Selling my car - they want RAC inspection before buy!!

amy21_84

Hello,

Just wondering how many people have come across this. I have just sort of sold my old car. I say sort of because i have been given a deposit for it but the buyer wants to have a RAC inspector inspect the car before completing the purchase. Im pretty sure my car is fine and i have had no problems with it since i have had it (5 years) but im a bit confussed about what the people are expecting from this inspection. The car is old, and im only selling it for £900 so its not like its a lot of money but what happends if they find something minor wrong with the car, and they choose not to buy, what happends to the deposit?

The thing is for me is i have had 3 people since phone up and ask to view the car but have told them it is sold, but what if they change there mind after the inspection? Am i entitled to keep the amount it costs to advertise since i have now told the company i have been advertising with that it is sold and my advert is no longer up.

Its just i havent had this before, you think a sell is a sell but if they dont want the car i then have to pay for re advertising it, plus i have lost out on what could have possibly been a sell from other people.

Please advise!

chilli_dog

Not sure about the deposit part but make sure you get all the names and numbers of the people caling you. At least you can call them back if the original buyer backs out.

Also i would ask the buyer to arrange the inspection ASAP tell them there is a lot of interest in the car and you are only willing to wait for a couple of days or something for the inspection.

Good Luck

david29dpo

you only have to give the deposit back if the car failed the inspection IF you said you would or something was in writing. this seems a little over the top for a car of this price. if you sell the car in the meantime, which i think you should, just give the deposit back. remember, a car is never sold until you have the money!

hjb123

If they decide not to get the car I wouldnt give the deposit back, the whole point of a deposit is to reserve something and if you decide not to take the item then you shouldnt get a refund, or thats my interpretation anyway! I assume that the buyer is going to pay for the inspection?

Like a previous poster says say if they dont have it inspected within the next couple of days you are going to put it back on sale or let someone else have a look at it because you dont want to have it drag on for ages!

abomb1969

Legally the deposit only secures the purchase (to be made in a reasonable timeframe), if they walk away there is no refund. I am suprised that they are getting an rac inspection on a low value car like this, they cost about £100. I suggest that you tell them you will reduce the purchase price of the car by half the cost of an inspection if they dont have one to speed the sale.

ArsenalFC

Tell the buyer that the deposit is not refundable should they not buy after the inspection. I have never heard of anyone wanting to get an RAC AA inspection done on a car under £1k. A normal inspection cost about £130 for a member of the company, comprehensive inspection cost £200-£225.

You should not tell people who are calling you that is sold, not a done deal. Tell them someone had put a deposit on the car, ask them to call back or take their number if the original buyer pulls out.

I am about to buy a car over £4k and I wont be taking an RAC AA inspection as I know the basic of a car. I will take out a HPI report though.

chris73

I once bought a car from a garage and paid for an RAC Inspection and found it had over 7 MOT failures including a potentially fatal flaw. I don't blame anybody paying for an inspection, after all they may just want to know that the car is as described.

If you have concerns that the car has any known major flaws which may not pass an inspection then perhaps you should have pointed them out in the description?

Yes, paying £100 - £200 for a car which costs £1000 is a bit OTT, but it's their money! - maybe they just want the re-assurance that its safe and roadworthy, I doubt anybody will bother or quibble about minor flaws on a car of this value, but if it does pick up something major then its also doing you a favour too!.

lily_the_pink

I would definately make sure you keep contact details for anyone else interested. Also, if they dont arrange the RAC inspection in the next couple of days I would probably start arranging for other people to come round and look at the car anyway (and dont tell them it is sold). The RAC report is really good but is very detailed and although nothing major found could put people off just because of tick boxes. An oldish car will have lots of little niggly things or just things that will eventually go wrong, but for someone nervous about buying a car enough to put them off the purchase.

I had a bad experience like this - someone messed me around for 2 weeks altogether then backed out once the report had been done. Stupidly I hadnt taken a deposit - and she never even told me what had put her off. Sold it 2 days later for £50 more - but she had wasted my time. At least it was her money. It was an 8 year old car so there would have been some problems I expect.