Thread: DIED 50 miles after buying it....

Hey all, couldnt find my exact issue in the forums so here goes... we bought the car from a used dealer today at 2 oclock, test drive was awesome, everything ran as great as you can possibly expect, oil levels good, tranny fluid good all went great, we bought it and drove it home 50 miles, and while at a stop light by the car wash the RPMs lifted then went down and back to normal, once I got out of the car while it was still running you could hear what sounds similar to rod knock accompanied by a belt squeal and squeak, the car was shut off after hearing this, then we tried to restart.. It acted like the battery was dead and started after about 5 cranks, I put the car in drive to move it and it died about 2 sec after I hit gear, now the car wont start, it wont turn over until it had sat for an hour, then it started and did the same thing, now its in a new parking lot... ANY help would be greatly appreciated as I need to know if this is worth fixing or worth stopping payment on the check!!

thanks guys

Sounds like a compression problem to me. Get a compression test done. The dealer should have some sort of pre-owned warranty if they are reputable. Take it back to them and see if they will do something about it if all else fails. If you put a stop payment on the checque and take it back to them it won't go over well. Try the above steps first.

I'm sure Bio will add some things to check soon.

thanks I will bring it up at the shop, the dealer was small and not what I would take to be prestigious in anyway, anything else I should know, like is this definately a costly fix or what, I dont understand why it would make this knock noise and then fail to start in the same way a bad alternator would, and that damn squeak!

also any ideas on how to get it to move so I dont have to pay the wreckers would be awesome!

Cost depends on what has to be fixed/replaced. The squeak could be the accessory belt (alt belt or wheel bearing). As long as you can get the car to start and into gear you could try to give it enough gas so it doesn't stall out and put it in drive and drive away. For example, you could start it in neutral and move it right into drive and give it some gas. I had to get a Civic going before that the alt was gone on and you just had to keep giving it gas and put it in gear as easy as possible. It helped that it was standard and they are used to revving high tho. :P. Have you checked the voltage of the battery recently? If not, I'd suggest to do that first.

Yes I did drive it when we went to see if it would start after an hour, it died when I was driving it because I had let the rpm get too low, but theres still this knocking noise at idle and at speed, but last time I Drove it I noticed that after I shifted at about 20mph the knock got loudest at high rpm b4 the shift, then it got quiet real faint, then when I got at high rpm again to shift at about 35-40mph it got loudest again, then went back down once shifted, I dont know where the knock comes from.

also the dealer had said that he had replaced both wheel bearings..maybe he didnt??

This might help you out- I have heard that many states have a 3 day return law on used automobiles where the dealer must give you back your hard-earned cash within 72 hours if there is a mechanical issue; might be a possibility for you...Good luck

Lemon Law, I'm sure every state has one.

Wisconsin's lemon law - Wisconsin Department of Transportation

^^The link that you posted stated that it has to be a new car (no more than 1yr old) that is still under warranty. By this his car doesn't qualify. I agree thought that they should try to get their money back if they can though.

That's right- That specific law is not it; it's something to do with a smaller time window on the purchase of used cars; I lived in Kansas for awhile- there it was 3 days...Protects a buyer from a used car hustler who pours in a little "no knock" so you don't realize it's a dud until you get on the road for a few miles.

after checking the lemon law in MINNESOTA, the car has to be under 75,000 miles to qualify for the lemon warrantee, of course it has 116,000, we got ripped off anyway at paying $4600 for it....

has anyone been able to identify the mechanical problems with it at all??
as I would like to find out what you all think before I goto the mechanic and get screwed for not knowing my ass from a hole in the ground.

also tried to jump it... doesnt work, the interior lights come on and the headlights are dim, the car didnt receive any extra power from trying to jump... lol help please

and come monday morning the dealer doesnt want to repair ir, we will cancell the check

Sounds like a dying battery to me. If the battery is bad enough it won't take a charge. Have you tried another battery?