I bought a dodgy car, can I do anything legally?

Faffy57

Hi all,

I bought a car last month in a private sale. The bloke I bought it off said it was his girlfriends car I thought nothing of it, liked the car, it seemed a good deal, so I bought it.
I have just visited my mechanic after asking it to be serviced and he has informed me that there's no point servicing it before getting the bodywork sorted. That it's been either a previous write off or severely damaged. He said that it's been 'stuck together'. It has secondhand wishbones, tie tags holding things together. Problems with the wheels and suspension.
After checking the log book I've found the car to be registered to him (not his girlfriend) and that he is still selling cars (I'm now guessing he's a trader).
Does anyone know if there's anything I can do. I'm so angry as I've now realised the vehicle is very unsafe.
Please help!
Thankyou,
Faffy57

blue_haddock

Pretty much the answer is no - you bought it in a private sale and had oppurtunity to examine the vehicle before handing over your cash.

If you can get proof he is trading you MAY have some recourse but having suspicions and proving it are two different things.

anewman

blue_haddock wrote: »

If you can get proof he is trading you MAY have some recourse but having suspicions and proving it are two different things.

Hundreds of people get away with doing it.

If you want a nice warm feeling inside drop an anonymous report to HMRC on their website giving his details saying he is not paying income tax and is a car trader.

Faffy57

Thankyou both for your insight, I didn't think I'd be able to do much but may well contact HMRC.
Thanks again.

anewman

Faffy57 wrote: »

Thankyou both for your insight, I didn't think I'd be able to do much but may well contact HMRC.
Thanks again.

I'm sure many car traders (the off their driveway type) are also claiming benefits so go to the benefits anonymous tip off site too. :j

Inactive

If the guy is selling cars on a regular basis, it was not a " private sale ", it was a commercial transaction and it should be covered by the SOGA.

Get proof that he is selling cars commercially.

Trading Standards is your best port of call.:)

flexrider

how did you buy it was it by ebay by any chance,

please let me know i think i could help u if it was ect,

if he is a registered dealer of car sales contact the office of fair trading or soga,

Inactive

flexrider wrote: »

if he is a registered dealer of car sales contact the office of fair trading or soga,

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Get real, the OFT do not deal with individual cases.

anewman

Inactive wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Get real, the OFT do not deal with individual cases.

Come on, they rarely deal with the big cases too unless there's a media outcry :beer:

Inactive

anewman wrote: »

Come on, they rarely deal with the big cases too unless there's a media outcry :beer:

Those that they do get involved in seem to go pear shape.;)

flexrider

Inactive wrote: »

Those that they do get involved in seem to go pear shape.;)

seem to have let off a hornest nest on that comment

however here is the link to what i mean by them, if he is a legit company selling cars offline and online then the oft are the people to see, if not then i dont know who contact apart form your bank ect, or small claims,

http://www.oft.gov.uk/about/faqs/#named6

was only trying to help and good luck

or you could get a local paper to write a article then try office of fair trading, that why it shows attension...long shot but ya know might work