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.

Hi there,this is my first post so if i do anything wrong please forgive me. I purchased a used audi a4 for £1800 from a dealer on 24/10/14 and i've done approx 250 miles in it,i paid £300 cash and part exed my vectra,two weeks later the water pump failed,i took it to a local mechanic as i didn't think it was worth going back to the dealer for,just over a week after that the coolant light came on,i refilled it and checked it periodically and noticed the coolant in the tank was staying cold even when the engine was up to temp,it was suggested to me that this could be a head gasket fault,so i contacted the dealer and he said he'd take a look,he did so and told me that it was just an air lock,i drove 5 miles from the dealers and the engine management light came on,i rang the dealer and told him,his reply was 'next time you're passing through bring it in and we'll switch it off for you' as you can imagine i was very unsatisfied,so i decided to take it to an audi main dealer and have a full check over,they told me in no uncertain terms that the vehicle is unroadworthy and did a complete report,should i contact the dealer first or the CAB,or should i just reject the car? i'm quite happy to show a list of faults if anybody wishes to see them. sorry for the long winded post. Stan.

Hi there, I purchased a used Alfa GT 1.9 JTD from a private seller advertising on autotrader around 1 month ago. this was the advertisement posted: M-JET 16v 3 DOOR GT COUPE, WITH FULL LEATHER INTERIOR , FULL SERVICE HISTORY ALL MANUALS 2 KEYS AND PLENTY OF RECIEPTS, RECENT CLUTCH AND SERVICE,REAR SPRING AND DROP LINKS, 6 SPEED MANUAL 150 bhp POWER AND ECONOMY ALL UNDER ONE HOOD.TWIN TAIL PIPE EXHAUST,SOUGHT AFTER STYLISH ITALIAN THOROUGH-BRED COUPE ALL IN COLOUR CODED AZZURE, BLUE, Next MOT due 04/09/2015, Tax expires 31/01/2015, Full service history, Electric windows, Air conditioning, Parking aid, CD player, Leather trim, Height adjustable driver's seat, Folding rear seats, Sports seats, Metallic paint, Alloy wheels, Power steering, Cruise control, Central locking, Alarm, Immobiliser, Driver's airbags, Side airbags, Passenger airbags. 5 seats, £1,999 the private seller took me for a drive and I had a short test drive in it. everything seemed fine during the drive. the HPI check was clear and he showed me the totally clear MOT certificate issued the week before. I bought the car and have been using it for driving to work etc. i noticed a few minor issues immediately (as you would expect from a used car) but last week the whole car began to judder. i took the car in to my local specialist garage who said that the car should not have passed its MOT test and would have failed on at least 5 separate points as well as several advisories. the MOT certificate I was provided was completely clear. The certificate is legitimate (i check on the mot check website) but the results are clearly falsified. I am unsure what to do. I cant afford to buy another car without some kind of refund. what rights do i have and what would your advice be moving forward. if i report the car to VOSA my worry is i will be left without a drivable car - they will fail the MOT and i assume will get no refund to my outlay. i don't want to sell the car on as i don't want the same thing to happy to another person, and i don't want to scrap the car as i will lose most of the money i have just spent. if I ring the private seller he will tell me to sling my hook "buyer beware, sold as seen" etc thanks for any help and advice you can give. Torison

