taking court action against for a private car sale

[InDebtToSociety]

Hello everybody. I bought a car advertised on autotrader as "perfect with no damage" for £720 late in the evening last Wednesday. I have the V5C/2 and a signed receipt as proof and obviously the car itself. The very next day I discovered a few issues that will cost £500 to fix or even more, the worst of them being the fact that all tyres are in pretty bad, dangerous condition. I am not interested in prosecuting those liars for a criminal offence which I definitely can, I am only interested in getting some money out of them, which I deserve, in the most painless way possible.

So I have prepared a letter to send today. Could you have a look and point out any mistakes/omissions? Do you think mentioning the fact that they have committed a criminal offence will scare them? (not my intention) What would their lawyer think of this letter?

Thanks

From: 9th of October 2017
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX House
XXXXXX street
XXXXXX
XXXXXX


To:
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXX road
XXXXXX
XXXXXX



On Wednesday the 4th of October at approximately 20:00 I bought from you the XXXXXXX with licence plate XXXXXX which was advertised on Autotrader as a “Car that works perfect with no damage”, see copy of the ad for your reference. Upon inspection the following day under the daylight and with the help of a mechanic I discovered that I was sold an unroadworthy vehicle which is a criminal offence under the road traffic act 1988, section 75, (3), (a), (i) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/75 . All four tyres are dangerously worn out, damaged and in need of immediate replacement. It is not reasonable to claim that the few miles the vehicle has done since purchase has caused the tyres to wear to such a degree. The bad condition of the tyres was also recorded on the last MOT. Therefore, it is reasonable to affirm that you sold me a dangerous unroadworthy vehicle committing an offence under the road traffic act 1988. Bear in mind that an MOT certificate from a test several months ago is no guarantee that the car is roadworthy today.



-The cost of replacing all four tyres was quoted to me as £240.
-The exhaust flexible joints need to be replaced at a cost of £145. Again, it is unreasonable to claim the wear has somehow appeared within five days since I purchased the car.
-The electric mirrors are not functioning properly.
-The spare key is not functioning at all.
- There is a knocking noise coming from behind the dashboard that was quoted to me as a possible £100 cost to replace faulty heating motors.
-The airbag warning light is on. I took a photo on the day of purchase; the metadata of the file is proof.
-The subwoofer is faulty too.
-All prices are including VAT
- Although this is just an informal preliminary estimate, an official record of faults and cost of fixing will be obtained, most likely from Halfords.
I am willing to take you to the claims court for breaking the law by selling me an unroadworthy vehicle. I am willing to take you to the claims court for selling me a vehicle that does not match the description given by you, the seller, as “perfect with no damage”. I am going to be requesting a full compensation plus my legal expenses. If you are found to be guilty but unable to pay, a county court judgement will still be recorded on your credit file for six years.

But before we go down that road I am willing to compromise and that is why I am taking the time to write this letter. I would like to give you the opportunity to pay only less than half of what appears to be a cost of at least £500 (not including the subwoofer which I am just going to recycle), i.e. ONLY £250 via a safe recorded method of your choice like bank transfer, postal order, PayPal transfer etc. Upon receipt of payment I shall not chase you regarding this matter anymore and I will cover the remaining costs plus any additional costs the inspection by Halfords or other mechanic may reveal out of my own pocket. Please keep this signed and dated letter as proof as well as the envelope. I will keep a copy for my own records too.

I will wait for a response for 14 days after the date of this letter before I file a claim against you. I will wait five days after the date of this letter before I contact Halfords or another mechanic to arrange an inspection of the vehicle. If the inspection reveals even more damage I reserve the right to amend or cancel my offer. I reserve the right to change my mind and request a full refund and return the XXXXXX back to you as an illegal sale of an unroadworthy vehicle before I receive a settlement payment of £250 but not after.

I will not accept any phone calls from you or from anyone affiliated with you. If anyone attempts to call me from a number I don’t recognise I will record the conversation. Please use text messaging, royal mail or email me at KGKJGKJGKGKG@gmail.com. Abusive and threatening language will be reported. I promise not to use any such language / behaviour myself. Let’s do this the civilised way.

