[vondrac]

Hey guys,

I own a 2008 I30 auto diesel with 160k on the clock. I bought the car last weekend from TradeMe via private sale. The seller lived in Wellington and I live in the south island.

Since I was starting a new job and needed a car ASAP, I trusted his word and bought the car. He showed me the service history book and reassured me a few times that nothing was wrong with the car.

I bet you know what I am going to say next, yes, as soon as I drove the car for the first time, I noticed that the car wasn't engaging the third gear properly, it takes a couple of seconds which makes me release the accelerator since it just idles and then it engages properly. When reversing or going out of reverse, it takes a few seconds to change too.

I know that I should've checked the car before and all that but i just started a new job and i couldn't ask to take a day off to check the car out. It was my fault for not checking it, yes, but the seller should've told me. I am 10000% sure that he noticed the issue before selling the car.

When i text him, he said "Its your fault for not checking the car before buying" so I am sure he did it intentionally.

Anyways, my question is, can a mechanic see signs of wear on the transmission valve body that would indicate that the problem happened a while ago?

I am thinking about going through the Disputes Tribunal so I am assessing if I can get a mechanic to back me up if there are shows of wear or things like that that would indicate that the seller misled me.

Also, does anybody know anywhere in NZ that won't cost me $1900+GST?

Many thanks.

[nzenigma]

Sorry to hear this. Bad luck mate, unusual to be ripped off by a Wellingtonian 

No doubt the Valve body wear occurred over a reasonably long time, however the point at which it became so critical that it affected changes would be hard to pin down.

Its not a really common fault and most owners report the box suddenly not cooperating.

The valve body can be bought for about $800 -$1000. Change would be a DIY job in NZ when I lived there, not sure if all the skill has migrated. 

There is also the option of replacement valves and seats. Available in Czechoslovakia.

If you look through our search engine you should find some links to those.

Good luck.