I hope I am going to make sense here. I bought a vehicle yesterday from a CAR SALES place in somerset. It is a Citroen Xsara Picasso Desire . I had paid a deposit on the 12.12.2013 of £100. I had a friend test drive the vehicle just prior to deposit. He thought that it would be a good buy and that it needed the tracking doing immediately and then the advisories later. I went yesterday to take my peugoet to my friend who was buying my car off me. He then drove me to the Carsales. I paid the rest of the money plus the Tax which car sales person had purchased prior that morning. Mr car sales wanted my signature on the invoice, however he was reluctant to sign my copy. I insisted that he sign the invoice. He did not, at any point, tell me that the vehicle was actually dangerous! Infact in the ad on ebay he quotes that it drives well! I understood from him that it was mainly cheap because it had battle scars and would need the advisories done before the next MOT. The drive home had so freaked me out that I took it to the local garage after having had the tracking done beforehand. Please see below report from local garage and main block of sales info on the Citroen below that the car sales person had in his ad. My husband rang him (car sales person) today and asked him on his thoughts on this as the vehicle was not roadworthy. He (car sales man) said that I had had an expert round to check it over and that this man had been satisfied with it and that it was out of his hands. He took no responibility for it. This was a lie. It was a friend who took it for a test drive and he only drove it and did not inspect it. The garage man I took it too has said that the vehicle is unroadworth and should not be moved. He also said that in 40 years he has never driven a car that had scared him as much as this one. He said a lot more but I won't put it in here. Garage report We were asked to look at the Citroen Picasso for xx as she felt that there was something seriously wrong with the steering. xx also presented the existing MOT document with the advisories as follows: 001 Front (both) Anti roll bar linkage has slight play in a ball joint 002 Off side front lower suspension arm has light play in a ball joint. 003 Nearside track rod end ball joint has slight play. 004 Front brake disc worn pitted or scored but not seriously weakened She asked us to look at these items whilst we investigated the steering fault before repairing it as requested. After a short test drive, during which it was obvious there was something wrong with the steering we put the car on a lift to investigate. During a visual check we found the following faults Front brake discs excessively corroded and excessively worn Front brake pads worn OSF Anti Roll Bar link, top mount unattached (nut missing) and dust covers split. OSF Bottom Arm Rear Bush has excessive movement. OSF Hub worn where the bottom ball joint locates resulting in excessive movement (we removed the pinch bolt and dropped the ball joint out of the arm to investigate this as the movement appeared to be in the pinch joint not in the ball joint itself.) OSF TRE Dust cover split OSF Hub shows signs of mis-treatment NFS Bottom Arm Ball Joint has excessive movement NSF driveshaft oil seal leaking NSF Anti roll bar link dust cover split Engine Fault, uneven running particularly when cold like a misfire Front bumper loose OSF Seat cushion worn Auxiliary Belt beginning to perish Various body damage Spare wheel & carrier loose Rear tyres worn to approx 3mm Front tyres worn to approx 4mm These points have all been found as a result of a basic visual check with exception of dropping the OSF bottom arm to investigate the play here. There may be other faults evident on further inspection. END This is the information that car sales put up for selling the car on ebay. I have saved the webpage and printed it out. Clearly states Drives well. It was being sold as a road worthy vehicle. It does not say anywhere that it was for spares or repairs, or that it was dangerous to drive. This is the main piece: REDUCED TO CLEAR CITROEN XSARA PICASSO DIESEL MAUAL Mot May 2014 only 89k Some Service History Some Battle Scars see pictures Drives Well INSPECTION WELCOME Contact me on 0794 """" NO EMAILS """" PX WELCOME Address : MONDAY > SATURDAY 8am - 7PM CASH SALES ONLY I have left him a verbal message on his mobile which I have also put into an email and letter which I haven't as yet sent. Any extra advice on it would be appreciated. It goes: Dear Mr car sales person, I regret to inform you that the vehicle that you sold me yesterday, that you quoted had Some Service History Some Battle Scars see pictures Drives Well! Is unroadworthy. It does not drive well at all It is very clear that this vehicle does not come up to the description that you gave. Not only this, but the vehicle is actually dangerous. This has been verified by the garage I took it too in Glastonbury. They have advised me that it should not be driven and that I would be committing an offence if I drove it on the road. I have received advice from Trading Standards, who have informed me that I have three options with regards to this sale of goods. Of these options I am requesting full refund of money and expenses incurred by me by the incorrect information of a driveable vehicle. It is not in a satisfactory condition and is not good for the purpose for which it was bought. I have drawn up an invoice for payment from you which includes expenses such as the £20 fuel, £30 tracking, £55 inspection fee from the garage I took it to. Then there is the £877 that I paid for the actual vehicle (£77 of that is veh tax). This brings the total to £982. The vehicle is being held currently at XXXXX garage, in glastonbury, for you to pick up upon the payment of the above sum of money. However I must advise you that you will need a trailer as this vehicle is not roadworthy. If you do not comply and refund the money as requested, further action will be taken. In short, I do not accept this vehicle in the dangerous condition in which it is. This email will also be sent as a letter by registered mail. Yours faithfully later edit after first few posts.....------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi everyone, Thank you for your help. Citizens advice have helped me. Unfortunately this forum wasn't of much help. For those of us on a small budget. Cheap secondhand cars are the only option. All I ask is that they are honest and not send me out on the roads in a highly dangerous vehicle. I am not a mechanic, and I took it straight to a local garage for checking. Also something that I did not say was how the man was actually quite nasty after I had paid the cash. I did not feel confident to go back to the car sales as I was afraid. Also, the car was not altered. It was only inspected. If I had had the brakes done or some such to change the vehicle, then that would have been a different matter. This was also clarified by the Citizens Advice. Best wishes for all those who do try to help.

