into trouble on a questionable mechanical issue.
QUESTION
I would like to know what you think about buying a car that was written off by the insurance company and repaired by a reputable body shop in town. The car is a 2015 Mercedes and it had an insurance estimate of twenty four thousand dollars to repair. The garage has done the repair and you would not even know that the car had been damaged. The price of the car is about twelve thousand dollars less than you could buy the car for, at the dealership. The body shop is going to give me a year’s warranty on any of the body repairs, which I believe is very generous. My question to you is this: What other things should I ask for if I decide to purchase this vehicle from them and how do you feel about buying this car?
Larry from Oakville
ANSWER
Buying a 2015 repaired Mercedes that has been damaged to the tune of twenty four thousand dollars, would not be my first or second choice for buying a used car. There are three certificates that you want to see before you purchase this car. These are the Structural Inspection Certificate, Mechanical Inspection Certificate and the Emission Test Certificate. Make sure that you do your own inspection on the car by a mechanic who you trust and also do an extensive road test to make sure that the car handles properly before you purchase the vehicle.
QUESTION
Good morning Dennis - love your column! My son’s vehicle is a 2012 Malibu 4 cylinder. The car quits for no apparent reason while it is being driven. The first time it quit, CAA started it and they checked it and couldn’t find any reason why it quit. The second time it quit, the dash lights were on but there wasn’t any sound when you turned the key to start it. After resting for about ten minutes, it started. My mechanic, John Koning also checked it and couldn’t find the reason. He thought that it could be the coil or maybe the ignition. He doesn’t want to start replacing parts that don’t need replacing. What can I say? A mechanic like John are few & far between. Thanks.
Robert from Hamilton,
ANSWER
I need a lot more information than you have given me to ascertain why your vehicle has it’s own mind. Does this happen when the car is driven for a short period of time or does it quit after a long drive? Does weather have any bearing on the car stalling? Did the dash lights dim when you turned the key to start? Does the engine shudder just before it shuts down or is there a sudden loss of power?
In similar cases, I have seen the harness connection between the dash harness and the engine harness at the firewall, lose contact with one another and I would check that area first to make sure that there is a good connection. I will also throw your car’s problem to other mechanics who read this column to see if they have any ideas for you.
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