Claim for Used Car Sale

[jme85]

I recently sold my car and the person who bought it has brought a claim against me for selling an unroadworthy car.
The vehicle had no MOT when he bought it and several modifications which I told him about, however, he claims that I did not tell him about any of this and because the details were not included in the online advert, he states it is a breach of contract.

I have applied for an extension so I have until the 18th September to respond.

I appreciate your advice on this as I have no idea if I stand a chance to defend this. I always thought cars are sold as seen and it is the buyers responsibility to check the car over (even though I did tell them about the issues, I obviously cannot prove this in court)

[des8]

You are correct in that, ,assuming you aren't in the motor trade, it is for the buyer to be vigilant (the principle of caveat emptor).

As long as your advert was not misleading and contained no falsehoods you have no problem

If you wish you can post up a redacted copy of the particulars of claim and your proposed defence, so someone here can give it the once over

[jme85]

These are the claim details, I don't know how to write the defence. Is it as simple as answering each of the points in the claim? Or is there a template available online?

Claim details

Claim number: xxxxx

Claim amount: £3,705 View amount breakdown

Unroadworthy xxxxxxxxxx	£3,500
Claim fee	£205
Claim Total	£3,705

Reason for claim:

Vehicle purchased xxxxxx is in unroadworthy condition. Purchased from Autotrader advert and collected vehicle on trailer. Only once purchased was found the vehicles MOT had expired 13 days prior (so no mot) and when re-tested next day, a significant fail sheet includes 4 damaged tyres to cords, and a glued together catalytic converter - an illegal exhaust emission modification, amongst other failures. None of this was advertised, so a breach of contract from the seller, by misrepresenting the true condition of his car for sale. Vehicle is in unusable condition and will not pass another legitimate MOT without extensive repairs. Informed seller within 24hrs of purchase of vehicle issues and multiple offers of settlement now ignored by defendant, I had provided quotes for repairs provided by two separate garages.

Timeline

16/07/2023	Vehicle advertised on autotrader and deal discussed with seller to collect on the 18th Tuesday
18/07/2023	Vehicle purchased and collected on my trailer. I then transport straight to my garage, who informed me its MOT had expired
19/07/2023	Vehicle fails mot - seller informed, partial refund requested (£250) to go towards repairs and verbally agreed in phonecall, before being ignored later in text exchanges.
28/07/2023	Letter sent to seller as 'letter before claim' with evidence of vehicles condition photographed, 2 separate quotes to repair and a partial refund requested (£750) to go towards repairs. 14 day deadline offered before small claims

Evidence

Photo evidence	photos of catalytic converter under vehicle
Letters, emails and other correspondence	My settlement letter, with proof of delivery (Royal mail Special delivery signed for) by seller
Other	Sellers own autotrader advert - which does not describe the vehicles true condition.
Photo evidence	MOT failure sheet
Photo evidence	photos of tyres exposed to court - dangerous MOT failure

[islandgirl]

The lack of an MOT need not have been a surprise...https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status
A buyer should be expected to do some research

[jme85]

Yes and on top of that I did tell him explicitly that it has run out as well as giving him printouts of all the recent MOT's

The advert was correct at time of posting. But it had been up for sale for a few months so the advert was outdated

[des8]

Can you post up a copy of the advert please?

[Pezza54]

A private seller must not sell a car in an unroadworthy condition-it is illegal to do so.
However if the car is advertised as such or made clear to the buyer on the initial phone call and the buyer brings a trailer to pick up the car, that is a different matter.
Defective tyres alone are dangerous and will render the car unroadworthy

[jme85]

A private seller must not sell a car in an unroadworthy condition-it is illegal to do so.
However if the car is advertised as such or made clear to the buyer on the initial phone call and the buyer brings a trailer to pick up the car, that is a different matter.
Defective tyres alone are dangerous and will render the car unroadworthy

This is a good point too. He did take the car away on a trailer, so this is further evidence that he did know the car had no MOT

[jme85]

Can you post up a copy of the advert please?

Autotrader AD.png

[jme85]

My first attempt at drafting a defence......

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 he came to view the vehicle and when I handed him all the past MOT printouts. He arrived with a trailer to pick up the vehicle and inspected it thoroughly to his own satisfaction. The advert was placed online and had been there for several months, hence why the MOT had expired by the time he had called about the car.

The vehicle was sold as seen, I made the buyer aware of all the modifications and even gave him the exhaust mufflers (at no extra charge) to put back on the car if he wished to do so. He replied, "thanks, but it sounds great"

The claimant test drove the vehicle, there was also an airbag light on at the time, which had not been there the last time I used the vehicle. I offered to get that seen to, but he was happy to take the vehicle with the light on. He then proceeded to take the vehicle for an MOT inspection without fixing the light. This can be seen as it is listed as the reason for the MOT failure.

