Sold a car and now the head gasket has gone

hartcjhart

forget what anihilator said,

you sold a car that was in running order,you had no reason to know or believe the headgasket was going,it is a case of caveat emptor

thats the legal side, the moral side is up to you

justcat

Check the oil and coolant? They didn't do that!
She lifted the bonnet and just looked at it, she didn't touch anything.
I let her look around any questions she asked I answered and I didn't rush her at all.

justcat

The buyer did not take it for a test drive, nor did they ask.
They didn't have anyone come and look at the car.
She did ask if a HPI check was done and I told her no but the HPI only tells you if there has been finance outstanding or if it has been written off. In any case I told her no and she still wanted the car.

maninthestreet

justcat wrote: »

Check the oil and coolant? They didn't do that!
She lifted the bonnet and just looked at it, she didn't touch anything.
I let her look around any questions she asked I answered and I didn't rush her at all.

Then tell her, politely, that you cannot help her - she owns the problem as she owns the car. As an aside - how did she pay?

Mazzarati2000

As others have said, Caveat Emptor should apply, so long as you sold the car as a private individual yourself ( it wasn't the property of your business if you have one? ). (A business has wider ranging legal obligations when selling anything).

Premier_2

justcat wrote: »

... As far as I was concerned, the car was roadworthy and in a working condition.

...

If you described it as such, and the professionals at the garage are saying it isn't, you could be on very soggy ground.

Lemonade_Pockets

Memories getting a little hazy about this now, but i believe anything like "its a good runner" as verball statement does not have legal significance. This is because you are offering an opinion rather than a professional assesment. If a mechanic or salesman had said it then it'd be different.

Legally as others have said i very much doubt this will cause you a problem.

Beyond that how you tackle it is up to you. If it was me and i genuinely didn't know there was something wrong with the head gasket when i handed it over then i would be inclined just to say hard lines.

Premier_2

hartcjhart wrote: »

forget what anihilator said,

...

Unfortunately for the OP, Anihilator makes a very good point

theesel1994

Anihilator wrote: »

Imo If I was you I would be looking to come to a deal on paying part of the fees for repair or similar.

I would avoid this as well in case this has legal repercussions.

Davey2009

As long as you can say you knew nothing of this & have been 100% honest I would say there was nothing to worry about.
Had you used the car - did they have a test drive & the chance to get it all checked ?
It's fair to say considering the mileage & maybe the price paid if there were other problems they should have discovered them before parting with any money but its always good to look at things from the other persons view put yourself in their position I expect you would be fairly annoyed at the seller & maybe at the stupidity of not getting a mechanic to check it over, my own opinion is if you had the cash available Id look at paying half their costs but as you no longer have the money I guess that is not an option.