private car sale, major repair needed, any comeback

TAZ

basicly i bought a car this week from a private seller, when bought the tank was on minimum so filled up today and have a MAJOR petrol leak, took it straight to garage to find the seam on the tank has gone totally needs a new tank at a cost of £300. I know about buyer beware etc but do i have any comeback at all regarding this, the car passed a mot on tuesday and the garage i took it to has said that the mot station should have at least advised on it but no advosory note was given, i have checked this.
the thing that has upset me most about all of this is the seller knew i would be driving the car a long way home and if they knew anything about this leak then they knew i was risking mine and my childrens lives driving it

lady_wolfs_head

Try talking to the seller if you have the details. Failing that small claims court. But the tank should have been spotted on the MOT.
But the previous owner my just say they had no idea about the leak and sold it in good faith, in which case it is you against them.

plane_boy2000

It is possib;le that the seller didnt know, but TBH its a private sales so I dont see that you have any comback unless you know they were a trader

McKneff

Its possible that the seller didnt know about the leak,
My Corsa costs £45 to fill up, so they may have only been half filling it for £20 or so. This may have put the petrol under the leak but like another poster says
it should have showed up on the MOT

Rolandtheroadie

What car is it?

MrSmartprice

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

It is possib;le that the seller didnt know, but TBH its a private sales so I dont see that you have any comback unless you know they were a trader

It is a common fallacy that there is no comeback against a private seller under Sale of Goods legislation - there is.

There is less responsibility on a private seller as the 'satisfactory quality' and 'fitness for purpose' sections don't apply. But the goods must be as described, so any descriptions in an ad, 'excellent condition' etc, must be correct. Most savvy private sellers avoid this and stick to facts though.

The other requirement is that all vehicles must be roadworthy whoever sells it.

Inactive

MrSmartprice wrote: »

The other requirement is that all vehicles must be roadworthy whoever sells it.

So how do companies sell accident damaged cars?

mikey72

Inactive wrote: »

So how do companies sell accident damaged cars?

As "accident damaged" maybe?

MX5huggy

Just to say I don't see how you can expect a MOT to pick up on a leaky tank. If it was virtually empty the leak would not show.

Inactive

mikey72 wrote: »

As "accident damaged" maybe?

Exactly, and hence not roadworthy.;)

vikingaero

Some cars still have steel fuel tanks rather than plastic. On a Corsa B, for example, the tank rots where the filler joins the tank. The seller might not have ever noticed it if they only fuelled up with £10 or £20 a time when it was empty. Certainly when I brimmed our old Corsa the tank would leak. It may be that the leak point may not be visible even from under the car as it might be against the floorpan.