Not happy with the seller of a classic car, where do i stand

[MARKS6900]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 19 April 2015 at 21:52

[pacoryan]

Retail or Private? You might have some recourse with the former but a private sale will be much harder unless you can demonstrate deliberate efforts to mislead. One man's "mint" is another's "tidy", caveat emptor and all that.

I'm always surprised by the number of cars advertised in the US as Rust-free, rust apparently means corrosion to the point of making a hole over there.

[PurpleMoonlight]

In what way is it not as described?

If the seller just omitted things you will struggle.

If it's something that is open to interpretation you might struggle.

If he has lied you may have a chance.

[Fastpedeller]

Rule 1 - don't pay until you've seen it.
Rule 2 - Only pay once you're happy its what you want.

[PurpleMoonlight]

MARKS6900 said:

Sorry should of said, it was private, the defects are paint, rust, filler, ect, no paint on inner panels just primer, can not select gears, gauges not working, engine has a ticking noise, no spare Tyre, jack or wrench, hood frame broken, no history at all, 2nd set of wheels missing, rear suspension not working correctly, the list goes on, I feel like I've been done well and truly, now I get the threats of a solicitor, its just sitting in the garage, I've asked for a refund or i'll sell it for its true value and seek the difference from him, what should I do ????

Yes, but what did his advert state?

[Spanna]

And do you have records of his descriptions?

[LoonR1]

Out of interest what car is it and how much did you pay for it?

[boyse7en]

MARKS6900 said:

Yes kept all emails and texts, he described it in a lot better condition than it is, but some of the defects he didn't tell me about until it was on its way to be delivered, what can his solicitor do ???

Yes, but do the emails specifically say things like "Suspension in excellent condition", or "comes with jack and toolkit".

Some of the things would probably not be obvious to a cursory pre-purchase examination, but did you not notice the ticking noise when you viewed the car?

[CAPP0]

MARKS6900 said:

Yes kept all emails and texts, he described it in a lot better condition than it is, but some of the defects he didn't tell me about until it was on its way to be delivered, what can his solicitor do ???

The post two above this quote is particularly pertinent. If the seller told you straight lies to straight questions, you MAY have some recourse. If, however, you asked him about some aspects of the car and he answered truthfully, but did not tell you about things you did not ask and found out post-purchase, you're entirely on your own and have no recourse whatsoever.

Post up the full description and all conversation up to the point of sale, and all the issues (is the list above complete) and someone will tell you where you stand.

[TooMany2cvs]

MARKS6900 said:

Sorry should of said, it was private, the defects are paint, rust, filler, ect, no paint on inner panels just primer, can not select gears, gauges not working, engine has a ticking noise, no spare Tyre, jack or wrench, hood frame broken, no history at all, 2nd set of wheels missing, rear suspension not working correctly, the list goes on

All of which would have been immediately apparent if you'd inspected the car prior to purchase...

MARKS6900 said:

I feel like I've been done well and truly,

Let's agree on "naive", shall we?

MARKS6900 said:

now I get the threats of a solicitor

Umm, who started those threats?

MARKS6900 said:

its just sitting in the garage, I've asked for a refund or i'll sell it for its true value

You are absolutely within your rights to do that. It's your car.

MARKS6900 said:

and seek the difference from him

That might be a bit trickier. What sort of difference are we talking here?

MARKS6900 said:

what should I do ????

I think I'd be starting by kicking myself for buying blind. Then I'd sit down, have a stiff drink, and figure out exactly what I'd bought myself and how to make the best of it.

[Chimune]

MARKS6900 said:

Sorry should of said, it was private, the defects are paint, rust, filler, ect, no paint on inner panels just primer, can not select gears, gauges not working, engine has a ticking noise, no spare Tyre, jack or wrench, hood frame broken, no history at all, 2nd set of wheels missing, rear suspension not working correctly, the list goes on, I feel like I've been done well and truly, now I get the threats of a solicitor, its just sitting in the garage, I've asked for a refund or i'll sell it for its true value and seek the difference from him, what should I do ????

