Private car selling come back ?

[Conniff]

Far far too much waffling, you don't need all that stuff. If you must write, then 'you examined the car and test drove it and was happy to buy. There were no known faults when I sold it'.

 

is all you need. You're a private seller, it's a case of buyer beware unless deliberately misled.

[labrat]

might be worth texting him and advising him of the position

 

if he still insists on coming around ask what time.

 

you can call in advance and ask to speak to your beat bobby, if not busy he may be able to arrange to be nearby incase of issues or may be able to attend at the same time in order to ensure there is no breach of the police

 

while the advice to write is ussually the best however with the short timescale and the impossability of him receaving the letter it might be best to text

if you can however arrange for the letter to be hand delivered then please continue with the letter

[Rustyveedub]

I'm about to pop home, print the letter and post it. Could somebody edit me a version without the waffle please?

What about asking him to remove the car?

Thanks in advance.

[Rustyveedub]

How about this?

 

Dear xxxxxxx

 

You examined the car and test drove it and was happy to buy. There were no known faults when I sold it.

 

The vehicle is now outside my house for your collection. I have enclosed both keys you posted through my letter box.

 

Yours sincerely

 

However there were a couple of faults i told him about. Is this still ok?

[renegadeimp]

I would put "you had a completely unrestricted and unlimited test drive and vehicle examination. You concluded after all that, that the car was in good condition and so you purchased it. All known faults were told to you before the purchase and you agreed to buy the vehicle."

 

Then add the rest. You still need to move the vehicle off your property so he doesnt have any reason to enter your property and thus doesnt have any opportunity to start any arguments etc.

 

Make sure you highlight the bolded part.

[Rustyveedub]

Is it still okay to say that it had no faults even though i told him it had a couple?

[Rustyveedub]

You examined the car and test drove it and was happy to buy. There were no known faults when I sold it. You had a completely unrestricted and unlimited test drive and vehicle examination. You concluded that the car was in good condition and so you purchased it. There were no faults on the vehicle when you bought it.

 

 

On Thursday 6th of June 2013 you viewed a car which i had privately for sale outside my house. The vehicle was a car with the registration of S421 YNP. I gave you an unlimited and unsupervised inspection of the vehicle, followed by an unlimited test drive of the vehicle on your own.

You returned from the test drive and agreed to buy the vehicle the next day.

On the Friday the 7th of June 2013 you arrived at my home address stating "I'm still at work, i've told my boss that i need to go and buy a car. What i will do is pay for the car, take the keys and pick it up later". I agreed to this, you paid for the car in cash. I completed the V5 with a change of keeper in your name and we both signed it. I them filled out the new keeper supplement in your name and handed you this.

At 1538 hours on the same date, i posted the V5 to DVLA at my local post office. I know this because i posted a Special delivery latter at the same time.

When i returned to my home address on Friday the 7th of June 2013 the vehicle in question had been taken from my address.

 

On the morning of Saturday the 8th of June 2013 I received a text on my mobile phone which stated;

'Hello. I'v driven the car for about 30 miles and clutch slips when warm. Sorry i'm bringing it back. Wanted a car a don't instantly need to fix. Thanks Mat.

 

I have then replied with a text message stating;

'Hi Matt. I drove the car for 4400 miles and was never aware of the clutch slipping. I only stopped using the car as my daily driver on the 24th of May because I received a new van which I ordered 3 months previously. I did not sell the car with any known major problems. I gave you unlimited opportunity to inspect and drive the car on your own. I was honest and informed you of all the issues the car had. The car was sold as seen with no warranty implied or given. I can not accept the car back as when you caught me going out yesterday I was on my way to the post office, so after you left I continued on my errand and posted off the V5 in your name.'

 

To which you replied;

'The car is on your drive the keys are your house. I'll call and see you monday after work. Thanks.'

 

I have then returned home on the morning of Saturday the 8th of June to find the vehicle on my drive, left unlocked and the keys through my door.

 

I have owned the car for 8 months and covered 4,400 miles in it and had no problems with the clutch. I did not sell the car with any problems that I did not disclose to you. I gave you unlimited opportunity to inspect and drive the car on your own and did not pressure you to buy the car in anyway. The car was sold as seen with no warranty implied or given and you fully satisfied yourself with the condition before purchasing the vehicle.

We both signed the V5 with transfer of ownership to your name on the 7th of June 2013 and I posted this V5 to DVLA on the same day. As far as i am concerned the transfer of ownership of S421 YNP into your name was completed on the 7th of June 2013 and i will not accept the vehicle to be returned.

 

The vehicle has now been moved onto the pavement outside my house in a secure condition. In the same place you viewed it. I have enclosed both keys that you posted through my letter box this morning.

 

My position will not change and I can not see a reason for you to come and see me at anytime.

 

Yours sincerely

[renegadeimp]

Thats fairly long winded, but its up to you if you think you need to reiterate each point.

