Buyer bought a bus, paid in cash, drove it then brought it back

melancholly

This situation is just bizarre! You have to keep us all up-to-date with any further developments!!!

Realist

Well what I would do is this:

1st) Visit the citizens advice and get there help.

Thats your first port of call.

2nd) Visit your local police station and get advice from them.

But would assume they would say its a private mater,

3rd) See a solicitor and get his advice.

When you have all 3 opinions then you can do something about it.

The trading standards website states the following:

Some problem areas when buying goods

Private sales

When you buy goods from a private individual, you don't have the same rights as when buying from a trader. The legal principle of caveat emptor, or 'buyer beware', operates. You have no rights to expect that goods be of satisfactory quality or fit for their purpose, but there is a requirement that they should be 'as described'. You should check goods thoroughly before you buy them.

Second-hand goods

The Sale of Goods Act applies to second-hand goods. When considering whether goods are of satisfactory quality one must take into account the lower expectations of second hand goods. For example, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect a ten-year-old, high mileage car to be completely free from fault, or to perform in the same way as a brand new vehicle, or to last as long. Second hand goods will have part-worn parts which will not be as durable as a new model.

Sale goods

Again, you have full rights under the Sale of Goods Act. However, if the goods were reduced in price because of a fault that was either brought to your attention at the time, or if you examined the goods and the defect would have been obvious to you, you would not be able to have your money back later for that particular fault.

Auctions

When anyone buys at auction they are seen to be dealing as a trader. In a trade to trade contract it is possible for the parties to limit their liabilities to each other, and for this reason it has been possible for the auction house to put up notices which exclude the purchase from rights given by the Sale of Goods Act. This is subject to a reasonableness test and is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

However

New goods purchased at auction by a consumer will be covered by the Sale of Goods Act with the corresponding remedies.
Second hand goods will also be covered when sold at auction but only where the consumer cannot attend in person
Some car auctions give the purchaser a limited time to try out the vehicle and reject if not suitable. This may only be a matter of a few hours, so it is worth looking closely at the terms of business.

I would seek there advice and take it as gospal, the link is: http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.txt


Laters

Contains_Mild_Peril

Mandles wrote:

Thats unbelievable! I would just say that you know about the accident and he damaged the car after signing so its his now & if he kicks up a stink just say that he is lucky you dont report it to the police as they may want to see insurance & would be interested in the tax situation.To get rid i would say you can use my pics if you want to ebay it again but you must mention the damage you did or i will tell new buyer!..he probably was in a bit of shock after accident but needs to own up.

Sounds sensible to me. I believe he'd be obliged to report the accident to the police even if no other vehicles or people were involved, and if the police knew, he may be charged with driving without due care and attention, and possibly other charges e.g. driving without insurance, which he'd obviously rather avoid, so trying to reason with him is probably a good idea.
If that fails and you report it as abandoned, the Council should remove it if the registered owner fails to claim it. However, if the registered owner does claim it, then getting them to remove it from your land would be a civil matter. From the DVLA's info on abandoned vehicles:

VEHICLES ON PRIVATE LAND
The Council has a duty to remove abandoned vehicles on private land, subject to the landowner’s authority. It has no powers to remove vehicles which are claimed by their owners.

If it's still roadworthy and requires only minor repairs, it would seem a shame to have it scrapped. However, if it's no longer legally your property then you're not legally entitled to sell it. I assume the same rules would apply as to any other goods delivered to you without your say-so: you can't legally sell them, but you're under no obligation to store them if the owner does not collect or arrange collection within a reasonable time (give a specific deadline), after which you would be entitled to put it out on the street. Since I'm assuming the police don't know about the crash, it should be possible to persuade him to sell you it back at a reduced price appropriate to the damage, cost of re-selling etc. if he doesn't want to relist it himself. You might even tell him you have witnesses who can confirm the time of the accident, even if that's not actually true.

elisebutt65

Um - just a quickie - Yu say he paid in cash - are the notes all kosher???

And have there been any bank jobs done whilst he took the bus??

He might have been disposing of some iffy notes and using the van to do some sort of criminal job??

smartie1976

My two-pence.

When you sold the vehicle it was fit for purpose, and the buyer entered into a contract with you upon purchase, and the onus is on the purchaser to prove the goods did not conform to contract at the time of purchase. Which he is unable to do.
Therefore he has no come-back.

Has he made the vehicle unroadworthy from the accident? I suspect not.
Until he replies to you you are a bit stuck, but I would not advise moving or entering the vehicle as it is now legally not yours. It is possible he may even try and claim you entered the vehicle and did the damage yourself.

To cover your own back, I personally would suggest a quick report to the police station, as this guy has had an accident and not reported it. Furthermore he was probably driving the bus without any insurance - which is clearly illegal. Did the guy even have a license? I would get everything documented with the police to ensure there are no false allegations or repercussions against yourself.

ianian99

if your gonna scap it i'll take it off your drive :-)

N9eav

I have not read the whole thread, but as a PC here's some advice

The Police would not be interested in this and can do nothing as it's all civil.

If the vehicle is on private land then neither the police or council will tow it away. ( I did'nt say this, but if it's registered in another persons name then leave it by the side of the road somewhere and when the police do get it reported to them, they will make contact with the registered keeper to ahve it moved or fine them and charge them for recovery).

code-a-holic

Thank you all for your input.
To answer a few questions....
HE did have insurance to drive it...he pre-arranged it..not that i have seen proof mind!
The log book has been processed and is in his possesion....we cant sell it without a logbook.
When he brought it back he parked it outside our house.
We live in national park so abandoned cars are a strict no no and would be taken away within days.
Not getting any response to our emails...giving him until thursday. If still no contact then we will give him 5 days before arranging it to be moved. Still unsure which route to take with that!

snake666

i would offer to buy it back from him for say £250 after he has sent the log book back to you
fix the trim and resell it on ebay
as for him taking a long time to get back to your place would it be hard to find if he was not from around where you live?
snake666

code-a-holic

snake666 wrote:

i would offer to buy it back from him for say £250 after he has sent the log book back to you
fix the trim and resell it on ebay
as for him taking a long time to get back to your place would it be hard to find if he was not from around where you live?
snake666

Have offered to re-sell and he said 'i want my money back'. not even a acknoledment of what i said.
Doubt he got lost. Between our house and where the accident happened there were no turn offs he needed to take! once straight road accross a welsh mountain. Very strange man!