Car buyer has renaged on the deal

macawslave

My son was selling his work van for £1,000 with 12 months MOT on it.
About 4 weeks ago a sale was agreed at £900 due to noisy wheel-bearings. The purchaser wanted to take it to garage to be checked over and paid £400 up front and left his car as a token of good-will with a promise to return the following evening. The paperwork was filled in but has not been sent off. We have not seen the van since and he took his car without us knowing. A week later I went to his home, he told me the van needed alot of work doing on it and it was agreed he bring the list of jobs to show us, followed by a text message to my son saying the same thing. Nothing was heard for a couple of weeks but then we were told the van is on the road with sign-writing on the sides of it. After sending him a message threatening to inform the police he eventually got in touch saying he'd paid £400 for repairs and wants to renegotiate.
Basically we feel he had no right to have any work done on the van without my sons permission and it was the purchasers choice to have it done and pay for it, he should have brought the van back with a garage report - he would have been given his money back if he'd wanted.
I am now in the process of writing a letter to him pointing this out and am offering him the choice of bringing the van back and getting a refund or taking him to the Small Claims Court for the agreed balance he owes.
Before sending this letter I would like your thoughts and advice on this situation please.
Cheers

djheath

If you haven't sent of the v5 to say the van has chanegd hands and this guy still has the van and is driving it around, then to me this is theft!

Firstly, I can't believe you let the guy take the van in the first place. If there were repairs needed on the van then you should have said to him "buy the van at a slightly reduced price, or dont buy it!" Simply as that.

I cant believe you didn't contact the police the first day he didn't return the van.
You realise he probably isn't insured on the van, isn't the registered owner either so all speeding fines etc will come to your son.

Mark_Hewitt

djheath wrote: »

If you haven't sent of the v5 to say the van has chanegd hands and this guy still has the van and is driving it around, then to me this is theft!

Firstly, I can't believe you let the guy take the van in the first place. If there were repairs needed on the van then you should have said to him "buy the van at a slightly reduced price, or dont buy it!" Simply as that.

I cant believe you didn't contact the police the first day he didn't return the van.
You realise he probably isn't insured on the van, isn't the registered owner either so all speeding fines etc will come to your son.

Not the registered owner and not the legal owner. Report the vehicle as stolen.

lisyloo

Stop giving him choices.
Report him to the police for theft.

sebdangerfield

You need to inform the Police now.

You've made some mistakes by letting him take the van and when he kept the van for longer than agreed he commited TWOC.

In having the van fixed without your knowledge or consent he has reduced the van into his possesion and treated it as his own. Thats theft.

In letting him use the van you will be commiting the offence of allowing the van to be used without insurance as I assume he hasn't any.

My advise would be to contact him now telling him if he doesn't return the van now, you will call the Police and report it stolen. If he returns it, he's just commited TWOC although theft could be argued due to the fact he reduced the van into his possesion but this could become civil as to whether this was agreed beforehand.

Hope it works out, a lesson learnt either way.

custardy

as said get on the police now!

macawslave

Yes yes yes we know we were stupid ....and the implications - hind-sight would be a great gift.

We live in a very laid-back rural area in Wales where people still trust each other and things take time - tomorrow can mean any time in the next week. This chap is a well-known builder in the area, he lives in the next village and has relatives who live next door but one to us - we had no reason, at the time, to be concerned.

So just your thoughts and possibly advice only please - we are beating ourselves up enough already.

macawslave

My last reply crossed over with others.

Thanks for your comments and yes I see now that the police should be informed.

Whitewillow_2

police now - dont send a letter as every minute he is driving that van your son is responsible for anything that it is used for - TWOC, driving without insurance and what if (god forbid) he commits a hit and run and you havent reported the van stolen? Or another sort of crime? hes already commited one please dont think hes not capable of another! You wont have a leg to stand on if anything does happen, the police wont buy 'oh I wrote him a letter to ask for it back'
Even if hes just pulled over, im sure your son will be the one responsible for the impounding costs of the car, as well as any speeding tickets as already mentioned.

Quentin

You need to act immediately - offering a refund by letter for the return of the van could be viewed as you having originally agreed to the van being taken away, and that all you are doing now is chasing a debt (ie a civil matter).

And what if it comes back damaged?

Waste no more time and report the matter.

Volcano

Did you write a receipt for the £400? There's a chance he could turn around to the police and say "Yeah, we agreed on £400 for the van. See, I've even got a receipt from the guy".

Clearly he's in the wrong, but if he can convince your local plod that cash has changed hands then they might dismiss it as "a civil matter" which will probably only leave you recourse through the small claims court.