[Rustyveedub]

Thats fairly long winded, but its up to you if you think you need to reiterate each point.

When you said add the rest, i thought you meant the long letter ???? What did you mean?

[renegadeimp]

The rest that was in that post. I would send the person a letter like you have, clarifying each point in order to cover my own back and leave him with no get out. Others however, prefer to simply bullet point the facts and keep things right to the point.

[Rustyveedub]

I've printed the long winded one out. I am used to getting everything covered and should it go further at a later date, everything so far is documented. Have i left myself open anywhere by adding too much?

[Rustyveedub]

The car has been left outside my house, the letter with keys have been dropped through his letter box.

I won't be back home until Sunday evening now.

[Rustyveedub]

Had this text from him first thing this morning.

 

'Good morning. Would you consider a contribution towards a new clutch? Thanks .'

 

Don't know if the car has been removed yet.

[tezza1234]

Had this text from him first thing this morning.

 

'Good morning. Would you consider a contribution towards a new clutch? Thanks .'

 

Don't know if the car has been removed yet.

 

Thats funny, he's paid £400 for a car with tax and MOT and he's inspected and test driven the car, then slept on it, then paid for it, then changed his mind. The cheeky git. Its up to you but if you truly think the clutch is ok and does not need replacing then he is obv just after a partial refund, If the clutch is a issue then its down to your morals and what you want to do, maybe offer him £50 toward it.

[Conniff]

A contribution would be admitting the clutch was knackered. Tell him NO

[raydetinu]

Too much information!

just put the car on the road and ask him to collect it as it his property and responsible for it. ( insurance etc.)

If he wants to take it further he will have to go court.

[tezza1234]

A contribution would be admitting the clutch was knackered. Tell him NO

 

Agreed unless he offers a token payment but as 'without liability or admission'

[Conniff]

You're in the realms of a trader here, there is no such requirement for gestures of good will etc, they don't exist. The car is sold by a private seller to a private buyer, buyer beware or go get stuffed, there was no attempt at deceit nor was the car in a dangerous condition.

[Kiki1]

I'd be more concerned that anything else could have happened in the time it was outside the o/p's responsibility. It sounds very much like the first deposit for a showroom vehicle that gets used for a weekend only, transporting mates to an event because their own vehicle is not up to scratch.

 

There could be any number of speeding tickets, PCNs or captured images awaiting the person now taking ownership

 

 

Has anyone checked the boot for a spade, lime and plastic bags ?

[raydetinu]

As soon as it sold it is NOT the OP responsibility!

certainly in the letter, send him a receipt for the payment received. date etc. keep a copy.

Is that true of any car sale until registration changed?

[crem]

I can't believe how long this thread has been going on for and that so many people are suggesting "try this", "test that", "offer him £x as token"... etc etc

 

I'm with raydetinu on this in that once the car was sold, provided there was no deceipt, then the OP has no further responsibility.

 

Any further involvement by the OP beyond making sure the new owner collects it only adds fuel to the fire that the OP thought/knew there was something wrong with the car and tried to con the buyer into a false deal and now feels guilty at being caught out!

[Rustyveedub]

I didn't reply to this mornings text. Got this one at lunchtime but only just picked it up.

 

Over all the car's what it was advertised as. A slipping clutch does not imply a good runner. I intend to have the clutch examined and may choose to persue the matter further. Thanks.

 

A neighbour has told me that the car was gone first thing this morning.

 

The thing that really gets me is, i don't need this hassle for the sake of £400. I sold the car to give somebody a car for at least 6 months on the cheap. If he had come to me in the first place and explained the situation i would of probably given him some cash just to keep everybody happy. Instead he dumps the car back on my drive causing me to spend most of the day going to and fro to my house, finding my legal position and posting letters when i should of been chilling out at my girlfriends.

Now that he has ruined my weekend in the sun and implied that he may take legal action, he can go and take a jump !!

Edited June 9, 2013 by Rustyveedub

[renegadeimp]

If the car is gone, i would leave it now and forget about it. You called his bluff and it looks like he reluctantly accepted and took the car.

 

Move on now, and only consider more action if anything else happens.

[Rustyveedub]

The italics was his text.

[renegadeimp]

Yea i know. I was talking overall now. As ive said throughout, it seems to be a simple case of buyers remorse. He drove and inspected the vehicle under an unrestricted and unlimited test drive and check. The minimum you should take a car on a test drive is 10-20 miles, and use varying types of roads to check handling/reliability etc.

 

For my 2007 audi A8 the test drive was around warrington town centre, and down the motorway for a good 30 miles or so to get a feel for the car and to check if it had any problems at high/low speeds or at a crawl.

 

As others have said, he had every opportunity to examine the car. He did so, and he said he was happy with it. He then bought it. End of story. Thats all you'll need if he tries to take court action.