the £2118 "damages" is made up from an estimate provided by the claimant. It is from a jaguar main dealer, supply and fit 2 door skins, and respray whole n/s of car. i had someone look at it and quote £597 to repair the bottoms of 2 doors. The judge refused to even let me hand it to him.....

The impact damage was not taken into consideration. It was deemed unimportant. I have to pay him £2118 in damages. This is payable directly to him, not the court or any repair centre!! He is free to spend it on whatever he likes, he doesn't even have to have the car repaired!!

What was said in Court? He lied his backside off!! He told the court he originally came to see a blue jaguar I had. when he arrived at my shop he saw I had a "identical red one" and i said to him "don't buy the blue one have the red one, it doesn't have any rust on it" He also said both cars were parked side by side in a garage. FACT. I did not have a blue Jaguar at the time of sale, this I can prove with stock lists. FACT. I could not park to XJ8's side by side in a lock up. I have a lock up but 2 XJ8's will not fit in side by side. I offered to show the judge some photo's of my premisies, he did not want to see them. As the claimant went through his case, the judge followed page by page with the paperwork. When my turn came he didn't even pick up my case papers. I held out and showed him a report from my bodyshop, who had inspected the car and quoted £697 to repair it. The judge refused to see this because it had not been submitted to him, despite the fact I sent a copy to the court on dec 4th, and a copy to the claimant. The judge repeatedly interupted me as I spoke, and even talked over me at times. I could not wish to meet a more biased judge to be honest. He had almost no interest in what I had to say. In fact I new I was doomed in the first minutes of being in court, when he explained the procedure and then specifically turned to ME and spent several minutes explaining the appeal process. This was directed straight to me, and he kept eye contact with me the whole time he explaained this. The case was found because, despite the fact he veiwed the car twice, and bought it, it was of unsatisfactory quality. The judge also said the cliamants inspection and viewing of the car was not of a "reasonable depth" to be able to notice the rust!! My solicitor told me later that the original judge James called in sick, an I had a deputy, Mr Ball, who specialised in family law. She had delt with him on previous occasions. I will apply for the transcript of the trial and let my solicitor examine it for any "point of law" which I may appeal on. Itam and I cannot sleep!!!!!

common sense would have done!! What narked me was the fact the judge allowed the claimant to go through his claim, page by page, in detail whilst the judge followed. When it was my turn the judge did not even pick up my case file. I handed him a transcript of the advice trading standards gave me, and he simply said, "I'm not intereseted in that" The judge summed up and stated "at the end of the day you sold a car of unsatisfactory quality" This was despite the fact he viewed it twice and bought it!! It took the claimant 5 months to bring this matter to my attention!! The judge also stated that "age and mileage was not to be taken into consideration, it was a Jaguar, and this is not the quality one would expect of a jaguar" I don't build the cars, I just supply them...........

There is the possibilty of appeal, but I need the judge to allow it. My solicitor siad that he was unlikely to allow me to appeal, and it would only be considered if it involved a point of law. The problem being an appeal would undermine him as a judge, and they do not like that! I am devastated by the outcome, really devastated. I need to take some time out and consider an appeal though. I'll talk to the FSB and see what they think.

Been found liable. The Judge was not interested in anything I had to say. He said the car was not of satisfactory quality and therefore I'm lialbe. I'm devastated. Can apeal but I have to ask for the Judge's permission first, he tells me......

If it were not so funny I'd belive it!! The guy has just called up my solicitor to tell her that he has been on to the national press about this case and they are very interested!!! Unbeliveable!!! Is this some pathetic way to intimidate me? Interest rates plummet, people are dying in Uganda from disease, people are being killed in wars, and he thinks the national press are going to run a story about a guy who found a bit of rust on a 7 year old Jaguar......... Well I'd better get on to the BBC and Reuters pretty sharpish........... might even get on News at Ten monday night!!!

Oh, and another think. I sent pictures showing the damage to his car and the rust spots. He says the pictures do not show a clear representation of the rust!! I can't do anything right here!! Well if photographs do not show a clear representation of the rust, it just goes to show how insignificant his problem is!!

If there was a recording of any converstation, surely he'd have to ask the court to allow it to be played? I am, however, convinced that there is no recording of any phone call!! Just another way to try and put pressure on me. The hearing is listed for 10.00am Monday 22 December 2008. Happy Xmas!!

I have had this happen to a Scenic I sold last year. The engine runs on and on, sucking all the oil up and running on that. You switch the ignition off and it keeps going until it blows!! Some people try and stall by putting in gear and releasing the clutch only to detonate the clutch/flywheel as well........... I have a very very good contact at my local Renault garage and he tells me it is a massive problem on 1.9 and 2.2 DCi's. Renault are aware but don't really want to help.

