Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 63 total)
  • Sold car yesterday, now buyer claiming damage to car
  • bigyinn
    Free Member

    Sold a 13 yo car yesterday (mum’s Aunt’s old car, she has dementia). Its in very good nick with only 24k on the clock.
    The buyer viewed the car tuesday night in the dark, put it in mums garage to get a better look under the light.
    Paid for it last night and went away happy.
    This morning I get a message from him saying there’s a massive scrape along the length of the car and the car was perfect when he looked at it tuesday night. He then implies that due to my mum’s unfamiliarity with auto cars that she damaged the car when she took it out of the garage. 😈 Also he had said that unless this can be resolved he will take legal action.
    Im waiting for pictures from him to confirm, but im pretty sure he’s referring to a crease in the door / wing that was already there well before he looked at it.
    My reckoning is that he didnt spot it (twice) in the dark and is now trying it on to get a reduction on the sale price.
    He has a letter of sale from mum (which he has signed) stating “The vehicle is sold as seen with no guaranteed expressed or implied.”. I have photos taken in Jan which show the mark quite clearly.

    So the question is here, what do I do and where do I stand?
    In my mind I have the phrase “buyer beware”, doe the fact that he has paid for the car and signed a letter accepting the car as it is cover my ass?

    Your thoughts please.

    meehaja
    Free Member

    buyer beware I’m afraid. Tell him to bring his legal action…

    hammyuk
    Free Member

    No comeback on a “private to private” sale.
    He should of viewed in daylight or used a 3rd party such as the AA/RAC.

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    prezet
    Free Member

    Sold as seen. He has no legal comeback.

    Skyliner
    Free Member

    Sit tight – you’ll be fine. Unless of course he has absolute proof of deliberate deception (which he clearly hasnt). And, he could of left a deposit and collected it in the daylight. His choice to take the car.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    yep private sale , tell him to get bent !

    cb
    Full Member

    I would think you’re safe but I would have made a point of mentioning it were I selling it. It may be buyer beware but honesty goes a long way. A simple “you need to be aware of this here fold” would have avoided this…IMO of course.

    DrP
    Full Member

    “jog on mate” is a phrase that springs to mind..

    (remembers when I traded in my Civic Type R, which had a little graze down the side. Left it at the garage on multiple occasions whilst I test drove their cars, so you can see why I ignored the look of surprise and close focus from the salesman when I finally dropped it off!)

    DrP

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    His problem. Sold as seen. If he’s not prepared to view it in daylight, tough luck.

    meehaja
    Free Member

    perhaps invoice him for the educational class in why you should never buy a car in the dark unless you are willing to accept what you can’t see…

    toby1
    Full Member

    If it was on there when he collected it I’d assume that was also when the cash was handed over. If you have a signed agreement stating sold as seen then it sounds like he’s just trying it on.

    joao3v16
    Free Member

    You have proof that the ‘crease’ existed when he viewed the vehicle.
    You’ve not tried to conceal it from prospective buyers.
    They knowingly bought ‘sold as seen’.

    Therefore, no longer your responsibility.

    He’s just trying it on because he’s pee’d off at not spotting it before buying the car.

    Buyer Beware.

    mrflaky
    Free Member

    Private sale = Caveat emptor = no comeback what so ever = Jog On

    Its the risk when you buy from a private seller, you can get a bargain, but you take the risk. He has now learnt a valuable lesson on buying private and not viewing in daylight.

    (also what proof can he give you that he hasn’t done it since he bought the car :))

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    Thanks for the reassurance peeps.
    Can’t believe EVERYONE is in agreement. Where’s GW when you need him?? 😆
    He paid deposit on Tues night and was going to collect and pay balance on sat. He chose to do it last night instead.
    If he looked at it closely he should have seen it.

    DrRSwank
    Free Member

    Pah – report it stolen and keep his money

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    lol @ DrRSwank!
    Pretty much everything else about the car is mint, it drives really well and feels nice and tight. Engine is sweet as. I’d have had it happily if it wasnt an auto. Ergh

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    I don’t think it’s the private sale that is important, it’s the fact that he had a good chance to inspect the car, it’s not a latent defect.

    ski
    Free Member

    DrRSwank – Member

    Pah – report it stolen and keep his money

    LOL

    hels
    Free Member

    What a **** – like when he sells the car on, which is probably in the next five minutes, he won’t try and conceal it. Have you checked for it on auto trader yet ?? That would explain the sudden collection, he has already listed it and has a buyer lined up.

    konabunny
    Free Member

    Unless you told him the bodywork was in good (more than good!) bodywork, he’s stuck with it. Do nothing unless you get death threats or court papers.

