No it didn't say sold as seen. I luckily took a screenshot of the advert, and it says on the it is an excellent runner and in good condition. It also says the MOT has passed and no advisories. Also have the text from him confirming the car was in a good state. Thanks

Hi Bankfodder, Thanks so much for your reply. We have already written them a letter refusing the car and asking for a refund. We are sending another one today with copies of the failed MOT we have just had done, highlighting the ongoing issues from the MOT of the 16th May. Yeah, we are looking out for any more adverts in the same area that could be them - I'd love to catch them out!! I hope they haven't done this before - or will do it again. We are prepared to go to court and have told them this in the letter we are sending today, as they had claimed there were no advisories on MOT in the Gumtree advert - and there are so many on the failed MOT we've just had done! It unbelievably covers 2 pages. Yes, we have contacted the neighbour - we don't have the address of the man that advertised it who we initially spoke to first, but I have his email address so sending the same letters to him that we're sending the owners to their home address. We have also been in touch with the garage who passed it on the 20th May, and he wanted to know who sold us the car. My mum gave him the number of the seller. This resulted in the seller phoning my mum and being aggressive on the phone that she'd contacted the garage and to deal with him only. Since then he had threatened us with saying he has a solicitor. I think we will call DVLA and explain what has happened, as it has failed an MOT, we are not going to be fixing the car. We haven't sent off the V5C form as we contacted craig (the seller, not owner) straight away the next morning telling him we wanted our money back (£1000). He hung up on the call that day and turned his phone off - we then got texts from the seller giving us the owners husbands phone number telling us to deal with them not him. The owners husband came back to us saying we were harassing him. The car is still technically owned by them, but I have taxed it for a year on the day we bought it thinking that we would be keeping the vehicle. Not sure how to get that tax money back either! Here is the link to the Road Traffic Act 1988 - legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/75 I think I have read in one of the threads on this site saying that it is also illegal to sell a car that isn't yours? We have at no point had any contact with the lady who owns the car, we are posting letters to her but it's only her husband who is replying. Thanks again for your help, we will get the Consumer Survival Handbook soon if needed - hopefully not!!

Hi all, I bought a car from a private seller last week, I found it on gumtree and called the guy advertising it. I asked him about the state of the car and he promised it was in good condition (also have a text from him saying he wouldn't sell a car if there was anything wrong with it). He said he was selling it for his neighbour. I had checked the MOT history online and it had failed on the 16th May, but passed again on the 20th. After speaking a lot with him, as the car was a 2 hour drive away, my parents decided to go and look at it. I couldn't go due to having to go back to Devon where I live to get physio following a no fault accident where my car was written off. When my parents got there the car seemed fine, my dad test drove it, checked the engine and all seemed ok. After paying for the car (it was the guy who advertised it and the owners husband there) they started on the journey home. By the time they got back the power steering on the car they bought (VW Polo 2005) had pretty much failed. It was extremely heavy and wasn't like it was upon inspection. We have had the car tested and as on the failed MOT from the 16th May - the same problem of a leak from the steering rack was still there plus a long list of other things! The steering rack had been covered up with a bit of rubber, and the mechanic said that the rate it was leaking the sellers would have had to top up the steering fluid just before my dad test drove it. Luckily my mum kept the V5C form so we have the previous owners address, and I have the sellers email. We have written them a letter asking for a refund under the Sales of Good Act. They have since text asking proof (which we have) and that they want our address, but I have asked consumer rights people on the phone and they said it is fine to deal with it through email - is this right? We have given them 14 days since the letter to resolve this and give us a refund. I've also found that under the Road Traffic Act 1988 section 72 it is a criminal offence to sell a car that is unroadworthy - and actually points out steering as a main point. Does anyone know if this would apply to a private sale? As it doesn't specify in the legislation. Any other advice would be great. Thanks in advance.