Claim for Used Car Sale

[des8]

Is it worth making a counter claim?

claim for what?

[jme85]

claim for what?

Stress and the time it's taken me to defend the claim

[des8]

Stress is part of daily life and a claim for that will get you nothing

CPR 27.14 deals with costs in small claims is basically limited to court fees and witness expenses for attending a hearing

[jme85]

Ok, thanks again to everyone for your help on this. I have now posted my defence. Fingers crossed!

[des8]

You filed claim in court and served copy on claimant?

If the case continues you will need to write a witness statement.
Altho' it won't be needed for a few months (if ever!) it is better to start drafting it now whilst everything is still fresh in your memory.

[jme85]

I have received an N181 Questionaire form. Can this be filed online or do I have to post it?

[des8]

Check with the court if you have been sent the correct form.
N181 is used in cases which are allocated to the fast track or multi track.
As this case is a claim for less than £10,000 one would expect it top be allocated to the small claims track, and the Directions Questionnaire to be N180

Yes, you can file on line, but may have to serve hard copy on claimant if he has not agreed to accept online

[jme85]

Yes I think they have sent the wrong form as the letter refers to N180 but they have attached the N181 form

[des8]

You can download a copy of N180 here:https://www.gov.uk/government/public...l-claims-track

[jme85]

I just finished the dispute resolution hearing. As we could not agree on a resolution, this will be allocated to the small claims track. I need to write a witness statement and also the judge mentioned that I should research into contract law (where do I start?)

The claimant is not disputing that he inspected the vehicle, he is claiming that I did not tell him that the catalytic converter had been removed. Firstly, I did not know this was the case. Secondly, who is to say that he did not do this himself once he got the vehicle back to his "chop shop".

At the same time, he is saying the vehicle was not as described in the advert!

A question for those who know contract law; if he admits to inspecting the vehicle, does this mean that he cannot use the autotrader advert as the terms of sale i.e. the contract?

[Pezza54]

Read point 8 in your defence which covers your last question about the advert

If the claimant told the judge that the catalytic converter had been removed, it does not tally with his claim which states the catalytic converter was split and glued together. Make a note of this to question the claimant at the final hearing. Don't mention it in your witness statement

Plenty of articles to read online about civil contract law, particularly Sale of Goods Act and the case mentioned in point 8 of your defence as well as drafting a witness statement and what happens at the final hearing on the small claims track

[des8]

This might be a useful start for contract law studies.

This was a private sale so Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not apply.
The purchaser must be relying on the Sale of Goods Act 1979
Sec 13 (1) which states: Where there is a contract for the sale of goods by description, there is an implied [F12term] that the goods will correspond with the description.
Even if a purchaser has examined the goods it might be a sale by description if the purchaser has relied to an extent on the description.
It will depend on the specifics of each case.

The outcome is going to depend on you Witness Statement and being able to convince the judge that your version is correct

[jme85]

I am really struggling to write the witness statement. Does it need to be similar to the Defence? Or is it literally a timeline of the events as they happened? i.e. 1. I placed an ad on xxxx 2. Received call from xxxx in which I told him more about the vehicle including that the MOT had expired 3. He came and inspected the vehicle etc

[Huxie]

This may help:
https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...ness-statement

[jme85]

Is this a good witness statement?

I x of xxxx being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;

1. I make this Witness Statement in support of my defence in this claim. The matters set out below are within my own knowledge, except where I indicate to the contrary.

1. The Claimant is the director of VW Chopshop Ltd (registration number 14723283) sellers of used motor cars.

1. The Claimant purchased the 2008 BMW X5 with 177000 miles on the clock. This is an above average mileage for a vehicle of this age. The average mileage for such a vehicle is 130000 miles. The advertised price of £3995 was below average at the time of placing the advert and the Claimant paid £3500 in cash.

1. The advert was placed online in April and had been there for several months, hence why the MOT had expired by the time the Claimant had called about the car in mid-July

1. On 16.07.23 the Claimant called about the advert prior to coming to view it. During the call I clearly stated that the MOT had expired

1. On 18.07.23 the Claimant arrived at my home with a trailer, as he would not have been able to drive the vehicle home legally without a valid MOT

1. The Claimant inspected the vehicle and all the tyres but did not mention any issues with them at the time. In his claim he states that the tyres were exposed to cord, this would have been visible on the day of inspection had this been the case.

1. Before the Claimant took the car for a test drive the airbag light appeared, which had not been there previously. I offered to have this checked before any sale was agreed to, but the Claimant was not unduly worried about this. The following day the claimant then proceeded to take the vehicle for an MOT inspection without fixing the light knowing that this is a major MOT failure.

1. After the test drive, I explained that the exhaust mufflers had been removed by the previous owner, so the exhaust was quite loud. I explained that I had purchased replacement mufflers for the vehicle, but never got round to having them fitted. The Claimant replied that he likes the sound. I included the mufflers I had in the sale of the vehicle.

1. The Claimant purchased the vehicle in full knowledge that it did not have a valid MOT. This was made explicitly clear over the phone before the Claimant came to view the vehicle and when he came to view the vehicle, I handed him all the past MOT printouts. In addition to this, the full MOT history for the vehicle is available free of charge on the government website https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

1. The Claimant states that the MOT failed for a glued together catalytic converter. This is not stated on the MOT failure sheet, and I have no knowledge of any work being done to the catalytic converter. In all the MOT's the vehicle has had, this has never been mentioned.

1. This claim appears to be for a breach of terms of the contract of sale in that it is alleged the vehicle did not match its description i.e. contrary to section 13 of The Sale of Goods Act 1979 Sale by Description.

1. It is admitted the description stated the vehicle had a valid MOT, but the Claimant was advised prior to purchase that the MOT had expired a few days earlier.

1. It is denied that the Claimant purchased the vehicle from an Autotrader advert.

1. It is asserted the Claimant saw the Autotrader advert, came and inspected and test drove the vehicle before purchasing it.

1. It is asserted that as the goods were inspected prior to purchase, the sale was not by description and the description played little part in the claimant's decision to purchase cf Harlingdon & Leinster Enterprises Ltd v Christopher Hull Fine Art Ltd [1990] 1 All ER 737 it was found that by inspecting the goods prior to purchase the sale was not by description.

1. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.