Sold a car to a friend and surprise surprise!
Discussion
We’ve had a 2003 Corolla in the family since 2013, 1.6 auto, Dad bought it off a man who was selling it for his mother cheap.
I used it for a year, sister used it, sister in law and parents used it now and then, it’s now done about 80k miles and it’s been parked up for a few months and sorn off.
My friend comes back from traveling in Australia, looking to buy a cheap car so he asks me to have a look at cars he wants to buy, ratty old Astras, corsas and old golfs, most of which based in slough or London from dealers you wouldn’t want to buy a car from. I say to my friend let me ask my dad if he would sell the Corolla, don’t want to see you get ripped off or buy a car that will give you problems so long story short, we sell the Toyota to him, 1400 pounds , the car is spotless. Only thing it needed is the oil to be topped up and an MOT. I insisted the oil needs to be topped up because I know my friend has know knowledge on cars or basic things. I’ll explain in a moment.
Before he came to see the car, my brother started it, took it for a drive to see if it was ok, took it for an MOT which passed with flying colours (my brother did as I don’t have fully comp insurance).
He comes to inspect it, drives it and loves it, said he’ll come back with the money. He comes back after a few days and drives it away, I tell him not to forget to top the oil up, he tells me it’s got half a tank of oil and points at the oil tempature thermometer!!!
Anyways just want to point out that the car is worth more to my dad than 1400 pounds however I wanted to do him the favour of giving him trouble free motoring as all of his previous cars usually fall apart. My dad knows him he’s a good friend so we said may as well sell it.
It’s been about a month and a half now and today he text me saying ‘the cars leaking oil’. I say how? There’s nothing wrong with the car, the spot it’s been parked up on doesn’t show any oil or any leak, it’s impossible we just MOT’d it to and no advisories came up. He says well I reversed it off my drive today and there was oil on the driveway, I say well we’ll have to check it out, is there a lot of oil then says ‘it’s funny how you kept saying top the oil up’.
What the f
k am I supposed to do now? I didn’t reply to it because I found it insulting he would say it like that, to think I’d go out of my way and ask my dad to sell him a car for a sum of money that would have no use or bearing to my dads life, this is a VERY good friend of mine. The car wasn’t for sale, it literally wasn’t and we didn’t even think of selling it because there’s nothing else we can use the money for that can be as useful as the car we know and love.
What kind of oil leak could just develop like that on a Corolla, could he have put the oil in the wrong place? Why do these things happen. Now it looks like I’ve ripped him off, to his younger brother who’s also my friend, to his dad as well!
I used it for a year, sister used it, sister in law and parents used it now and then, it’s now done about 80k miles and it’s been parked up for a few months and sorn off.
My friend comes back from traveling in Australia, looking to buy a cheap car so he asks me to have a look at cars he wants to buy, ratty old Astras, corsas and old golfs, most of which based in slough or London from dealers you wouldn’t want to buy a car from. I say to my friend let me ask my dad if he would sell the Corolla, don’t want to see you get ripped off or buy a car that will give you problems so long story short, we sell the Toyota to him, 1400 pounds , the car is spotless. Only thing it needed is the oil to be topped up and an MOT. I insisted the oil needs to be topped up because I know my friend has know knowledge on cars or basic things. I’ll explain in a moment.
Before he came to see the car, my brother started it, took it for a drive to see if it was ok, took it for an MOT which passed with flying colours (my brother did as I don’t have fully comp insurance).
He comes to inspect it, drives it and loves it, said he’ll come back with the money. He comes back after a few days and drives it away, I tell him not to forget to top the oil up, he tells me it’s got half a tank of oil and points at the oil tempature thermometer!!!
Anyways just want to point out that the car is worth more to my dad than 1400 pounds however I wanted to do him the favour of giving him trouble free motoring as all of his previous cars usually fall apart. My dad knows him he’s a good friend so we said may as well sell it.
It’s been about a month and a half now and today he text me saying ‘the cars leaking oil’. I say how? There’s nothing wrong with the car, the spot it’s been parked up on doesn’t show any oil or any leak, it’s impossible we just MOT’d it to and no advisories came up. He says well I reversed it off my drive today and there was oil on the driveway, I say well we’ll have to check it out, is there a lot of oil then says ‘it’s funny how you kept saying top the oil up’.
What the f
k am I supposed to do now? I didn’t reply to it because I found it insulting he would say it like that, to think I’d go out of my way and ask my dad to sell him a car for a sum of money that would have no use or bearing to my dads life, this is a VERY good friend of mine. The car wasn’t for sale, it literally wasn’t and we didn’t even think of selling it because there’s nothing else we can use the money for that can be as useful as the car we know and love. What kind of oil leak could just develop like that on a Corolla, could he have put the oil in the wrong place? Why do these things happen. Now it looks like I’ve ripped him off, to his younger brother who’s also my friend, to his dad as well!
It could be anything. Needs inspecting or it's just pure guesswork.
Sounds like buyer's remorse. He needs a reality check - if you want a new car then buy a new car.
Old ones break down and suffer issues.
Can't be much of a friend to behave like he has to be fair, I'd tell him to do one if he's being difficult.... You are under no obligation to provide recourse for him.
