Help - Car bought on sunday faulty

khayman1001

Hi,

I need some advice re a car I bought from a trader at the weekend.

The guy said he was a motor trader but was selling the vehicles outside his house. He provided a headed invoice and told me that if the car was mechanically unsound he would refund the whole amount.

Going down the motorway today on its first long run and the passenger side front wheel came off.

I spoke to the trader and he told me he was a third party seller
and he did not check over every vehicle he sells on. Would this still be classed as a business trade sale ?

He has offered to refund the whole amount but hinted that its not really his responsibility.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Judas

Whats the problem if he is refunding you.
If he is selling cars they need to be roadworthy but I would suggest it would have fallen off quicker if it was obviously not.

khayman1001

Judas wrote: »

Whats the problem if he is refunding you.
If he is selling cars they need to be roadworthy but I would suggest it would have fallen off quicker if it was obviously not.

He has offered to refund the money if I transport the car to him 40 miles away. Also when the car hit the ground the wing dented so I can see him refusing once he sees it.

All I want is the cash back but paying to transport it to him seems unfair when he obviously did not check the car over before hand

unholyangel

Unless he told you at the time of the sale that he was merely a broker and especially if he has provided you with a invoice from his own "company", then imo your contract is with him and he is responsible.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/buying-a-car/

khayman1001

unholyangel wrote: »

Unless he told you at the time of the sale that he was merely a broker and especially if he has provided you with a invoice from his own "company", then imo your contract is with him and he is responsible.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/buying-a-car/

Thanks, he told me the car was a trade in from another sale so its
not like he was selling on behalf of someone else but he pointed out that the car was not in his name when it was sold to me.

adam.mt

Can you get the car back to him inexpensively, ie. refit the wheel and drive it carefully or will it need to be transported?

The car doesn't have to be registered in his name to be considered his, no garage would do so for a second hand vehicle since it would add to the number of owners and make it less attractive.

If a person sells more than 2-3 cars a year (from memory, but it's about that) then by default he's considered a trader (unless can clearly prove otherwise).

Like all goods bought from a company in the course of it's business you are entitled to a six month period where faults occurring within are considered to be present at the time of sale (SoGA) - note that this will take into account the sum paid and the age of the goods, so a ten-year old car wouldn't necessarily be expected to be completely fault free for 6 months and as such the retailer wouldn't be considered liable for all faults.

Obviously, wheel falling off next day would seem a clear case of you being able to claim and if the car needs transport to get it back to base the retailer should pay.

I'm sure somebody will post back quoting the exact lines of SoGA to assist further, but that's the gist!