Spares or repair

[rolf harris]

Hi all,

 

I recently sold a car on ebay ( i am a business seller) i listed the car as "spares or repair" as it was a trade in and i had no real idea as to how good the car was, even though it drove ok and had mot i was sure it had various problems so i listed it as "spares or repair" to sort of cover myself. Now my question is this, does the purchaser of this vehicle have any rights to bring the car back to me if they are not happy? or do i have to list every known fault with the car? just wondered how it stands with the SOGA when you sell a car as "spares or repair".

 

Thanks for any views..

[BankFodder]

I expect that you have covered yourself by your warning - especially to another trader.

 

We really would need to know more detail though

[Conniff]

Spares or Repairs infers that the car is not roadworthy. But, by also stating that the car should be taken away on a trailer, you are reinforcing that declaration as not fit for purpose of being used on the road.

This should be made clear to the potential buyer, and the trailer advice should be put on the receipt and they sign it. Should they not take your advice and drive the car away and it break down, they cannot then claim 'unfit for purpose'. The purpose was for spares, or for repairs at the buyers cost that would make it road legal.

 

Unfortunately 'Sold as Seen' and 'Spares or Repair' have no legal standing without some other qualification to back it up.

 

I cannot say this is the law, but have sat in court and listened as the judge rejected the S or R tag on a car.

Perhaps a couple of hundred spent on a lawyer to draw you up a legal 'no return' get out clause that will withstand judicial scrutiny would be money well spent especially if you often have trade ins that are not worth cleaning up and displaying on the lot.

[rolf harris]

Hi guys ,

Thanks for the replies, this seems like a really tough subject, basically if i have a car thats traded in or from whatever other source, if i feel the car has problems ( maybe nothing major ) it is much easier to just sell it as "spares or repair" and i am making the buyer aware that the car has some problems. I am not hiding anything, and the buyer has full access to inspect the car prior to sale to make their own mind up as to whether they want to buy it or not. I just want to know how this affects the buyer legally, for example i sell mr bloggs a 2004 vectra listed as "spares or repair" the car has mot and still drives but has electrical faults and the engine management light is on. The book price is say £4000 i sell the car "spares or repair for £1500, mr bloggs examines the car and pays up and drives off into the sunset. 1 week later mr bloggs comes back and says the car was not as he expected and wants his money back. This is just an example of a "spares or repair" situation and i wonder where the legal point of view is on this.

 

Thanks again for any help..

[Conniff]

We've been on your side of the fence Rolf so understand fully what you are trying to achieve.

 

I'll enquire of a friend Rolf but can't promise anything as being a lawyer, he's reluctant to tell you something he thinks he can get money for.

[raydetinu]

As a trader you cannot use spares or repair as a get out. This as Connif said is no legal defence to selling a unroadworthy car to a private consumer however IMO if sold on through the trade you can make it a clear in the contrcat of sale.

[rolf harris]

The thing is here im not trying to "get out" of anything, i have a car that has problems, i do not want to put the car right but somebody else might be happy to do that, so i am selling it to them quite clearly for "spares or repair". Also im selling it well under its true value to compensate for any work required. What i want to know is from a legal point of view exactly what the law states here, i cant seem to get a straight answer from anyone i speak to, all i get is opinions. I honestly dont see how the buyer can complain about a car bought in need of repair but can they???

[Conniff]

They can claim for any faults that are not shown to them or was resonable to expect them to be able to see themselves.

So a car with 'lots of faults' will not cover you.

[rolf harris]

So what your saying is i would have to list every fault that is possible with the car and even then if something else was to go wrong they would be entitled to compensation? even though they had full knowledge prior to purchase that the car had numerous faults and they have signed a receipt accepting so...

[blackknight]

They can claim for any faults that are not shown to them or was resonable to expect them to be able to see themselves.

So a car with 'lots of faults' will not cover you.

 

So what would cover an innocent seller???

[Conniff]

What this is all about is reducing the consumers rights. You cannot reduce the consumers rights and neither can the consumer. Even if they signed with witnesses that they revoked all their consumer rights, it is meaningless.

 

I'm trying to find that out BK.

[rolf harris]

I dont get how its reducing consumer rights as long as your not hiding anything, If i sell someone a bag of potatoes and i tell them 2 potatoes are missing from the bag, they say thats fine and sign the receipt....2 days later they phone me and say "there wasnt enough potatoes in that bag im going to trading standards unless i get a refund!!!" this is the same kind of thing in my opinion...

[Conniff]

As I said in my first post Rolf, we have been there ourselves.

 

I know you aren't attempting to reduce the consumers rights, but it's having the correct wording that will cover you. You might be ok 99 out of 100 times in selling a car marke S or R, but there is always that odd person who will try it on and if the wording in the sale literature wasn't correct, then they are most likely to win.

[raydetinu]

It would be different if you were a private seller, you could get away with listing faults then it up to the buyer to check it etc. 'caveat eptor' would apply; but not if you are a trader; You just cannot sell a car that you know is unroadworthy except to another trader.

[scaniaman]

Sell through auction????? No one has mentioned selling "Complete for Spares", surely this would cover you, especially if stated that car MUST be transported away from your premises.