    Cheque/cash banked, I hope.

    A good reason to not buy…or sell…a car in the dark.

    hisdog
    Free Member

    He should have remembered:

    caveat emptor

    as otherwise:

    stercus accidit

    You, however, are in the clear.

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    If you have the evidence just send him the picture – gets all the hassle over with ASAP. Oh and buyer beware.

    konabunny
    Free Member

    Just out of interest, without Googling, what do all the people saying “caveat emptor” or “buyer beware” think it actually means?

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    Ask him to send you a photo of the damage. Then send your photo back to him.

    Sold as seen is not very useful on these dark evenings.

    sugdenr
    Free Member

    It means ‘you pays your money, you takes your chance’.

    All clear now?

    mrflaky
    Free Member

    konabunny – my understanding is that caveat emptor, is basically buyer beware, that unless the seller has deliberatly concealed a fault or problem with a product whilst selling it is not their responsibility to put it right…..might be wrong but that’s my understanding.

    Buying from a business is entirely different I believe!

    ps. you might have guess I am not a lawyer, but have sold a fair few cheap secondhand cars…… 😀

    hisdog
    Free Member

    or “when involved in a transaction which will cost you money, use a little common sense”

    And I’m sure that it probably has no basis in law, but neither does looking both ways when you cross the road and it’s a good idea to do it.

    GlitterGary
    Free Member

    Tell him you’ll scrape his face off your fist.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    The ball is currently in his court. Have asked for a picture of the damage from him before I say anything else.

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    Then send your photo back to him.

    Assuming he can prove when the photograph was taken…

    But I do think the buyer should sling his hook.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    btw – worth checking

    boy at my mums work bought a duff car which had Headgasket failure.

    guy didnt give him a refund and told him to jog on ….

    the next day the guy appeared with a broken leg – do remember he knows where you or you mother live…..

    although the chap was notorious and very well connected in my home town, i only had the misfortune of coming against him once after i testified in court against him

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    RE – PICTURE

    Well, whichever way it goes you have him stitched up

    No pic = Sling yer hook
    Pic of damage same as your pic? “Already there, your fault” = Sling yer hook
    Pic of damage DIFFERENT to your pic? “Wasn’t there when I took this pic, your fault” = Sling yer hook

    😛

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Did he get a good deal or did he pay over the odds for a car with a scrape on it?

    ski
    Free Member

    RE – PICTURE

    Well, whichever way it goes you have him stitched up

    No pic = Sling yer hook
    Pic of damage same as your pic? “Already there, your fault” = Sling yer hook
    Pic of damage DIFFERENT to your pic? “Wasn’t there when I took this pic, your fault” = Sling yer hook

    so sling yer hook then 😉

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    Well I’d say he got a reasonable deal, but im hardy impartial am I?
    He did his homework on the cars market value. Its only a good deal to the buyer, he got £200 off the asking price.

    PP Are you joking when you said “stitched up”? Just making sure as humour can get lost in tinterweb and I dont want to get lairy with you yet, until im sure.

    jon1973
    Free Member

    Did he get a good deal or did he pay over the odds for a car with a scrape on it?

    I’d expect to pay a premium for a 13 year old car with 24k miles on the clock.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    Yup!

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    PP get to Falkirk! 😆

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    pay a premium for a 13 year old car with 24k miles on the clock.

    why ? its likely to be in no better condition than a 13 year old car with 130k on the clock ……. long as its been serviced and loved of course

    time and treatment kills cars not milage

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    I’d expect to pay a premium for a 13 year old car with 24k miles on the clock.

    Whereas I wouldn’t go anywhere near a 13 year old car with 24k on it. It will have sat most of it’s life siezing up, it’s probably not been serviced anywhere near often enough, and it’ll only have ever done very short journeys so it’ll be coked up with an engine full of mayonnaise.

    Been there, done that.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 63 total)

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