Hi,

I hope this is the right place to post this. I am at a bit of a loss right now with my Honda FRV 2005 Petrol 1.7 which has done just over 100,000 miles. I bought it in July for £1970 (well my partner went to the garage and bought it) Turns out the garage where conmen and a month after buying it Ive now seen quite a few other people having bought dud cars. The garage has packed up and left. There is no way of getting our money back.

So my partner was driving the car and did not notice the temp on the motorway and blew the gasket. We took it to a garage and they offered to do the job, test the engine etc for cash which was a bit cheaper (around £675), having said it worth getting it done. My partner decided it was worth it and said yes. Having strung us a long for weeks they said they had looked at the cylinders and there was a problem so they were doing that too for not too much extra. Ok so now they said they had fixed the gasket but the car was still pumping out white smoke. They are saying that its now the pistons and we should buy a second hand engine which they will fit for £175 which is less than half of what they normally charge. A second hand engine if we can find one is around £300 apparently. Bearing in mind what we paid for it I am very skeptical to pour more money in the car.

I also feel that they may be trying it on with us as i have read that you should know about the pistons when you get the engine compression tested, which they said they did. Does this sound like a reasonable deal from the garage or should I try get the car from them and a second opinion? How much am I expected to pay for a repair that has not actually fixed my car?

We are on an extremely low budget so any advice or thoughts would be so helpful. Its been one bad thing after another and we only wanted a car to be able to escape with the kids and its turned into a total waste of time and money.