Kind regards
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[R0b]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

Hello everybody. I bought a car advertised on autotrader as "perfect with no damage" for £720 late in the evening last Wednesday. I have the V5C/2 and a signed receipt as proof and obviously the car itself. The very next day I discovered a few issues that will cost £500 to fix or even more, the worst of them being the fact that all tyres are in pretty bad, dangerous condition. I am not interested in prosecuting those liars for a criminal offence which I definitely can, I am only interested in getting some money out of them, which I deserve, in the most painless way possible.

So I have prepared a letter to send today. Could you have a look and point out any mistakes/omissions? Do you think mentioning the fact that they have committed a criminal offence will scare them? (not my intention) What would their lawyer think of this letter?

Thanks

Hello,

On first glance if you are taking the person to court for a civil matter, then you have referred to everything in your letter as almost criminal and that won't get you very far other than your claim being struck out likely to the fact that the civil court is not the correct forum to hear anything relating to criminal liability. Your claim is likely to stem around the vehicle not being of satisfactory quality, or fit for purpose and/or misrepresentation due to the description of the car. Equally at the same time, this is a private sale and the seller is probably likely to plead caveat emptor in this case, though if the advert did indeed say no damage, that could be read as meaning the car is in good working condition.

The last paragraph is not really needed and doesn't add to anything, you just need to say please respond in writing to my address at the top of this letter.

I think you need to have another go at it in my opinion.

[MIKE770]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

my thoughts also,,, give the person a chance to refund/or correct the situation before jumping into the abyss

[InDebtToSociety]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

Thank you. I have revised the letter based on your suggestions. I'll be satisfied if they just paid the money I'm asking. I will hate to have to put a lot of time and effort into this. You may have another look if you will. Thanks By the way, they had indeed advertised the car as in "perfect condition with no damage" and I have a screenshot of the ad saved as my proof.

On Wednesday the 4th of October at approximately 20:00 I bought from you the XXXXXXX with licence plate XXXXXX which was advertised on Autotrader as a “Car that works perfect with no damage”, see copy of the ad for your reference. Upon inspection the following day under the daylight and with the help of a mechanic I discovered that I was sold an unroadworthy vehicle which is an offence under the road traffic act 1988, section 75, (3), (a), (i). All four tyres are dangerously worn out, damaged and in need of immediate replacement. It is not reasonable to claim that the few miles the vehicle has done since purchase has caused the tyres to wear to such a degree. The bad condition of the tyres was also recorded on the last MOT. Therefore, it is reasonable to affirm that you sold me an unroadworthy vehicle. Bear in mind that an MOT certificate from a test several months ago is no guarantee that the car is roadworthy today.



-The cost of replacing all four tyres was quoted to me as £240.
-The exhaust flexible joints need to be replaced at a cost of £145. Again, it is unreasonable to claim the wear has somehow appeared within four days since I purchased the car.
-The electric mirrors are not functioning properly.
-The spare key is not functioning at all.
- There is a knocking noise coming from behind the dashboard that was quoted to me as a possible £100 cost to replace faulty heating motors.
-The airbag warning light is on. I took a photo on the day of -purchase; the metadata can be used as proof. Unknown cost.
-Chipped windscreen, £25
-Whining noise when steering. Possible fault
-The subwoofer is faulty too.
-All prices are including VAT
- Although this is just an informal preliminary estimate, an official record of faults and precise cost of fixing will be obtained, most likely from Halfords.


I intent to take you to the claims court for selling me an unroadworthy vehicle that does not match the description given by you, the seller, as “perfect with no damage”. I am going to be requesting a full compensation for the expenses incurred due to your misadvertising plus my legal expenses. If you are found to be guilty but unable to pay, a county court judgement will still be recorded on your credit file for six years.

