Help!!! - mis-sold a second hand car privately - help!!!

[millsm4771]

Hi All,

I hope you can help me with some good advice on my issue.

I recently purchased a second hand Mercedes c230 AMG (Remember the AMG point) from a private seller. Half way home the car started to make a severe tapping sound so the next morning i immediately took it to a Mercedes specialist to see what the issue was (hoping it wasnt too serious). Turns out it was very serious, the bottom end of my engine had gone and it had a problem with the gaskets i think (Sorry, know very little about cars) basically it needed a new engine or a £4k repair. (The car cost me £3200). At this point the seller wanted nothing to do with the car or me stating that it was fine when i left and that he knew nothing about the issues.

The garage have come back to me saying that the car has been substantially stripped down recently and after looking at the sellers extensive history they can see that he has tried to fix this issue when he purchased it 8 months ago and that he definitely knew about the issue. At this point the seller still didnt want to know about it so i kept on digging into the seller to find out what i could.

I found out that the seller sold a Volvo V70 just before he purchased the Merc and sold it apparently because it was too small for his family, he then sold a Volvo XC90 and bought this Merc, then sold it to me stating it was suitable for his family.... Strange i know. Anyway upon further research I have now found out that this car was mis sold...... The advert title for this car is.....

Mercedes C230 2.5 V6 AMG 7G Tiptronic

I have found out that the car is actually just a C230 SE, not an AMG at all!

Does this give me grounds for a refund?

I am obviously starting the process of a small claims court procedure today by sending him an official letter to request a refund. I know i have obviously been a bit dim thinking i could get an AMG for that price but it was shiny and so pretty!

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Kati]

Re: Help!!! - mis-sold a second hand car privately - help!!!

tagging [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION] [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] for advice xx

[des8]

Re: Help!!! - mis-sold a second hand car privately - help!!!

Hi and welcome

I suspect you already know that purchasers in a private sale have few rights if they had te opportunity to view and examine the goods prior to purchase.
However the seller may not misrepresent the goods in any way.
In this instance the car was misdescribed, so yes you have IMO valid grounds for a claim.

Did the advert say anything about the vehicles condition? If it was described, eg as in good condition, when you can show the seller knew it was knackered (tehnical term!) you have further grounds for rescinding the contract.

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] will probably have further advice

[R0b]

Re: Help!!! - mis-sold a second hand car privately - help!!!

Hello

Where did you see this advert, are you able to provide a link to the full description and not just the title of the car?

As des has pointed out, you have very little rights against a private seller however the seller must provide a clear and accurate description of the car. Anything that is incorrect within the description could be seen as a misrepresentation. Your primary claim for misrepresentation ought to be for negligence but the alternative should be innocent misrepresentation.

For negligence, the seller must have to been reckless as to the statement that it is an AMG car and whilst having no basis for believing it is true. Innocent misrepresentation is where the seller honestly believed that the statement was actually true and must provide evidence to show that he/she believed it was.

The remedy for either would be rescission of the contract and puts you back in the position prior to the misrepresentation i.e. your full money back.

There is a third argument which if either of the above fails, you could plead negligent misstatement but that only attracts damages and not rescission of the contract. If you paid for the car which cost less than what it costs to repair, the court should and ought to award your money back as opposed to damages.

If you are going to go bring a claim, presumably this will be through Money Claims online. You have to be concise and plead within your claim that the advertisement of the car being an AMG model was false. You have a limited word count on the claim form but it is possible to provide a detailed version of events by a separate Particulars of Claim (POC) if need be but you need to comply with the requirements of drafting a POC