The conversation was not recorded. She would not be allowed without the consent of the other party, unless it was for training purposes of course!! The solicitor could not belive his attitude!! Something has really rattled him. He called her up because she wrote to him on 1st dec. I also called the court today to see if they had any more correspondence from him. They said he phoned up a few days ago to see if the case was still going ahead!! Well I can't stop it, only he can. his whole attitude has been unreasonable throughout. I'm not just saying that with sour grapes either. Why did it take him 5 months from purchase to raise the issue in the first place? The Court date is set for 22nd of December...Nice.... Well one of us is going to have a happy christmas.... If anyone wants to see the pictures regarding this case then drop me a PM with an e mail adress and I'll send them on. I'd most welcome more opinion.

Quick update. The guy has called my solicitor today, to say he was rude and arrogant would be an under statement!! He said that she was "an idiot, oblivious to the facts" and he would "make pig meat" of her in court!!

UPDATE The guy has now obtained an independent bodyshop quote. He got them from random out of the yellow pages. He sent me a copy up, it is for £1000 and basically quotes to repiar the rusty patches and respray the whole side of the car! The funny thing was, he called me up the next day and said he wasn't happy to use them because "their body shop is in a rough part of town and is dusty and untidy inside" Yep, that is what he told me!! What did he expect a bodyshop to look like, an operating theatre!!! Anyhow, i wrote back saying I rejected this quote and his claim on the basis that there is aditional impact damage to the car, which under his claim would be repaired by me!! He has written back saying that when he phoned me (recorded) I was unhelpful and not willing to try and settle out of court. Well I'm not being unhelpful, trust me!! I do not want to settle at all, I think he has no claim against me and I'm not liable. Simple. I have written back asking for a copy of the phone call he alleges he recorded. I doubt he did record it, we would then hear him saying about a body shop being from a rough part of town, etc, etc. He went on to say that this "cheap quote" just reinsated his belief that only a Jaguar dealer should carry out the work. I'm sure he says things like this to try and convince me of how wrong I am, and to try to show to the court I'm un-cooperative!! It's almost like he is pilling pressure on me and wants to settle now because he maybe having doubts as to his claim now. I suppose any settlement outside of court is a victory for him, at least he gets his car fixed for free. I have got around a dozen pictures of the car, including the new impact damage. There where photo's on the advert, but I no longer have them. well it was nearly a year ago and it would be almost impossible to keep pics of every car I sold!! He viewed the car at my shop before he purchased. He was here for around a good 2 hours. I then agreed to deliver the car 60 miles to his office a few days later. When I got to his office he insisted on another inspection and another test drive! This sticks in my mind as unusual because I'd just driven 60 miles to get there!! How did he think it got 60 miles without being driven I don't know!!

I've sent one of my body repair people to look at the car, no work has been done as of yet. He says there is some bubbling and some rust coming through and said it would only need shot blasting, preparing and painting upto the lower door moulding on 2 doors. The owner wants 2 complete new doors from Jaguar, and the whole side of the car repainting. He only wants a main Jaguar dealer to undertake the work, no one else. the claimant also states that the car has had 2 door skins fitted previously and this was done badly. (I never had anything done to the car) The result of this "poor workmanship" has resulted in the contamination. He has told the court in his letters that the best way is for me to settle his claim in full and then I pursue whoever did this work! I have no idea who did this, no idea when and no idea where!! He is also constantly on the phone to me asking me to settle, almost harrassing me with his demands! It also might be worth pointing out that when my chap went to see the car it has sustained a nasty scrape on one of the affected doors and a rear wheel arch! I have suggested to him the reason he wants me to pay for a full respray on this side is to pay for either his uninsured losses or for him to avoid paying any insurance excess his polcy may have. It is surely against all reson to expect me to pay for damage he or someone else has done to his car!! Trading Standards have told me that being a motor dealer I'm already 70% liable in the small claim court! I have been in business 7 years and sell on average 100 vehicles a year. Never had a complaint or a court case before so this is one big learning curve for me.

Ok, so I'm an independent sole trader!! Here is the story. I sold a car in December 2007. The buyer wrote to me in April 08 and said he found some bubbling of the paint on the bottom of 2 doors. Said it was rusty and took it for a quote at a main dealer. £2000 to replace two doors. Car is 2001 with 103,000 at time of sale. Demanded I pay in full or he'll sue for misdescription. I took advice from trading standards and consumer direct who both told me it was fair wear & tear. I replied quoting this and then a few days later recieved county court papers. He stated on this that when I sold him the car I "deliberatley concealed a significant defect and gave a false written description of the vehicle" He say's the false written description was because I said the car was free from "any dings or scrapes" Well it was!! I'm not being cocky here, but take into account age and mileage, the price paid was 7k, a new one is 45k. He inspected the vehicle twice before he paid for it. no mention was made by him about this alledged defect until some 5 months later. Where do I stand?