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Around a month ago I bought a 2nd hand car, for 4k, took a long time inspecting it and everything seemed OK as far as our layman eyes could see. Took it to fuel station 2 miles down road, put key in ignition, wouldn't start - called the seller out who managed to get it started after a few attempts after claiming "this has never happened before" - to which his young son said whispered it did this last week, must be the battery he repeated about 20 times, see how you get on he said. Got home, went to bed, next morning, wouldn't start, took sellers word and replaced battery - still nothing. Jumped it and took it to a garage who gave it a inspection and listed about 15 different things wrong, including needing a new starter motor, total to fix would run to £1000's. The car had a fresh MOT done a few days before the sale, it failed with a major issue, went back for its MOT a few days later then was passed - however the fault has not been fixed so car is unroadworthy/dangerous. Tried to get a price to get it all fixed but every garage I have spoken to have said its not worth it and to take it back - if only it was that easy!
Contacted MOT centre who had apparently done the repairs - they have offered to fix the dangerous issue but want me to drive to them - in a dangerous car over 50 miles away, they also confirmed the starting issue was present when the MOT was done, so the seller lied. In fact he lied about lot's of other stuff too, and the car as been undersealed so heavily I am now concerned about the rust, its a old car and feels crumbly under the underseal.
Called the seller who was threatening and aggressive, told us sold as seen etc. and that he had already spent the money. Done lot's of research and it appears that there are 2 areas I can contest here - selling a unroadworthy vehicle, and misleading advert where he described it as having 4 seatbelts (it only has 3, he gave is a 4th but there's no where to attach it) and a excellent runner - clearly not. I have written a letter before action outlining all the above, and have received a response which basically says tough, so now my only option is small claims court, so I guess my question is what are my chances here, is it worth pursuing? I have all communications and original ad - apart from the telephone call. Thank you in advance to anyone who advise.
Contacted MOT centre who had apparently done the repairs - they have offered to fix the dangerous issue but want me to drive to them - in a dangerous car over 50 miles away, they also confirmed the starting issue was present when the MOT was done, so the seller lied. In fact he lied about lot's of other stuff too, and the car as been undersealed so heavily I am now concerned about the rust, its a old car and feels crumbly under the underseal.
Called the seller who was threatening and aggressive, told us sold as seen etc. and that he had already spent the money. Done lot's of research and it appears that there are 2 areas I can contest here - selling a unroadworthy vehicle, and misleading advert where he described it as having 4 seatbelts (it only has 3, he gave is a 4th but there's no where to attach it) and a excellent runner - clearly not. I have written a letter before action outlining all the above, and have received a response which basically says tough, so now my only option is small claims court, so I guess my question is what are my chances here, is it worth pursuing? I have all communications and original ad - apart from the telephone call. Thank you in advance to anyone who advise.
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