guy who bought my car wants money back

wjc

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Sold car privately last week (20k). Has been giving trouble since guy took it away. Has rang me a few times to tell me car broke down on him. Know he is angling to get money back. I do not intend to do this as I sold it in good faith. Would rather if it didn't give guy trouble. Any suggestions what I could to do to appease this guy short of refund. I am not a dealer.
 
It all depends on what kind of trouble he is having, how many miles he has done since he purchased the car and as to whether he had an engineer/ mechanic inspect the car before purchase. Something wrong however if it started giving him big trouble after a couple of days.
 
Something wrong however if it started giving him big trouble after a couple of days.


Unless thats why the op sold it...

If the car had a defect that would make it dangerous then the buyer does have rights....
 
When he came to look at the car did he bring a mechanic with him or did he just agree to buy it as seen.

Did you have it serviced yourself before you sold it or were you aware that there were any problems or did you have any problems yourself with it before you sold it.

When people are buying privately unless they know a lot about cars themselves they should really get a mechanic to check the vehicle out before they make a purchase.
 
Sold car privately last week (20k). Has been giving trouble since guy took it away. Has rang me a few times to tell me car broke down on him. Know he is angling to get money back. I do not intend to do this as I sold it in good faith. Would rather if it didn't give guy trouble. Any suggestions what I could to do to appease this guy short of refund. I am not a dealer.
once you sold this guy your car and wrote as sold as seen on his recipt hae has no come back,if u agreed a warenty you are liable for engine and gear box only,hope this can ease your worrys mate almanu
 
One of the solicitors/legal people on AAM can advise what the law is on this and people working in dealerships will have a perspective but I am pretty sure that if you sold someone a second-hand car for 20K claiming it is in working order and he contacts you almost immediately reporting breakdowns and asking for help then the vehicle is not 'fit for purpose'. With a faulty or dangerous car there would be legal and consumer issues under the trades description act........whether the sale is private or not.
 
once you sold this guy your car and wrote as sold as seen on his recipt hae has no come back,if u agreed a warenty you are liable for engine and gear box only,hope this can ease your worrys mate almanu

I don't believe you are correct there.
 
Would buying privately not be the same as buying in a public car auction?

The old saying is “your eye is your judge and your pocket is your guide”

If people are happy to pay less buying private as opposed to buying of a dealer for a higher price can they really expect to have it both ways. I wouldn’t give them anything back personally.
 
A lot may depend on the type of problem.

If it's something that by it's nature is known to be intermittent, it's possible that the purchaser may feel cheated in some way.

Also, as suggested, if the fault is potentially dangerous there could be further problems/ramifications.

Was the OP aware of the fault in question? is it possible that an independent inspection would strongly suggest that the OP must have known?

In general, caveat emptor, but this is certainly not always a 'get out clause'.
 
Was the OP aware of the fault in question? is it possible that an independent inspection would strongly suggest that the OP must have known?

But would the problem then not need to be so bad that the buyer should have spotted it themselves?

If, for example, I sell a car privately and the next day the head gasket blows ruining the engine - would the buyer have any comeback?

Or, if I sell a car, the brakes fail and the buyer crashes - would the buyer have any comeback?

In both cases the problems may have been identifiable by a trained mechanic but not be me.....I know nothing about cars - Am I still expected to entertain a claim for refund / expenses from the buyer?
 
But would the problem then not need to be so bad that the buyer should have spotted it themselves?

Not necessarily - if as mentioned the fault was intermittent. E.g., mechanic or other inspector could conclude that "this was bound to have been happening on and off for months to get to this stage".

Can't think of an example but it's all hypothetical until we know 1) if the OP knew of the problem and 2) what the problem is/was.
 
The car has to be fit for purpose - which means that the buyer can expect to get a car that performs for him much like any other similar car with a mileage and condition that merits paying about this much for it.

The seller must also give as true and accurate a description of the car as possible - meaning that you can't tell porkies about its condition in the hope of ramping up the price

My understanding is that if the car breaks down because of normal wear & tear or a routine 'problem' - such as a failure of some component that A - is problematic on this type of vehicle or B - its not hugely surprising that it wears out at this mileage given the car's overall condition, then this is the buyer's problem - caveat emptor and all that.

What would be the seller's problem is where a major fault on the car was not reported or (worse) covered up - for example, structural rust.

In the event of something fundamental being wrong with the car, even where its a private sale, the buyer can look for money back or recompense of some type if the car falls seriously short of its description or price - even if the seller didn't know about the fault - because its reasonable to expect that something priced like its in good condition actually is in relatively good condition.

In the case of the private sale, I believe its the buyer's job to demonstrate all of this. Not the easiest for them to do, but it is possible.

Sounds too unclear in this case what the issue is. If the buyer continues to complain, then it might be an idea to ask him to conduct all further contact in writing (to keep everyone/thing right & clear), to specify exactly what the problem is and reserve the right to get your own inspection of the car done to verify any claims made about its condition.
 
Good post Paulone.

This is pretty much my understanding too. Many people seem to be under the impression that "private sale = tough, no comeback" which is the not the case.

(Not prejudging the OP's circumstances BTW)
 
My understanding is that 'fit for purpose' does apply to a private sale, but the big difference is that its so much more difficult to prove and its the buyer's responsibility to do all the work.

buying from a garage or retailer means you have comeback cemented into the law - its illegal for them to pull a fast one on you and you have automatic recourse to your rights as a consumer. That doesn't mean that you never pay over the odds or always get good value, but it does mean that there is much easier comeback.

In a private sale, the same logic applies, but its a contract to buy between you and the other person rather than a retailer or garage - usually unwritten, the devil itself to prove because its open to all sorts of 'he said/she said' and if there's a problem, then it's the buyer who must do all the running.

Provided the OP was acting in good faith and given that the car may well be playing up now its been sold, the buyer needs to demonstrate why that's the OP's problem - it was an expensive enough car so it would be worth the buyer's while to do that.
 
Looks like the buyer found the op and did him in... he hasn't been online since the post......
 
Consumer protection applies only to deals involving commercial entities - not private sellers.

If the buyer here is seeking redress and the seller isn't willing to cooperate, he'll need to take a private action which, given the costs and risks involved, he probably won't.

It would all depend on whether the true condition of the car was disclosed at the time of the sale but even if it was, the conept of caveat emptor applies.
 
Looks like the buyer found the op and did him in... he hasn't been online since the post......

lol If he has been done in, then lets not jump to premature conclusions about who did him in.
 
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