Sold a car and now the head gasket has gone

justcat

She paid for the car in cash.
I'm now worried because I said good runner in the advert. The thing is though that (although I didn't offer it out to her) she could have taken it for a test drive or have a mechanic look at it but she didn't ask for it. The car had it's MOT and then sat on the drive so as far as I was concern, it was a good runner.

In my opinion, I didn't lie to her or hide anything or not allow her to do anything. She could have checked the car out as much as she wanted but she didn't. And as someone above said, in my opinion it was a good runner but I'm not a mechanic so surely it's not a legally binding statement.

nixinixi

Did you write anything on her receipt? Whenever I have sold a car privately in the past I have always written sold as seen on the bottom.

I have to say if I were in her circumstances I would probably think I had been conned BUT there is always such a risk in buying a second hand car and I would not have come back to you.

Do you think she is just trying it on to see if you will refund/contribute - if you don't ask you don't get theory? Though in reality 'sold as seen' is always the nature of private sales I thought.

How do you know her mechanic is telling the truth? If you have had the work done that you have said, then it has been in and out of the re[pair shop and I am sure your mechanic would not have missed the opportunity of telling you about more work which needed doing! You could always speak to your mechanic and see if he had noticed anything ...or not!

If you feel bad then you do something about it, if you don't because you know you sold it in good faith then I am sorry but it is bad luck. You could try asking on the consumer rights board, they may know more.

hewhoisnotintheknow

tell them to go away, you sold the car in a working condition

If you dont know much about cars you dont buy them from random people out of a magazine, she did no checks

This is what car dealers are for as far as im concerned

hartcjhart

Premier wrote: »

Unfortunately for the OP, Anihilator makes a very good point

I was on about his post no7

Davey2009

It just seems an unfortunate incident for you & the buyer - I must admit I have bought cars without checking them in the past as I was to tight to pay garage prices so I guess something like this will be an expensive lesson.

jaydeeuk1

Everytime I see one of these threads, with posters saying the seller has nothing to worry, sold as seen etc, it reminds me of the ebay - caravan episode on here, where the buyer successfully claimed against the seller. Despite all evidence that the buyer didn't have a leg to stand on, they still won.

Lazy_Ike

I am no mechanic, and also I am not a lawyer.
I have no idea how a mechanic can state that a head gasket has been "gone for while". In my experience - lost 2 head gaskets in 2 cars over past 30+ years - when the gasket goes you soon know through either loss of coolant or coolant in the oil.
I wonder what evidence they have that the gasket has gone. I have had a couple of Skodas, and they suffer from 'mayonnaise' on the oil filler cap, which when I saw it the first time, I assumed the worst - that the head gasket had gone. A google search came up with the 'mayonnaise' description (coupled with no other symptoms) and which disappeared after the next long run getting the car up to full temperature for a prolonged period.
Regarding Caveat Emptor, I have to say that although the 'buyer must beware', a buyer also expects, when buying an item, no matter from whom, that it to be capable of performing its function and for a reasonable length of time. ie a car sold as a runner needs to be just that, and not just for a couple of days. But if you have had the work done you state, and the car checked over I would say you well placed to maintain that the car was in running condition - and expected to remain so - at the time of sale. Who knows what the new owner has got up to, even in the short time they have had it?
I know these are mixed messages, but hope that this helps.

hethmar

Cant help feeling sorry for the woman though can you. But I should think she has no legal come back on you. Did she get the car a lot cheaper than had she bought it at a garage? Could you not ask her to get another opinion on the head gasket? Why did she take it to the garage in the first place, was it not working?

justcat

When I sold the car I told her that there was a problem with leaking coolant and the water pump had been replaced. When she left to leave the coolant light flashed so filled it with water and she went on her way. Does that count? To be fair, I still didn't know that the head gasket would be a problem because when I got the pump changed they said that the pump was the issue

maninthestreet

You told her about the leaking coolant, which can be a sympton of HGF, but she still bought it without test driving it or getting it inspected. I really don't think she has any come-back on this.