Sold Car in August - now Buyer wants compensation!

aliasojo

It would worry me that if I didn't answer his email, he would turn up in person. He doesn't sound as if he views things in the same way as the majority of people so you have to take that into account whilst deciding how to handle this.

If it were me, I'd call the CAB mysef to get their view on this. It would be good to include their view in an email back to him. Perhaps that might be enough to let him see you actually bothered enough about him to look into the matter but that you will not be held liable?

If you just ignore him, he might not go away, Whacky people do whacky things. :rolleyes: If he didn't have your address, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Or maybe I've just been around whacky people too long and always expect the worse now. :rotfl:

Errata

they buyer came to view the car, test drove it, and made me an offer at the time,

It would seem the buyer was perfectly satisfied after his test drive and made you an offer based on that, which you accepted. Job done.

Re. the email - why not acknowledge it 'Thank you for your email, yours sincerely, sarymclary'.

vikingaero

Anihilator will be along soon telling you you're fully liable. :rolleyes::D

redux

I've just thought about this some more.

The work you had done is guaranteed as you mentioned, and I'll assume that guarantee ought to be transferable with the ownership of the car.

I'd call your repairer, be apologetic for taking up their time, and discuss this with them, saying you're sceptical about what the other party is on about as some or even all of the detail seems irrelevant.

With any luck, they might say tell him if he has any problem bring it to us. That should insulate you from him pursuing you, and if he is trying it on, they'll soon see him off.

I certainly wouldn't suggest this to him anyway, without getting their permission first

Geoggy

he's trying it on, but as suggested, just call your CAB and get their view - I would be amazed if your buyer has actually done that as private sales have little come back

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/used-car-sales-and-paperwork/rights-and-responsibilities/index.jsp

DaveMacD

Had a similar issue a while ago, sold my 10 year old car, and within 3 months the steering pump hose failed. He tried similar, but I reminded him I'd knocked a few hundred off the price since he was a friend of my OH.

He claims to have taken it to a dealer, and they discovered 'the fuel pipes at the back were broken, and hadn't been repaired properly'. I had never had them repaired, and had never had cause to get them checked over. He also claims that the dealer 'were refusing to let me have the car back, without first having a new air-con pump and belt fitted, as they said it could break and damage the engine'.

If you have no idea about the fuel pipes, you can't be expected to fix them. By the same token, HE checked the vehicle over. If he wanted a more in depth check, he should have brought the AA with him to the sale. The dealer has NO RIGHT to keep the vehicle, unless it's in a dangerous condition. A dodgy air-con pump or belt IS NOT justification to keep the vehicle, and if that's what he's been told, then the garage are spinning him a line. Does he expect you to keep paying any repair bills until he decides to sell it on? Owning a car is expensive. They require work to be done on them. Will he be billing you because you never put brand new engine oil in it?

As suggested above, send a nice email to CAB, then send their reply to him. He's had the car for a number of months, and the car was running fine when he took possession. It's nothing personal, but it's not your responsibility any more.

terryya

I think if I was in your situation I think I'd probably reply to his email explaining your position but then not enter into any further correspondence.

zzzLazyDaisy

This is definitely a try on. He had the opportunity to check it out, he took it for a test-drive, and he chose to have someone else with him who could also check it over if he wanted them to. That someone else could have been an AA man - he would have had to pay for an AA check, obviously, but that was his choice and he chose not to.

Unless you knowingly or recklessly sold him a car that was not fit for its purpose then you have no liability at all towards him. (Note - that doesn't seem to be the case as the problem would have shown itself much earlier than 3 months, and anyway it would be incredibly difficult to prove that you knew or should have known about the faults that have supposedly come to light now).

My first instinctive response was that I'd ignore the e-mail. But he knows where you live and could turn up, so I think I'd probably write back and say something like

"Thank you for your e-mail, the contents of which are noted, but not accepted. Having taken advice, I regret to inform you that I am unable to assist you further." you may also wish to add "Please do not contact me again regarding this matter unless it is to notify me of impending proceedings which, for the avoidance of doubt, will be vigorously defended"

Hopefully he will realise that you are not a push over and go away and bother someone else.

Daisy

lemontart

He has not got a leg to stand on as it is buyer beware.

Alias_Omega

I agree with the others,

He had the time to inspect the car, test drive and make up his own mind. He could of carried out a HPI and found that it may have had repairs, then asked about that.

I think the buyer is just a little miffed that he has to pay some cash out on a car that he bought without warranty and is trying to get the cash back out of you.


I would speak to your husband about this ASAP. He needs to know if a man is going to be coming to the house, to be prepared. I would reply to the buyer with something like ..

"(Insert name), I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with the car that you purchased from ourselves 3 months ago, unfortunately we cannot help you. I must remind you that you inspected & took the car for a test drive before consenting to the purchase. You were happy with the purchase of the car. If you have any more questions, feel free to email us. Regards (Husband Name & Your Name)"

I would then await the reply, if its abusive then i would get onto eBay live chat ASAP and report this. Of course eBay will probably do nothing about it, but its logged. Then speak to your local Community Police Support Officer in a general worried chat about this.

Good luck,

Regards,

Alias