Hi all,

New to the forum, and I was looking for some opinions.

I recently purchased a car from a specialist dealer, and part-exchanged my previous car. When I first contacted him, I was on business in America and we discussed the part-exchange over email. The only information he asked for was the registration number and mileage. I asked my wife to email me the mileage, and I passed it across to him.

He gave me a part-ex value, and told me that he would be passing it on to another dealer.

Upon my return, I drove up to complete the transaction, paid him the balance, got an invoice, and took the new car on.

He didn't check the car, or the mileage upon handover, just got me to sign the V5 document, and an invoice including the part-exchange details and new car details.

He phoned me 4 days later saying that the mileage was wrong. Evidently my wife had read the number from the trip meter, not the main mileage, and instead of 4700, it was nearer 8500. He told me that the dealer he was passing it onto was now offering £1000 less on the value, and that he would be out of pocket.

He asked me "out of good will" to pay him £500 towards that value.

I have told him that it was a genuine mistake, and that it was his responsibility to check the part-exchange vehicle at the point of purchase. He is now chasing me (in a friendly manner) to see if I will pay the additional money.

I do maintain it's ultimately his mistake, as if he had told me at the point of purchase that I needed to pay £1000 more on the balance, I would have had the opportunity to decide not to purchase the car, and walk away.

It's not escalated - but I have a feeling it might. I was looking to check my sanity here and see if others feel that it is right/appropriate to tell him that it's his problem, and I am not willing to pay anything more.

Many thanks in advance for the advice.

Craig