If only there was a way of finding all this out before handing over your cash.....

[elanfan]

If you have called him dishonest and even made threats in writing there could be some repercussions but unless it's a threat to kill or you have said you'll tell everyone he knows that he is dishonest then I'd suggest it is just bluster.

If you want to take it further and claim a difference in value (and you should ask yourself whether it is actually worth it) you will need a report in writing from a recognised expert on the marque. Compare the faults in the report with his descriptions and then tell him you will sue him. He'd be daft not to offer either your money back or the difference in value.

[JQ]

MARKS6900 said:

Its looking that way, but to now have threats of a solicitor, does it get any worse.

Surely he's only threatening you because you're demanding a refund or you'll sell it and try to recover the loss from him. You stop threatening him and he'll stop threatening you.

[S10GTA]

To get useful advice on here you need to be transparent. A good start would be letting people know what the car is, and what you paid.

[TooMany2cvs]

MARKS6900 said:

The words I used in my text which I will keep are "its not as you described it"

Is that subjective, or is there some objective, tangible difference?

MARKS6900 said:

and "I will take it further with trading standards"

Who will tell you EXACTLY where to go, if he is indeed a private individual selling his own personal goods, rather than a trader.

MARKS6900 said:

is that taking it to far to warrant a solicitor ?

IF he does actually get around to seeing a solicitor, and IF the solicitor doesn't say "Don't waste your breath", then the worst that'll happen is that you'll get a letter telling you pretty much what this thread tells you.

Have a look here and other forums for all the people who've sold a car only to have the buyer pop up and say "It's not as you described, I want some money back". The advice is exactly the same. There is no comeback in a private sale, unless there is a marked and tangibly provable difference between the description and reality. Subjective opinions count for nothing.

[dogzilla]

As it's a private sale then Trading Standards won't have anything to do with it. Are you absolutely sure it was private? Dodgy dealers will sometimes sell things "privately" because there is less come back.

If it is private then it will be entirely up to you to resolve it with the seller, either amicably or through the courts.

However there is a key point, the vehicle must match the description provided by the seller. Ignore what anyone says about buyer beware, If you have bought a car without seeing it then you are relying upon the description of the car. If that description is clearly and provably incorrect then you have a case against the seller.

My advice: Document everything that was wrong with the car which does not match the description. You need clear and provable evidence. Do you have the original advert? Also make sure you have evidence of all communications with the chap.

If he said "lovely looking car" but it was actually a bit of a dump, sorry you have no chance. It really needs to be specific.

If he said "lovely car, spare wheel, 2 keys" and it turned up with neither a spare wheel or two keys then that's clearly misrepresenting the goods.

Then you should be able to take him to the small claims and hopefully get a judgement.

[northwest monkey]

dogzilla said:

If he said "lovely car, spare wheel, 2 keys" and it turned up with neither a spare wheel or two keys then that's clearly misrepresenting the goods.

Then you should be able to take him to the small claims and hopefully get a judgement.

Out of interest, if what you describe above happened then what would the judgement be?

Would it be for the value of the whole car, or the value of the spare wheel and a key?

[TooMany2cvs]

northwest monkey said:

Out of interest, if what you describe above happened then what would the judgement be?

Would it be for the value of the whole car, or the value of the spare wheel and a key?

If the argument was about whether there was an explicitly specified spare wheel and second key missing, then it would be for the value of the spare wheel (no need for it to be brand spankin', either) and getting a key cut.

[JustinP1]

MARKS6900 said:

Its looking that way, but to now have threats of a solicitor, does it get any worse.

First the local dogs start being attracted to your front lawn.

Then they start digging.

Then you find holes and bits of sausages everywhere.

[TooMany2cvs]

MARKS6900 said:

he has offered to repay me £500 towards the costs of repair.

I repeat the question from earlier - what kind of alleged value difference are we talking about?