Another sold a car, buyer wants money thread
Discussion
I always thought, when reading these kinds of threads, that I would be hardened to it all and tell them to naff off. The reality is, I really can't be arsed with it and don't want the stress. So, here goes my story.
I sold a car last week, I stuck it on eBay starting at £1. It sold for a little over 4K and the winners collected it a week later. Now threatening disputes tribunal, whatever that is. This was a private sale.
I took it for an MOT during the auction, it passed with advisorys. Small chip/crack on the windscreen, an oil leak and a tyre worn. not too bad for a 12-year-old car. I presented it early for the MOT hoping to get more for it on the auction. I don't know if I did. It had over a year's MOT on it when it sold.
I also put a new battery on it before selling, the old one was showing its age in the recent cold weather.
I had the car serviced (oil and filters) before selling it (within a couple hundred miles)
I have not had any problems with the car
She took it for a test drive and was happy
She looked over the paperwork and was happy
She spent some time on the phone taking out what sounded like a third-party warrantee... this was the first of my spidey senses going off.
She asked for a receipt, I had forgotten about this so ran in and printed off a couple of templates from the AA. This includes the phrase "It is understood the vehicle is sold as seen, tried and approved by the purchaser."
2 hours later I get messages saying it won't go into gear. I later get contradicting messages saying it's just stiff. Now she is saying it's been to a garage and it's knackered, wants 2k worth of work. (Clutch and gearbox) I expect she has been driving it about just fine, and if she did go to a garage, she drove it there. No mention of transportation.
She has also tried it on referencing the service history, suggesting it has gaps in it, It probably does.
Legally, I think I can tell her to sling her hook. however, I'm not in the mood for any added stress in my life at the moment. I'm thinking about telling her to return the car and V5 (when it arrives in her name), ideally on the back of a transporter, at her cost, as apparently, "it's sooooo bad". And so long as the car isn't smashed up, I will give her money back.
Question 1 - Am I being silly by not telling her to foxtrot Oscar?
Question 2 - Will I open myself up to any litigation later down the line? E.g.. "he knew it was a broken car that's why he let me return it..." now he needs to pay my £2,000 transportation fees and an extra £10k for my mental anguish.
I sold a car last week, I stuck it on eBay starting at £1. It sold for a little over 4K and the winners collected it a week later. Now threatening disputes tribunal, whatever that is. This was a private sale.
I took it for an MOT during the auction, it passed with advisorys. Small chip/crack on the windscreen, an oil leak and a tyre worn. not too bad for a 12-year-old car. I presented it early for the MOT hoping to get more for it on the auction. I don't know if I did. It had over a year's MOT on it when it sold.
I also put a new battery on it before selling, the old one was showing its age in the recent cold weather.
I had the car serviced (oil and filters) before selling it (within a couple hundred miles)
I have not had any problems with the car
She took it for a test drive and was happy
She looked over the paperwork and was happy
She spent some time on the phone taking out what sounded like a third-party warrantee... this was the first of my spidey senses going off.
She asked for a receipt, I had forgotten about this so ran in and printed off a couple of templates from the AA. This includes the phrase "It is understood the vehicle is sold as seen, tried and approved by the purchaser."
2 hours later I get messages saying it won't go into gear. I later get contradicting messages saying it's just stiff. Now she is saying it's been to a garage and it's knackered, wants 2k worth of work. (Clutch and gearbox) I expect she has been driving it about just fine, and if she did go to a garage, she drove it there. No mention of transportation.
She has also tried it on referencing the service history, suggesting it has gaps in it, It probably does.
Legally, I think I can tell her to sling her hook. however, I'm not in the mood for any added stress in my life at the moment. I'm thinking about telling her to return the car and V5 (when it arrives in her name), ideally on the back of a transporter, at her cost, as apparently, "it's sooooo bad". And so long as the car isn't smashed up, I will give her money back.
Question 1 - Am I being silly by not telling her to foxtrot Oscar?
Question 2 - Will I open myself up to any litigation later down the line? E.g.. "he knew it was a broken car that's why he let me return it..." now he needs to pay my £2,000 transportation fees and an extra £10k for my mental anguish.
tight fart said:
You said,
“ She took it for a test drive and was happy
She looked over the paperwork and was happy
She spent some time on the phone taking out what sounded like a third-party warrantee”
Why doesn’t she claim on that?
Scam 100%
Yep, although, I cant imagine any warrantee company putting anything on a 12-year-old car. But that is at least what I thought I herd.“ She took it for a test drive and was happy
She looked over the paperwork and was happy
She spent some time on the phone taking out what sounded like a third-party warrantee”
Why doesn’t she claim on that?
Scam 100%
Muzzer79 said:
Prizam said:
Question 1 - Am I being silly by not telling her to foxtrot Oscar?
.
Yes..
What stress will you incur by telling her to FRO?
Block her number. If she turns up (unlikely) then don’t answer the door.
Pound to a penny says she won’t want to return the car - she’ll want cash back for the “repairs”
steveo3002 said:
Prizam said:
Coincidently, I just did some amateur internet sleuthing and found that the eBay profile used to buy my car, now has 2 other cars up for sale. Benefit of the doubt and all that, but it does start to look a little fishy.
whats the buying history ? tyre gel and bottles of stp?TikTak said:
Good for you and good luck OP.
As a small mention that I didn't see any others point out is, you've got no idea what she's done to the car intentionally or not once she drove it away so absolutely should not taking a return.
Frame the receipt and hang it on the wall. Maybe even get a big comical arrow stuck on the side that points to the bit that says "Sold as seen".
Thanks, blocked her now, I had to google how to do it on eBay. I think I feel some relief from doing this. I also had a conversation with my wife, who agrees with you lot, that she is trying it on. As a small mention that I didn't see any others point out is, you've got no idea what she's done to the car intentionally or not once she drove it away so absolutely should not taking a return.
Frame the receipt and hang it on the wall. Maybe even get a big comical arrow stuck on the side that points to the bit that says "Sold as seen".
You are correct, I have 2 options here. Well.. 3, if you include block and ignore.
1 - give her money, in my mind, this is tantamount to blackmail with no guarantee the problem will go away and she won't just come back for more.
2 - get the car back, it's either broken, or it definitely will be out of spite. Either way, it won't be in the same condition it left in.
coldel said:
The idea of caveat emptor is an old one and no longer relevant, I do see this posted so many times on PH as some sort of easy get out clause but its not.
The AA website is a nice summary https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights it posts quite an objective view that actually if you didn't advertise correctly for example you are still on the hook, however, that process for the buyer is long and expensive.
The mistake a lot of people make in car adverts is to go over the top 'the best car out there, nothing wrong with it, drives like new' etc. when its a 20 year old Ford banger. Be to the point and factual in your advert, and you should have no problem simply telling these scammers to either leave you alone or proceed with the court papers.
Most of that site is about dealers, please see the section "Buying a used car privately"The AA website is a nice summary https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights it posts quite an objective view that actually if you didn't advertise correctly for example you are still on the hook, however, that process for the buyer is long and expensive.
The mistake a lot of people make in car adverts is to go over the top 'the best car out there, nothing wrong with it, drives like new' etc. when its a 20 year old Ford banger. Be to the point and factual in your advert, and you should have no problem simply telling these scammers to either leave you alone or proceed with the court papers.
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