Van brought from private seller

[emmieco]

My autistic son brought a van from a private seller. ( there was 5 other cars on his drive and another van, plus loads of machanic tools in his hallway,  so he probably is a unofficial dealer). 

He gave the van a once over, he checked for any warning lights that might be on, there was none. He checked underneath for any rust etc, it all looked fine. The body was rough, but you'd expect that for the age of the van. 

He got his brothers mechanic to give it a pre mot check, as the van was old so he expected it to have a few problems.

The van is a death-trap, the seller had blacked out all the warning lights that were on the dash,  and I mean all.  He had also painted some kind of black stuff on the underside, to hide all the damage there.   My son drove it for over 2 hours to get it home.

The mechanic said he's surprised my son is still alive, and an untrained eye would not of seen what the seller had done. 

Iv asked the seller for a refund and for him to have the van back, but he is refusing. Is there anything we can do.   

[BankFodder]

First of all please can you tell us the name of the seller, something about the van – age/year, mileage, price paid.
How far away is the seller from where your son lives?

Who do you take it to for this inspection? Are they prepared to give you a written list of the things that they found? This is very important and you may well have to get an independent inspection from somebody such as the AA. This will cost you some kind of feedback we expect that we will be able to help you get it back.

I would say that if you have to bring a court claim – which is likely – then your chances of success are better than 95% but the difficulty might be enforcing the judgement against the seller. We will have to know more in order to give you better advice.

Does it have an MOT? What is the date of it and who gave it the MOT?

I suggest that you start taking pictures of all of the defects that you can find.

 

Also I am going to say that I believe that you came over from Facebook where you were already informed that we would need at least all of the information which I have requested above.
It will save a lot of time and effort for everybody if you can simply come up with the things that we ask without too much delay

[emmieco]

I was trying to post all the paperwork that I have, namely facebook ad, messages between the seller and my son etc . But I'm getting the message that the files are to large. 

[BankFodder]

When you post information here you will have to post it in single file multipage PDF format. Follow the upload link.

However, it would be more helpful if you could simply answer the questions that we have put to you and we can deal with paperwork afterwards if we think we need it.

 

[emmieco]

This is the info that I have.

Name of seller... Thomas Stone.

Reg LG51UOV

Driven 109,000

2001 ford escort van 55

Price paid £500. (I know that that's stupidly cheap for a van, but my son wanted to take it apart, and put it to gether again)

His address st margarates drive gillingham kent. We live swindon, so over 2 hours away.

My oldest sons machanic inspected it .

Sorry I don't know if I'm reading this right, but

NSR wheel cylinder leaking

NSR Shock mounting corroded 

Rear cross member corroded 

Rear number plate light missing

Brake compressor valve seized

Hand break cables insecure

O/S Seal to floor repairs are very badly done

Dash lights are painted out

Bonnet ( This is all he wrote here.)

Brake pipes are covered in black doodoo ( This is what the machanic wrote).

My son asked Thomas Stone if it would need lots of work, for it to pass its next mot,  Thomas Stone said , " I can't see it needing mega amounts of work, for it to pass, it isn't rotten and it starts and drives ok, and the brakes work well". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Where did you see it advertise? Do you have a copy of the advertisement

[emmieco]

Yes I do . 

[BankFodder]

Sorry but I thought it was implicit in my question that you would tell me about it and and maybe you might even upload it to us to see

[emmieco]

I am trying. I'm no good with tech 

[BankFodder]

Okay. There is see some learning to do here – but we will manage in the end.

For the moment please can you tell me about the advertisement. Where was it advertised? Have you noticed any other advertisements from the same person – Thomas Stone.

You have given a road name – but what number in the road please

[emmieco]

It was a facebook post.

The number he lives at is 41, he had 5 other cars, and another van all packed into his front garden. He also had a tow truck parked out side. All the other cars and van looked in very good condition. So I'm assuming he is a back street dealer.  

[BankFodder]

Please can you post a link to his Facebook account

[emmieco]

It was a facebook post.

The number he lives at is 41, he had 5 other cars, and another van all packed into his front garden. He also had a tow truck parked out side. All the other cars and van looked in very good condition. So I'm assuming he is a back street dealer.  

Iv had a look, but I can't find him. Il ask my son later when I see him.

[BankFodder]

If we can establish that he is trading then you will be protected under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If we can't establish that then he would have to be treated as a private seller. I know that on Facebook you have been advised that you have very few rights – but this is not true.

Apart from anything else, it's an offence to sell a vehicle which is not in roadworthy condition and it sounds to me as if your vehicle is not in roadworthy condition although we may will have to get an independent inspection.

I understand that you had a mechanic give it a pre-MOT cheque. Was that before or after it was purchased?

A few problems here – first of all, the van was very cheap. This doesn't reduce your rights anyway but what it does mean is that it may be less worthwhile taking an action that we will have to work that out later.
Secondly, you bought the van from a dealer about 130 miles away. This means that if it has to be returned, there is a 130 mile trip to get it there and then you have to come back.

Although it's a bit late for you, please follow the link to our used car guide and see what we say about protecting yourself when you buy used cars and in particular what's the little video towards the end of the thread.
You won't feel good about it but you may as well learn something for the future and of course other people who visit this thread for that as well.

Finally, if we end up having you bring a claim against him in the County Court, I have no doubt but that you will win but enforcement could be tricky.

I think the first thing to do is to consult the land registry web search service and find out if he owns the property that is trading from. If he does then at least you have identified an asset and enforcement will be much easier.

You can access the land registry website here

Summary of freehI think it will cost you about 3 pounds.old - Search for land and property information

SEARCH-PROPERTY-INFORMATION.SERVICE.GOV.UK

I think it will cost you about £3 or so. Make sure you use the website link I have given you above. It is a government one. There are lots of private websites which look as if they are government and they charge you a lot more money for giving you exactly the same information.

[lolerz]

Just on bankfodder's final point above.

The Title Register you get online for £3 can't legally be used as proof of ownership for the property. Right now they'll suffice to see if there's an asset there.

Should you need to use it in court to say he's trading at that address, you'll need to fill out an OC1 form with HM Land Registry to get an official copy in the post, which costs £7.00.

Make sure that you get the Title Register, not the Title Plan! Title Register will tell you who owns the property etc while the Title Plan will tell you the property boundaries etc which isn't relevant in this case.

 

[emmieco]

Thank you. I'm looking into it at the moment.  Straight away it says last sold in 2007. Thank you every one for all your help. It's much appreciated.