SOGA advice for second hand car

[BENdage]

Hi all, my first post here so thanks for reading.

 

I've been spending some time reading previous posts from people in a similar situation.

 

I bought a used car a few weeks ago for my fiance and now its broken. the ignition barrel broke after only 2 weeks and needs replacing. In itself not too much of an issue and I have no reason to believe it was an existing problem.

I had it towed to a garage who have got a new barrel and tried to fix it but say that at some point the car has had an immobiliser which has been removed and someone has messed with the wiring. They cant fit the new barrel because of this and they say it will cost more than the car is worth to re wire pretty much everything so they can fit it.

 

My questions are around what recourse I have with the seller. He isnt a dealer with a showroom, he sells on autotrader under a company name and gave an invoice on company headed paper. We looked at and collected the car from a yard behind his farmhouse where he had our car and 3 others he had for sale. Is he classed as a dealer and so bound by the sale of goods act?

 

If so do I have grounds to reject the vehicle under the sale of goods act as the car has a pre-existring fault with the wiring making it unrepairable?

[sailor sam]

From what you have said, the answer to your first question is yes, he would be classed as a trader so SOGA will apply. Answer to your second question; not at this stage. First of all, you have to approach the seller and give him the opportunity to rectify the fault.

 

As a matter of interest, what is the make/model/year of the car and how much did you pay?

 

__________________

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.

[BENdage]

Thanks for the advice. We have already spoken with the seller, while he hasnt been unhelpfull he wont commit to doing anything.

 

The car was only cheap. Its a 2001 Daewoo Matiz SE. We bought it for £700. It came with some service history and according to parkers price guide what we paid was about right.

 

For this money I wasnt expecting it to be totally problem free, which was why I wasnt too bothered about having to pay to replace the ignition barrel, but we dont think its fair that the whole vehicle is useless because of some homemade wiring which should have been picked up by the dealers inspection.

[sailor sam]

Ok, now we come to how the car was advertised? I.e. good condition, good runner ect. The fact you only paid £700 is irrelevant under SOGA. Unlees the car was advertised as 'spares or repair', then the car should be fit for the purpose. If it isn't offer the seller the oportunity to put it right or inform him you want your money back. If you do end up rejecting the car, you must do it in writing and stop using it.

 

Keep us posted.

 

__________________

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.

[BENdage]

Car was advertised as running and in good condition. To be fair, as far as I know, other than this problem, it is in pretty good condition. The invoice says on it "sold as seen", but from my research I believe I've found that they cant do that if they are selling it as running.

 

We have stopped using it around 2 weeks ago since we cant start it at all.

 

I will send a letter to the seller saying I want it repaired or a refund and see what happens from there. Thanks for all the help. I will let you all know how we get on.

[sailor sam]

Sold as seen is an illegal term which the seller cannot rely on in law. Your first step is to ask the seller to rectify the fault. He should collect the car and sort it out. If he chooses not to do so then you may be in a position to formally reject the car.

 

Be nice and see what he is prepared to do is my advice at this stage. Come back and let us know.

 

__________________

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.

[BENdage]

A bit of an update. We sent a letter to the seller asking him to repair the fault or to take the car back and refund us and to let us know within a week what he planned to do. We asked him to call us or reply in writing. The letter was deliverd by recorded mail and has been signed for at the other end so we know he got it.

 

Its been over a week now with no response. What should my next step be? Do I need to find a solicitor?

[Conniff]

Your next action is to tell him that if he hasn't responded by the end of another 7 days, you will take the car to the main dealer to be fixed and send him the bill.

 

If he still doesn't respond, then you take it elswhere to be fixed and copy the bill and send it to him giving him 7 days to refund you. If he still doesn't respond or refuses, then you send him the same letter but this time across the top it should say Letter Before Action and the last paragraph that no further correspondence will be entered into and a court summons will be sent which will include all court costs.

[flub1976]

Hi bendage. Whilst i understand why people say send it recorded delivery and demand a repair etc I see things slightly differently. Your car would have had a trade value of around £800 and a retails value of around £1600. You bought it from a dealer/trader which means that SOGA provides all the usual protection i.e condition as if you bought it from Park Lane Rolls Royce. The car needs to have been in a satisfactory condition with respect to age mileage description and PRICE PAID, this means that if a fault develops shortly afer purchase you cannot send it back but the dealer should help you out.

