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I bought a van on facebook marketplace, van had a near 12 month MOT, was descried as 'runs and drives well'. Viewed the vehicle but couldn't test drive as was SORN and seller had no insurance. So performed a physical inspection, turned it on tested all features etc. Paid a deposit and collected the next day. Drove it home (approx 15 miles and parked on the drive). The next day I took it out and a couple of miles from home the gearbox developed issues and the gear stick wouldn't move gear, I was approaching a roundabout with nowhere to pull in so thought I would try and pull in the other side of the roundabout where it was safe to do so. Unfortunately the van stalled on the roundabout and wouldn't restart. The clutch pedal was also by now depressed and wouldn't come back up.
Had to phone for a recovery truck and messaged the seller at the same time to advise the van had died and I was taking it to a garage. Had it checked out today at the garage and they confirmed gearbox and clutch failure. I believe in particular with the gearbox issue this makes the vehicle unroadworthy. I was quoted at least £800 to fix it but likely to be more depending upon what issues are uncovered when they start repair. I contacted the seller to advise of this and said given its failed within 24 hours of purchase I would like a refund. Seller has refused and instead offered to buy the vehicle back at a reduced price.
Since then I've been shown how to check commerce profiles on facebook and have identified that the seller has sold at least 25 vehicles on facebook marketplace in the last 3 years. This indicates to me the seller is actually dealing in cars (wish I'd known beforehand as when I asked him he said he wasn't and was selling his own vehicle).
I have shared with the seller that I believe I am entitled to a refund as the van is not roadworthy, or the cost of repair under the sale of goods act. If the seller doesn't comply I believe small claims court is my only logical next step. However, with this additional insight into the sellers selling history I'm now not sure whether the consumer rights act of 2015 should be applying too.
At the moment I'm waiting for the seller to get back to my request to refund me or pay for the repair of the van. But wanted to understand what actions it would be best to be advised to take next as I do feel there is a case to answer here. At the moment the van is at my mechanics (and can't be moved except by a recovery vehicle due to it now being a none starter) so I don't think I'm going to be able to get qoutes for repair from more than one garage without paying for it to be transported for assessment. It can't stay at the mechanics for mroe than a few days without me either recovering it back to my house or getting them to start repair on it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time spent reading my tale of woe!
I bought a van on facebook marketplace, van had a near 12 month MOT, was descried as 'runs and drives well'. Viewed the vehicle but couldn't test drive as was SORN and seller had no insurance. So performed a physical inspection, turned it on tested all features etc. Paid a deposit and collected the next day. Drove it home (approx 15 miles and parked on the drive). The next day I took it out and a couple of miles from home the gearbox developed issues and the gear stick wouldn't move gear, I was approaching a roundabout with nowhere to pull in so thought I would try and pull in the other side of the roundabout where it was safe to do so. Unfortunately the van stalled on the roundabout and wouldn't restart. The clutch pedal was also by now depressed and wouldn't come back up.
Had to phone for a recovery truck and messaged the seller at the same time to advise the van had died and I was taking it to a garage. Had it checked out today at the garage and they confirmed gearbox and clutch failure. I believe in particular with the gearbox issue this makes the vehicle unroadworthy. I was quoted at least £800 to fix it but likely to be more depending upon what issues are uncovered when they start repair. I contacted the seller to advise of this and said given its failed within 24 hours of purchase I would like a refund. Seller has refused and instead offered to buy the vehicle back at a reduced price.
Since then I've been shown how to check commerce profiles on facebook and have identified that the seller has sold at least 25 vehicles on facebook marketplace in the last 3 years. This indicates to me the seller is actually dealing in cars (wish I'd known beforehand as when I asked him he said he wasn't and was selling his own vehicle).
I have shared with the seller that I believe I am entitled to a refund as the van is not roadworthy, or the cost of repair under the sale of goods act. If the seller doesn't comply I believe small claims court is my only logical next step. However, with this additional insight into the sellers selling history I'm now not sure whether the consumer rights act of 2015 should be applying too.
At the moment I'm waiting for the seller to get back to my request to refund me or pay for the repair of the van. But wanted to understand what actions it would be best to be advised to take next as I do feel there is a case to answer here. At the moment the van is at my mechanics (and can't be moved except by a recovery vehicle due to it now being a none starter) so I don't think I'm going to be able to get qoutes for repair from more than one garage without paying for it to be transported for assessment. It can't stay at the mechanics for mroe than a few days without me either recovering it back to my house or getting them to start repair on it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time spent reading my tale of woe!
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