The tyres were also inspected by the claimant before he took the car away, so I cannot be held liable for tyres as he could have swapped them with some that were in worse condition. But even if they were the tyres on the vehicle, it was the buyers responsibility to check these things before taking the vehicle away and before sending it for an MOT.

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. Again, there is no way for me to know if the claimant did this himself before taking the car to the garage.

The claimant has caused me a huge amount of stress over this issue, harrassing me with calls and messages asking for money towards the vehicle repairs and threatening me with legal action. I maintain that I advertised the car honestly and fairly, I did not try to cover up any of the issues the vehicle had and I was completely open with the claimant about all the modifications that the vehicle had and that the MOT had expired.

[Pezza54]

My initial thoughts on your defence:
First page should have case number, County Court Money Claims Centre, Claimant : Name Defendant: your name, and "DEFENCE" as the title

As you have used "the Claimant" call yourself "the Defendant" not "I" Where you wrote "he" change to "the Defendant"

Number all paragraphs. Best not to use quotes "thanks, but it sounds great"

Confirm the manufacturer and vehicle model, its age, its mileage (whether this is average or high for the age), whether the advertised price is low or the average price, how much the defendant paid for the car and how he paid.

Take out the paragraph about the mufflers.

Change the paragraph about the test drive and warning light. It is illegal to drive a car without mot on the road unless being driven to a test centre.
Just say when you turned the engine on the airbag warning light lit up.but the claimant was not unduly worried about this.

My advice is not to include "he could have swapped them........" when you refer to the tyres. Just say the claimant inspected the wheels and tyres but did not
comment on them or if he did comment say what he said but don't quote him

Try to split paragraphs up when subject matter changes. For example the 1st paragraph "He (the Defendant) arrived with a trailer.....: should be a new paragraph

End with a signed Statement of Truth

Did the claimant's document end with a signed Statement of Truth?

[des8]

Do you know if the claimant is in the motor trade?
Only wondering because not many people have car trailers, or can arrange an MOT next day.

[Pezza54]

To prove the mot expired whilst the car was advertised you should state the date the car was advertised and the date the mot expired.

You should include a paragraph before the statement of truth that the Defendant denies he owes the Claimant any money at all.

[jme85]

My initial thoughts on your defence:
First page should have case number, County Court Money Claims Centre, Claimant : Name Defendant: your name, and "DEFENCE" as the title

As you have used "the Claimant" call yourself "the Defendant" not "I" Where you wrote "he" change to "the Defendant"

Number all paragraphs. Best not to use quotes "thanks, but it sounds great"

Confirm the manufacturer and vehicle model, its age, its mileage (whether this is average or high for the age), whether the advertised price is low or the average price, how much the defendant paid for the car and how he paid.

Take out the paragraph about the mufflers.

Change the paragraph about the test drive and warning light. It is illegal to drive a car without mot on the road unless being driven to a test centre.
Just say when you turned the engine on the airbag warning light lit up.but the claimant was not unduly worried about this.

My advice is not to include "he could have swapped them........" when you refer to the tyres. Just say the claimant inspected the wheels and tyres but did not
comment on them or if he did comment say what he said but don't quote him

Try to split paragraphs up when subject matter changes. For example the 1st paragraph "He (the Defendant) arrived with a trailer.....: should be a new paragraph

End with a signed Statement of Truth

Did the claimant's document end with a signed Statement of Truth?

Thank you for your detailed help. I have had a look at posting my defence via the online service and it is a small box for the response. Do I still follow the format you describe? Also, this is a different website than the MCOL, it is called the money claims service and on the documentation it refers tot he Courts and Tribunals Service Centre

[jme85]

My initial thoughts on your defence:
First page should have case number, County Court Money Claims Centre, Claimant : Name Defendant: your name, and "DEFENCE" as the title

As you have used "the Claimant" call yourself "the Defendant" not "I" Where you wrote "he" change to "the Defendant"

Number all paragraphs. Best not to use quotes "thanks, but it sounds great"

Confirm the manufacturer and vehicle model, its age, its mileage (whether this is average or high for the age), whether the advertised price is low or the average price, how much the defendant paid for the car and how he paid.

Take out the paragraph about the mufflers.

Change the paragraph about the test drive and warning light. It is illegal to drive a car without mot on the road unless being driven to a test centre.
Just say when you turned the engine on the airbag warning light lit up.but the claimant was not unduly worried about this.

My advice is not to include "he could have swapped them........" when you refer to the tyres. Just say the claimant inspected the wheels and tyres but did not
comment on them or if he did comment say what he said but don't quote him

Try to split paragraphs up when subject matter changes. For example the 1st paragraph "He (the Defendant) arrived with a trailer.....: should be a new paragraph

End with a signed Statement of Truth

Did the claimant's document end with a signed Statement of Truth?

Regarding the part about the test drive, I did not drive the vehicle, he did. I gave him the keys and he went off on his own. Is it not ok to include this?