Private Seller - Mis sold Car? Rights?

[TezzaJ]

Hi

 

I bought a car after seeing an add in eby (classified)... BMW 100K miles 2004 model... went and saw it and drove it around a garage forecourt... guy seemed really nice and upfront... description in ebay was

 

" This is an immaculate throughout BMW 525 diesel touring, it is in immaculate condition, you would be hard pushed to find a better example with this specification. A reluctant sale. (goes on to list spec and then at end states) I am open to offers, the car is very high spec and it in outstanding condition"

 

 

Everything looked in order...after a few days of deliberation finally paid up and took the car home.... seemed ok...

 

 

Went the very next day to fill up and whilst paying say diesel spilling out of the car underneath.. had to get the AA to come out and moved the car to a slot to wait.. Phoned the seller who said nothing like that had happened to him.... AA looked at seals soaked it up and stated to drive it for a bit and see if it stopped(which it did).. did some reseatrch at home, as you do, to see if this was a known fault.. and sure enough one appeared.. this same guy with the same pictures used to sell the car on a forum stating that it had happened to him 1 month previous etc... I was livid as you can imagine as he never stated that it did that...was going to see if i could give it back..

We exchanged txt's and I made my mind up not to retrurn the car as he had stated to let him know how much he owed me for repair.. .. now the txt's have changed to hw much he can contribute and that his local garage had put a new seal on it beforehand for this issue (this was never in the documentation handed over).. that it was sold as seen with no faults and he will offer £150 towards what has been quoted (which was £600) ...

 

 

Do i have any rights here? I have copy of all the txt's and forum entries and ebay desc just incase i needed to use it.

 

 

its a shame as I quite liked the guy and feel such a mug to have been done over... i even gave him £40 towards getting his number plate removed..

 

 

thanks

[sailor sam]

Need a tad more info me thinks. The title of your thread says 'Private Seller'... is this the case? I ask beacuse you say you 'drove the car around a garage forecourt'.

 

Secondly, what is the fault exactly? Leaking fuel tank, pipe or something else? When you say you found 'same guy with same pictures ect', do you mean the seller or just someone with the same problem with the same seller?

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.

[TezzaJ]

Sorry.. met him half way between his and mine at a services on the m1 .... so I just drove it very slowy around the services car park.The fault is somewhere either in the fuel tank or the main pipe.. either way I have been informed its a one piece unit and hours to take down/replace etc, and more than likely it would need the new tank.

 

I mean the actual guy who sold me the car had joined a bmw forum and posted the very same fault (with the very same pictures used in the eaby classified advert) of it spilling into the forecourt literally one month before.. he only bought it in feb and sold it to me in march.... (told me that he wanted a bigger family MPV)

[sailor sam]

Ok, things a bit clearer now. As you probably know under SOGA your rights are pretty limited by buying private. However, you may still be able (if necessary) to persue a claim through the small claims court. I say this because it seems you may have evidence to support the fact the seller knowingly sold you this car which was faulty. You will need to keep a copy of all advertising and (if possible) to print off sections of the thread on the forum which you say the seller was asking advice for the same problem. If you can gather all this info then I think you will have a decent case to go to court if necessary. In the meantime, you could write formally to the seller indicating that you were aware that he knew of this problem when he sold you the car, and as such you are inviting him to put the matter right by agreeing to pay IN FULL for the necessary repairs at a BMW dealership which will avoid the necessity of any further action.

 

No doubt others will come by and pass their opinions.

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.