Refund on private car sale through small claims court.....is it possible?

[amajorheadache]

Hi everyone
I bought a used car from a private seller through eBay ......yes, if only I could turn back the clock. To cut a very very long story short the car I paid £2325 pounds for on 13 October 15, with an MOT issued on 29 sept 15 (no mileage between dates) has turned out to be deemed unroadworthy and dangerous. It does not match the description that the seller posted..... Yes it is the make model and mileage that he quoted but his own description is untrue. I drove the car after collecting it 200 miles from where I live and had such concerns regarding the safety of the car that I complained to VOSA, the car was re MOT'd by VOSA and failed with 9 faults, 4 deemed as dangerous. The seller provided no receipts for any work done to the car in the 6 yrs he owned it as he carried all the work out himself. He did not mention this in any of the pre purchase texts, emails or telephone calls that I had with him. He is not a mechanic and does not possess any qualifications in welding. vosa informed me that the garage that MOTd the car would receive disciplinary action but I do not know if this has happened. I have written to the seller and the garage asking for refund with the return of the car. I have written twice to the seller, both recorded delivery and the second letter was returned to me as he refused to accept it. I would like to take out a small claims court action against the seller but have been informed by CAB that I have virtually no chance of being successful with this as my rights as a cash buyer of a private used car are very limited.
Please, would anyone be able to shed any light on whether it is worth me paying an extra £130 to take out a small claims court action against the seller. Any advice would be grateful.
thanks

[R0b]

Re: Refund on private car sale through small claims court.....is it possible?

redress for buyers against private sellers are very very limited. Are you certain this is a private seller and may not actually be posing as a trader? Private sellers should describe as accurately as possible to the best of their knowledge and are under no obligation to volunteer any information about the vehicle. If you ask something specific about the car, they should answer truthfully.

That being said, a claim against the seller would depend on what the vehicle was described as on Ebay, and what sort of questions that you asked at the time then there may be a case of mis-representation against the seller. If you can also prove that the car was deemed unroadworthy at the time of sale again you may have a claim. The fact that the car was MOT'd again by VOSA and deemed not roadworthy could help your case.

The problem you also have to overcome is whether it is worth suing the seller, just because the option might be available doesn't mean your going to get any money back from him so you could be throwing more money at it. Before you jump ahead and make a claim, your best bet is to give him a 14 day warning letter. This should outline your concerns and why there was a mis-representation based on the description. You should allow 14 days for him to respond and if he fails to do so then decide to make the claim. If the seller is refusing to sign for recorded delivery then send it by first class post and get proof of postage from the post office, it will have deemed to have been sent according to normal post rules.

[amajorheadache]

Re: Refund on private car sale through small claims court.....is it possible?

Hi Rob
Many thanks for you response.
The description on eBay by the seller was v limited, as in 'it starts, drives and runs well' it underwent 'a complete overhaul 5 years ago' no receipts were evident for this and it would seem as though the sellers own work on the car has rendered it dangerous and unroadworthy! When i emailed regarding the condition of the car he replied with... best to speak on the phone, he originally took the car to be MOT in July and it failed with welding required, he then re submitted the car for MOT in September. I asked what was required to get the car through the MOT and he avoided answering this.............. all in all this would be a case of he said this , i said that and him denying most of it. He was aware of the distance that i was travelling to collect the car so obviousely i asked as much as i could prior to collecting the car. On day of collection i was already over £500 out of pocket with travel expenses, insurance, deposit etc, i bought the car on the sole premise that it had a new MOT and by his description. Stupidly i thought that an MOT would imply that the car was in good mechanical and safe condition. The faults must have been evident when the car was MOT on 29 Sept as it had not been driven until i collected it on 13 Oct. To be re MOT'd and receive 4 dangerous fault items does suggest that the original MOT wasn't quite up to the mark; i believe that both garage and the seller are equally to blame for the sale of a dangerous car but i can only re address this with the seller. I sent the seller a LBC on 8 December and it was returned to me as 'refused' so it would appear that he believes to be in the right and is ignoring any communication from me so i see no point in sending further letters, at least i was made aware that he did not read my letter, if i send unrecorded mail i would be non the wiser. I may have had a moment of madness in buying and handing over the cash for the car but i really didn't believe that someone could be so dishonest....... a very expensive learning curve! It is a hard pill to swallow to be £2500 plus financially worse off. I just wondered if i my case would even be considered?

Man thanks

[ostell]

Re: Refund on private car sale through small claims court.....is it possible?

Send another letter but this time just get proof of posting from the post office. It's free. It will be put through his letter box and is assumed to have been delivered.

Keep checking on ebay to see if this guy is selling other cars and is therefore a trader. Different set of rules then apply.

[Ymac77]

Re: Refund on private car sale through small claims court.....is it possible?

Did you go to court? I'm thinking of doing the same. Wondered if you had any success.

[Marymary]

I have recently won a private car sale through small claims

[Csd2022]

Mary Mary.. Can you give anymore details please what were the problems etc?