Suing private car seller
Discussion
Reading a similar thread here got me thinking of a car I recently bought.
I bought a second hand car in August last year which was advertised on ebay. All the usual 'car in great condition, full service history' etc.
Went to see it and took it for a test drive down some country lanes. All seemed ok so I bought it... That's until I drove it on the motorway the following Monday. The torque converter in the gearbox was slipping and making a grinding noise, which wasn't present on the previous test drive. I took the car to a gearbox specialist who read the fault codes, and it came up with 'Torque converter excessive slip'. I had it replaced which set me back around £700.
Now the guy who I bought it off told me he was an ex Audi technician and serviced the car himself. To me this means he must have been aware of the fault. Also, he didn't have the car for very long. Probably bought it with the same problem and decided to get rid of it and make it someone else's problem.
I always thought that buying private, you had no come back. But it seems you do have a chance if you take legal action. I'm seriously considering going down the legal route to get the money back I had to spend. Do I have a good chance?
I bought a second hand car in August last year which was advertised on ebay. All the usual 'car in great condition, full service history' etc.
Went to see it and took it for a test drive down some country lanes. All seemed ok so I bought it... That's until I drove it on the motorway the following Monday. The torque converter in the gearbox was slipping and making a grinding noise, which wasn't present on the previous test drive. I took the car to a gearbox specialist who read the fault codes, and it came up with 'Torque converter excessive slip'. I had it replaced which set me back around £700.
Now the guy who I bought it off told me he was an ex Audi technician and serviced the car himself. To me this means he must have been aware of the fault. Also, he didn't have the car for very long. Probably bought it with the same problem and decided to get rid of it and make it someone else's problem.
I always thought that buying private, you had no come back. But it seems you do have a chance if you take legal action. I'm seriously considering going down the legal route to get the money back I had to spend. Do I have a good chance?
If you were the private seller, you're an ex-Audi tech and you'd done a couple of oil changes on your personal car then sold it on before something broke badly, and someone smacked down some legal letter on you, what would you do?
If it was me, ideally I'd have had the bad points out upfront, but if I didnt know about them I'd have to have the awkward conversation with the buyer that I'd already spent the money so there's nowt left to argue about and wish them well with their choice of repairer.
If it was me, ideally I'd have had the bad points out upfront, but if I didnt know about them I'd have to have the awkward conversation with the buyer that I'd already spent the money so there's nowt left to argue about and wish them well with their choice of repairer.
Acidrop said:
Now the guy who I bought it off told me he was an ex Audi technician and serviced the car himself. To me this means he must have been aware of the fault.
Why? Keeping a car serviced doesn't mean it is fault free. Also he could have been oblivious to the fault, it entirely depends on whether he noticed or not. LiquidGnome said:
Acidrop said:
Now the guy who I bought it off told me he was an ex Audi technician and serviced the car himself. To me this means he must have been aware of the fault.
Strange logic. 
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