 

Now in your case you have paid a low price to retail for the vehicle and as such the dealer will have little movement in terms of service (this is the real world remember) I would keep open all lines of communication with him and talk to him in person about it reasonably whilst making notes of dates times discussions etc.

 

I had similar issues with the matiz and beleive you might benifit from getting a good indepent local auto electrician to look at the car. The dealer may know one and if the car can be got running and sorted it might get osrted easier.

 

Dealers aint legal experts but do get annoyed by recorded delivered demands quoting laws so Try a little more talking first you should be ok ad get it sorted, otherwise TS etc will be the way to go but dont jump the gun.

[BENdage]

Hi bendage. Whilst i understand why people say send it recorded delivery and demand a repair etc I see things slightly differently. Your car would have had a trade value of around £800 and a retails value of around £1600. You bought it from a dealer/trader which means that SOGA provides all the usual protection i.e condition as if you bought it from Park Lane Rolls Royce. The car needs to have been in a satisfactory condition with respect to age mileage description and PRICE PAID, this means that if a fault develops shortly afer purchase you cannot send it back but the dealer should help you out.

 

Now in your case you have paid a low price to retail for the vehicle and as such the dealer will have little movement in terms of service (this is the real world remember) I would keep open all lines of communication with him and talk to him in person about it reasonably whilst making notes of dates times discussions etc.

 

I had similar issues with the matiz and beleive you might benifit from getting a good indepent local auto electrician to look at the car. The dealer may know one and if the car can be got running and sorted it might get osrted easier.

 

Dealers aint legal experts but do get annoyed by recorded delivered demands quoting laws so Try a little more talking first you should be ok ad get it sorted, otherwise TS etc will be the way to go but dont jump the gun.

 

Hi, thanks for the advice with regard to an auto electrician, I hadn't thought of trying that.

 

My problem with this car isnt something that happened after we bought it. The ignition barrel broke which is what brought the problem to our attention - all the engine electrics have been bodged (sp?) so that someone at some point could rip out an immobiliser. I'm not bothered about the dealer repairing the ignition barrel as I have no reason to suspect there was anything wrong with it at the time of sale. The issue is that the ignition barrel cant be replaced because none of the electrics are how they should be. That issue was there at the time of sale and, according to 2 garages its been to, it makes the repair of pretty much any electrical fault with standard parts pretty much impossible.

 

I will see if I can get an auto electrician to look at it, the main issue with that is transport - since it cant be driver anywhere it has to be towed and I've already spend over £100 on having it towed around.

Edited June 20, 2010 by BENdage

[flub1976]

I see your point but the basic electrical components should still be the same and if anything without an immobiliser circiut the repairs should be easier and certainly within the scope of a half way decent autolec. Here we have 3 or 4 mobile guys one of which is so good that the car seems to start just because you rang him!

[BENdage]

An interesting twist today. We got a letter from some people who say they used to rent a unit behind their farm to the guy we bought our car off, although he gave them a different name. They say he has since left and didnt leave a forwarding address and has caused them enough headaches althouth they dont say how.

 

They say they opened our letter since it was sent by recorded delivery and they didnt know the person it was addressed to so they opened it to see if they could figure out who it was for, when they saw it was about a car they put 2 and 2 together and thought it must be the guy that rented from them.

 

Any idea what I do now - this is sounding increasingly dodgy; he sells me a car which has had its immobiliser ripped out and been rewired to make it work, he gives false names and trades from a business address that isnt his, but told us when we were there that it was his house. I have no idea how to track this guy down, I'm now not even sure what his name is...

[Conniff]

It could well be his house and he is trying to throw you off the scent. They have not legal right to have opened the letter, and shouldn't have even signed for it if they did not know who it was addressed to.

It sounds more than a little fishy.

 

As you know the mans name and address, you can use someone like tracemart.co.uk which will cost you a couple of quid to search on his name and address. I have used them many times, it's a good service and can put you on top of finding out about him. You can search on name and address or either. Any credits left from your couple of quid you can use to find a relative or anything else if you want.