Private car sale....now being taken to small claims court

In defence to the claim that has been alledged by Mrs xxxr. I am disputing her claim that I sold her an unroadworthy car and will not be returning any of the amount she is claming.

The car in question of been unroadworthy had passed its MOT on the 4.11.2016. I then drove the car back to my home address from York where it was then parked on my driveway. Due to the Vauxhall Zafira type car having potential manufacturer problems I arranged for the Zafira to be taken to my local vauxhall garage for the necessary recall checks.

On the 14.11.2016 my partner xxxxx drove the car 10 miles to Kirbymoorside. She then left the vehicle which was driven in to Ryedale Garages by the Vauxhall mechanic. It was then given its product recall and passed. The Car was then driven to a pick up point again by the Vauxhall mechanic and collected by Miss xxxx. Who then drove the car with her own children 10 miles back to our house in xxxx. The car drove absolutely fine showing no signs of any problems or concern.

The car was then parked on our driveway till the 16.01.17. I moved the car to my Parents house four miles away temporarily as i needed to access my garage and the Zafira was parked in front. I will add that the car drove soundly and i had no reason for any concern about the car.

Two days later we recieved a message about the Zafira. Mrs xxxx contacted my partner by message through the internet selling site Gumtree. The advert she saw is attached to this letter. The advert describes the car exactly as it was at the time of sale. I sold this car in genuine good faith and im sorry to hear that unfortunately the car, since been purchased by Mrs xxxx, has incurred a problem.

On the 18.01.2017 Mrs xxxxr purchased the Vauxhall Zafira from myself, my partner was the one who the did the sale as I was at work. When Mrs xxxx came to view the car she arrived with her father. She had the option as a private buyer to have the car inspected by a Mechanic, of which we would have been more than happy to wait for, but Mrs xxxx must of decided this was not necessary. She was presented with the log book, MOT certificate (picture of this printed out and attached to this letter) safety recall report (also a copy attached to this letter). Mrs xxxxr and her father asked a few questions about the car;

Does the car have a timing belt or chain?

Miss xxxx rang me to find out the answer as she didnt know. I told her it has a chain and it had been replaced. She told Mrs xxxx and her father this. Another question asked was;

Does the car have an alarm?

Again Miss xxxx rang me and my answer was that there is a maufacturer fitted standard alarm.

Miss xxxxn asked if she would like to test drive the car. Mrs xxxxr said yes and she had a test drive with Miss xxxx in the passenger seat. Everything was fine and Mrs xxxx was happy.

The price was negotiated and then sold for £1800. The log book was signed and money exchanged and the car was then Mrs xxxx. Mrs xxxx drove all 30 miles back to York from Thornton le Dale without any problems as stated in the claim. This suggests the car was definately roadworthy on the day of sale.

Miss xxxc described the car exactly as it was at the point of sale and we would never have sold a car that could be redeemed unroadworthy. I do not sell cars, this was a one off private sale. Sold in a roadworthy state that had recently passed its MOT and passed a safety recall in a Vauxhall garage. The car had driven perfectly and without problems every time that i had driven it, and had been parked on my drive with no signs of any leaks or possible problems.

On the 31.01.17 I was sent a letter to my parents address where Mrs xxxxxr had bought the car from. Even though as a private seller I didnt have to respond to the letter, I was naturally concerned and wanted to find out as much information about what had happened and to see if I could help in any way.

I rang the number and left a message and then i recieved a call back from Mrs xxxx mother. They said the car had been taken to a garage and it was unroadworthy and the injectors were bad and was going to cost £1500 to fix. I asked if they had a report from the garage, the answer was no. I asked which garage, so I could ring for a report. They would not give me the name or number of the garage they had alledegly visted. I then asked if they could get a second opinion the answer was no. They just wanted there money back for a car they had bought and driven fine two days prior. The fact that they couldnt give me a name of the garage or wouldnt get a second opinion gave me great cause of concern and I wondered if what they were stating was actually true. The phone call ended with no resolution and I thought they would be in touch with a report if they wanted to prove the faults that the car had incurred since Mrs xxxx purchased it.

I decided to ring Vauxhall to ask a few questions about the cost of injectors and labour of the job. They quoted a price of around £800 which is significantly less than the £1500 that Mrs xxxc had stated.

In Mrs xxxx claim statement, and I quote

'on taking the car to a garage, they advised all injector was in very bad condition and leaking. They said owner would of known this'

This does not make any sense;

1. It is very unlikey that all four injectors would fail at the same time

2. If it was leaking when they purchased the car they would be petrol on the floor and it would of been smelt and detected straight away.

All i can presume from the limited information given from Mrs xxxx and her family is that unfortunately after purchase, a fuel pipe has started leaking, this would cause smoke as she has claimed. But I think she must of been wrongly advised and when i spoke to her she refused to get a second opinion.

From the phone call of which i didnt actually speak to Mrs xxxx and the letter she sent and then obviously the claim statement. Im just shocked that she thinks I should have to give her the money back for a car that was sold in a roadworthy state.

From personal experience I have bought used cars privately and after purchase faults have occured. It is a risk taken when you dont buy from a dealer and dont have a warranty.

I feel i have tried to help Mrs xxxx and advise her, as I am a mechanic by trade, but this has all been ignored and now im left with having the stress of this claim against me.

I do hope she goes to a reputable garage and gets the car fixed at a reasonable price and back to state it was originally sold in.

I hope this will be the end of the matter.

Your Sincerely

My partner is definitely not à trader he is a HGV mechanic and actually hates working on cars 😣