But before we go down that road I want to offer you a chance to compromise and end this dispute quickly and that is why I am taking the time to write this letter. I would like to give you the opportunity to pay less than half of what appears to be a cost of at least £500 (not including the subwoofer which I am just going to recycle), i.e. only £250 via a safe recorded method of your choice like bank transfer, postal order, PayPal transfer etc. Upon receipt of payment I shall not chase you regarding this matter anymore and I will cover the remaining costs plus any additional costs the inspection by Halfords or other mechanic may reveal out of my own pocket. Please keep this signed and dated letter as proof as well as the envelope. I will keep a copy for my own records too.

I will wait for a response for 14 days after the date of this letter before I file a claim against you. I will wait seven days after the date of this letter before I contact Halfords or another mechanic to arrange an inspection of the vehicle. If the inspection reveals even more damage I reserve the right to amend or cancel my offer at any point before I receive a settlement payment of £250 but not after.

Please use the above address to communicate with me, or alternatively email me at XXXXXXXXXXX@gmail.com


Kind regards

Me

[R0b]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

If it were me I would say something along the following below. Certain sections are in brackets and that is optional or requires amending by you to suit your current situation.

----------------------------------------------------------

I am writing to you concerning the above matter.

On [date] I came across your advertisement on www.autotrader.co.uk for the sale of [details of vehicle] with the registration [number]. Your advert described the vehicle as in "perfect condition with no damage". In reliance of your advert, I [how did you purchase the car, call them or pay by bank transfer?]. The following day I collected the vehicle and brought along a friend of mine who was a mechanic. Upon further inspection, it came to light that the vehicle was not in perfect condition without any damage. In fact, the advertisement was false and there were a number of issues with the vehicle such as:

1. all four tyres were worn out and damaged to the point that they were not roadworthy and driving the vehicle in its current state, would not only pose a serious risk to myself but other drivers on the road;
2. the exhaust flexible joints needed to be replaced;
3. the electric mirrors do not work;
4. the spare key is not functioning properly;
5. there is a knocking noise coming from behind the dashboard which appears to relate to faulty heating motors;
6. the airbag light was on [explain what this means?];
7. there was a chip in the windscreen;
8. a whining noise could be heard from the [steering wheel];
9. the subwoofer is also faulty and does not work.

I believe that the statement in your advertisement was made knowing that it was false, without any genuine belief that it was true or that it was made recklessly not caring if it was true or false. As a result of the misrepresentation, I have suffered loss and damage and I hold you liable for those losses and damage.

I have obtained quotes from several reputable vehicle repair shops and provide a breakdown of the costs involved to repair the vehicle (inclusive of VAT):

[list item and cost]

Total cost: £[number]

In order to resolve the matter without the need to commence legal proceedings, I am prepared to accept a sum of £[250] in full and final settlement which is half of the amount required to repair the vehicle. The payment should be made by [bank transfer in cleared funds to the following account:]

This offer shall remain open until 4:00pm [14 days from date of letter] and after this point the offer will be revoked. If I do not hear back from you or you refuse to pay the above amount, I will be left with no other choice but to commence legal proceedings. Your liability will likely increase as I will be seeking the full amount of costs to repair the vehicle in addition to any application fees and interest.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

Enc. Autotrader advertisement

[ostell]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

Why do you want repairs? Why not just money back?

[InDebtToSociety]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

Thanks. I am going to use yours as template.

Why do you want repairs? Why not just money back?

Two reasons. I don't have time to return car/be looking for another car to buy and I like the exterior. I'll be happy with it once fixed. It may be worth mentioning they put it up for sale 3-4 weeks after they bought it .. In any case I am going to prepare the letter and send it today.

[R0b]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

One thing to be aware of, is that some of those things you are complaining about would usually be covered by the caveat emptor rule. However, if the advertisement did actually say "perfect condition" then you could reasonably argue that the car was restored to an exceptionally high condition and thats what you were expecting.

Another issue that isn't suggested is whether you inspected to the car prior to paying for it, and if not, why didn't you inspect it before hand?

[InDebtToSociety]

Re: taking court action against for a private car sale

The exact words they used is "works perfect with no damage", I have that on a screenshot and I am going to send them a copy along with the letter. I did inspect the car, went for a 3 minute test drive but only found the chip on the windscreen. It did not help that it was getting dark.