Hello, I recently bought a 2011 Citreon Berlingo Multispace diesel with 98k on the clock. I paid a deposit on the understanding that the clutch would be fixed. They did fix it and I went to pick up the car a few days later and paid the balance. On the drive home I lost control of the vehicle and had to pull over. I put this down to getting used to the car. As a precaution I put the car in to my garage the following morning. It was found to have play on the steering, shock absorbers at the front were gone, front brake discs excessively worn with 2mm lip and a bald and punctured tyre. I informed the shop that day that I wanted a refund and they told me they don't do refunds. They said I should drive it over to them and they would fix it then decide whether I would be able to have a refund. I have refused to do that. They offered me a car in the interim while they fixed it and said one of their men would drive the car back. I refused that on the grounds that I wasn't sure of the legality of borrowing one of their cars and that the car cannot be driven. They offered to tow it over. I refused as at that point I had firmly decided I did not, at this time, want the car to be repaired as I required it to remain in it's current state so the faults could be proven once they sent someone to inspect it. I have now formally rejected the car on the grounds that it was unroadworthy and unsatisfactory. The garage are refusing the hear my complaint unless I take the car over to them. I cannot do that as it is not fit to be on the road. I have offered for the garage to come to my mechanics garage to view it but they are refusing to do so. I have also offered for them to pay for an independent report so as to prove my case. I have also offered that if the report shows my case to be false and the car is roadworthy I will pay for it. My question is: was I premature in rejecting the car? My argument is: The car is in a poor condition for it's age and is has been sold illegally. These faults were spotted on a simple visual inspection by a qualified mechanic and therefore should have been noticed in the pre-sale checks all garages are obligated to carry out. The garage has told me I will have to take them to court. I have told them I don't want to do that. EDIT: Sorry, didn't say I paid £5450 for the car. £3950 n cash and £1500 for my previous vehicle.

I purchased, just before Xmas a 2nd hand Clio (52 plate) for my daughter. The seller was a 'friend of a friend' and I was informed that the MOT had just expired and 'the car will fly through the next M.O.T.' The seller did not want to take the car to the M.O.T before the sale and wanted cash upfront. After paying for the car, I took the car into a MOT centre the next day and was given the bad news that the car was unfit for the road and I should not have purchased it. There was a long detailed descriptions of the faults on the report (2 pages). I returned the car to the seller returning all documents, (I never filled in the registration documents) and demanded refund as the car was not as described. It was also brought to my attention that the car's registration documents were not in the sellers name so no 'good title' of the vehicle. I understand that the private sale route does not hold well for the buyer, but I am sure I have a reasonable case for a refund. Shall I go about sending a LBA?

Hi, I've read through a lot of posts on here regarding used cars but a lot seems to b dependant on make model and issue with car. I bought an 03 Megane 1.4 16v 32 days ago for £1300, which seemed like decent value. Having had problems with the breaks two weeks later i began to grow uneasy but continued on, later thebreaks just shut out completely whilst i wa driving and nearly caused a severe crash. So i took it to a garage an the mechanic nearly collapsed after an inspection and begged me not to drive it home again. He said the car needed £1700 of work...the following needed repaired: 3 tyres 2 front springs (pos) shocks Catalytic Converter Rear Discs and Pads PSR Cal Power Steering Belt (which was actually completely snapped when inspected) Front discs and Pads PS/DS strap broken Wheel alignment Alt Vent Broken I nearly cried on the spot, as the car is worth less than the work needed. Do I have a leg to stand on as the car as obviously unroadworthy when sold and the mechanic (a very nice fella) said he would stand up for that, basically I just want to reject the purchase and get my money back but when i rang the dealer (recorded phone call) he told me I bought it at for good value for its age and it basic wear and tear! Do I hav a leg to stand on, this dealer advertises all cars on his website as 'in good condition throughout'...does the 'soga' cover me? Has anyone had a similar problem? Thanks and I appreciate any help possible.