Sounds like buyer's remorse. He needs a reality check - if you want a new car then buy a new car.
Old ones break down and suffer issues.
Can't be much of a friend to behave like he has to be fair, I'd tell him to do one if he's being difficult.... You are under no obligation to provide recourse for him.
who knows what the leak could be. But £1400 for a 2003 corolla auto (petrol?) is pretty strong money. So why not top the oil up yourselves before he bought it?
It clearly either uses or leaks oil, or you'd not have said anything. Having said all that, it's a 15 yr old car, a small oil leak is nothing to worry about, really.
If it really bothers you and is such a good car, offer to buy it back for £1300.
It clearly either uses or leaks oil, or you'd not have said anything. Having said all that, it's a 15 yr old car, a small oil leak is nothing to worry about, really.
If it really bothers you and is such a good car, offer to buy it back for £1300.
poo at Paul's said:
who knows what the leak could be. But £1400 for a 2003 corolla auto (petrol?) is pretty strong money. So why not top the oil up yourselves before he bought it?
It clearly either uses or leaks oil, or you'd not have said anything. Having said all that, it's a 15 yr old car, a small oil leak is nothing to worry about, really.
If it really bothers you and is such a good car, offer to buy it back for £1300.
You know what it’s funny is that my brother was meant to top it up but forgot to, I wish it was that simple ha!It clearly either uses or leaks oil, or you'd not have said anything. Having said all that, it's a 15 yr old car, a small oil leak is nothing to worry about, really.
If it really bothers you and is such a good car, offer to buy it back for £1300.
May seem like strong money however when you have a look on autotader at other examples and see the state they’re in, it’s a damn good deal. It definitely doesn’t leak oil, or didn’t when we had it and buying it back would mean we’re guilty. You could call him a reckless driver, his house is on a hill and the driveway is an incline if you could call it that, I never drive my BMW up there because it scratches the splitter and underside of the car, the clearance on a corolla is a lot better however is it a possibility he drove up/down the drive pretty fast and hit something under the engine to cause a leak? This just sprung to mind as I’ve spent my entire evening thinking about what could have gone wrong, it’s put me in a bad spot in the eyes of him and his family and it appears that I’ve hid an oil leak from him and ripped him off!
CanAm said:
Bearing in mind his comment, "he tells me it’s got half a tank of oil and points at the oil tempature thermometer!!! " I wouldn't be surprised if he'd topped it up via the dipstick hole and spilled some.
<nods> OP - you did show him how to check the oil level, right...?As for...
Chestrockwell said:
Anyways just want to point out that the car is worth more to my dad than 1400 pounds
...
to think I’d go out of my way and ask my dad to sell him a car for a sum of money that would have no use or bearing to my dads life, this is a VERY good friend of mine. The car wasn’t for sale, it literally wasn’t and we didn’t even think of selling it because there’s nothing else we can use the money for that can be as useful as the car we know and love.
But your father DID sell it. It's no longer his car. An ex-owner has no say over what happens to it. The new owner could drive it to the nearest bit of wasteland and set fire to it, if he so desires....
to think I’d go out of my way and ask my dad to sell him a car for a sum of money that would have no use or bearing to my dads life, this is a VERY good friend of mine. The car wasn’t for sale, it literally wasn’t and we didn’t even think of selling it because there’s nothing else we can use the money for that can be as useful as the car we know and love.
If it really was worth more to him than a grand and a bit, then don't sell it. He could have lent it to your friend as a stop-gap.
Chestrockwell said:
It definitely doesn’t leak oil, or didn’t when we had it and buying it back would mean we’re guilty.
Your mate would have to be pretty uncharitable to interpret buying it back as an admission of guilt!If you want to save the friendship and a lot of hassle I’d offer him his money back after having had a look to see whether anything is obviously wrong with it.
NickCQ said:
Chestrockwell said:
It definitely doesn’t leak oil, or didn’t when we had it and buying it back would mean we’re guilty.
Your mate would have to be pretty uncharitable to interpret buying it back as an admission of guilt!If you want to save the friendship and a lot of hassle I’d offer him his money back after having had a look to see whether anything is obviously wrong with it.
If he wants a different car just let him crack on and buy whatever s
theap he finds himself, stay out of it if he's going to be quick to give you grief.Vitorio said:
And this is why you dont sell/give any friends something like a car or a computer if you dont KNOW they know how to treat such an item, you will be on the block for anything that goes wrong for the rest of the items life.
Absolutely this, never sell to anyone you know. I got a car for sale and someone I know is interested and I flat out refused to let them.As for your problem OP be fair but firm, offer to have someone diagnose the issue
I've got a 2 litre vvti engine in my avensis and it burns a bit of oil.
I don't see what the fuss is about here. You can't buy a car private and then go back a month or so later and say it has this wrong or that!
I got my avensis private and I've seen to a few little issues on it. I wouldn't dream of going back to the guy i got it from.
I paid just over a grand, you get what you pay for. I rekkon for the money I got a great car.
I don't see what the fuss is about here. You can't buy a car private and then go back a month or so later and say it has this wrong or that!
I got my avensis private and I've seen to a few little issues on it. I wouldn't dream of going back to the guy i got it from.
I paid just over a grand, you get what you pay for. I rekkon for the money I got a great car.
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