Sold quad bike buyer says not working.

[delilah 9]

Hi hoping someone can help please.

My husband sold yesterday his quad bike.

It's been laying in the garage for 18 months and due to ill health,  was the main reason for selling. 

 

The quad was put through it's MOT the previous day and passed.

I advertised it and it generated a lot of interest.

The only problem it had I put in the ad.

The speedo was not working. 

 

Viewings were yesterday and the potential buyer wanted to test it.

Unfortunately the disc lock was on when he tried to reverse which resulted the disc brake coming off.

My husband tried to remedy it but said it may take hour or so.

The buyer agreed to come back with the money later which he did with a mechanic. 

 

The problem wasnt sorted and there was a lot of swearing as the buyer wanted it.

The mechanic told him to wait to see if could be fixed.

 

They went off and came back within the hour but the job was proving a tough one. 

He still wanted the quad and it was agreed we would message once it was sorted. 

The weather took a turn for the worst with heavy rain so the job was put on hold til it stopped. 

 

Later that day the buyer messaged to see how things were going.

I said he may have to collect today due to the weather.

As it turns out the rain stopped and job finished.

 

We had planned to go out but my husband was too tired so i messaged to say it was fixed.

He came to collect it with his Dad.

It was tested 3 times by himself and his Dad all happy.

 

The paperwork complete and money handed over, although we knocked another £20 off for fuel plus £10 he said he lost somewhere between his pocket and my hand. 

It was put in the van I dont think secured hubby said.

Less than hour later he messages to say it not working starter motor had gone?

 

Hubby went through few things but he said still not working but horn and lights were.

Was getting a little annoyed as it was working when it left here and he was happy.

Hubby suggested charging battery which was new.

I asked him to return it but he says he cant until monday as he has no transport. 

 

Today hes messaged.

Hes charged battery up and says its just cutting out so hubby is going to look at it now to see whats wrong. 

[BankFodder]

What is troubling here is the variety of different things which are being said about it – in particular they phoned you and said that the starter motor wasn't working. Now they are saying that the starter motor is working in fact the engine keeps on cutting out.

This is a private sale – I presume – so you don't have any obligations towards the purchaser under the Consumer Rights Act and there is no cooling off period.

By and large your duty is simply not to tell porkies about the quad bike – to be very straight dealing. It sounds to me as if you have been.

I don't see any obligation to give a refund. If you're husband decides to have a look at the motor to see what is going wrong then I think that you should make it clear that he is doing it is a matter of goodwill but after that he doesn't consider that he has any responsibility. They obviously have checked it out and you say that the seller came along with his own mechanic who presumably held out his own expertise in checking the bike and testing it and they found that it was acceptable.

It seems to me that they have purchased it with their eyes open. I don't hear that they are saying that you have misrepresented bike or misled them in any way.

Of course there may be some unpleasantness but if you are prepared to deal with that, then I think that you should say to them that you are not prepared to get involved any further than you have done

[delilah 9]

Hi and thank you. My husband has been and now sorted the bike and its working fine. Shortly after he left the buyer, I received a message stating it wouldn't go into gear. This was not mentioned during the time he was there.

 

I have since had messages stating that it needs a new gear selector as its bent. I can only presume this has occurred during transit or he's been a bit heavy footed and caused it. He's been very pleasant about the whole thing but denys he's done anything to cause the damage. It worked ok the day before and during views and tests. 

 

Thank you for the clarification BankFodder its appreciated. 

[king12345]

I was in a similar situation a long time ago.

After the first messing about from the buyer for a front light not working which i fixed at his address, i got another text about worn tyres.

Next day i went there with cash, bought the bike back and sold it to someone else. 

Some mugs think that they buy a 20 year old vehicle from a private individual and it must be in showroom conditions with full warranty. 

If you can, get the quad back and sell it to a more normal person.

This is a mick taking monkey and will call you for years to come even for a puncture.

[ericsbrother]

he bent the gear selector so no return.

[delilah 9]

Good morning. Buyer now demanding a refund. Says it's not what we said it was. Hes had it for a week. Bike was working  now he's telling me its cutting out. The first day he took it i asked him to bring it back as we had another buyer. He said no he would be happy for hubby to come sort it which he did. Hes driving me daft now phoning and messaging. I dont want to offer a refund as basically i think he's caused problems associated with the bike now. 

[king12345]

In that case tell him to sue you. 

[ericsbrother]

Tell them to take it to a proper workshop that specialises in that make of quad bike and ask them for a report on its condition and any problems and suggest that you will pay 1/2 of the cost of the report and take it from there.

Cahnces are they wont want a full report because it may show up damage they have caused.

 

Yeras ago my next door neighbour bought a piece of petrol powered gardening kit and he couldnt get it to work. Reason was it was a 2 stroke engibne and he hadnt added 2 stroke mix to the fuel. When I told him about this he siad that he had doen so and it still wouldnt run, He had added ordinay lube oil to the fuel.

Sometimes certain items are not for certain people and I think this may well apply here.