Gearbox apparently shredded, where do I stand?

[Butcher]

It involves any goods purchased from someone trading as a business. There is a clause that you can only expect them to be in a reasonable condition given their description. Thus second hand goods don't have to be flawless but do have to be basically sound and fit for purpose. Additionally any faults pointed out or that should be readily apparent at the time of sale are excluded.

Also note that the seller can't disclaim these rights nor can the consumer. Thus is a seller says "sold as seen" or "trade sale" or some other thing to attempt to avoid them you can ignore that and make them repair or replace the faulty goods.

If you're buying from a private individual (say on ebay or the like) then you have no warranty.

[peterb]

That is the legal position, but the seller can (and has in this case) offered better terms than those he is required to give. It looks as if (fingers crossed) the gearbox will be fixed. There are different terms depending on whether the dealer is selling the car under a mfr's approved used car, or just selling a second hand car.

Asd an example, I bought a used approved car that was covered by the mfr as a used car. I had a problem with the seat (it rocked very slightly) and it turned out the frame was broken - £1000+ to repair (parts and labour) Told the dealer it was under warranty (not the dealer I bought it from) and they repaired it FOC.

From the information given, this looks to be a similar situation.

Sometimes paying more from a dealer really is worth it.