Car sold - new owner on complaining

cyclonebri1

pgilc1 wrote: »

Well, its a part time business that i've just started, so i dont think anyone knows everything immediately in any new business - you live and learn as they say.

Yeah, thats the bottom line. Any adverts i have on now that are on are from other traders, who i know stand over their cars. TBH i will phase this out all together very quickly as it would only take one of these other people to tell a customer to get stuffed and they would be on the phone to me and its just not worth the hassle for a few ££ of advertising.

I think i'd be better having a small amount of my own 'hand picked' cars for sale than a large amount of cars some of which i have no control over the quality of.

I think you've got the message,:T but you are still trading and your descriptions have to be very carefully worded.

Keep everything 100% legal or your 1st disgruntled customer will dob you into the taxman, local authorities, trading standards etc etc.

(the voice of experience;);))

Mark_Hewitt

If you are simply receiving cash for placing an advert, that's one thing. But the fact you are getting paid on the sale on the car puts you onto dodgy ground. Even then if the car was covered by your warranty, you wouldn't cover against damage caused by the owners, which seems likely to be the case here.

motorguy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I think you've got the message,:T but you are still trading and your descriptions have to be very carefully worded.

Keep everything 100% legal or your 1st disgruntled customer will dob you into the taxman, local authorities, trading standards etc etc.

(the voice of experience;);))

The business is legit anyway and i've registered it with HMRC and have an accountant.

If it had been my car - and TBH i wouldnt have been selling it as the miles was 120K - then i would have stood over it, and just taken the hit.

motorguy

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

If you are simply receiving cash for placing an advert, that's one thing. But the fact you are getting paid on the sale on the car puts you onto dodgy ground. Even then if the car was covered by your warranty, you wouldn't cover against damage caused by the owners, which seems likely to be the case here.

Hmm. Good point.

Definitely wont be taking any more adverts for other people then.

cyclonebri1

pgilc1 wrote: »

The business is legit anyway and i've registered it with HMRC and have an accountant.

If it had been my car - and TBH i wouldnt have been selling it as the miles was 120K - then i would have stood over it, and just taken the hit.

Hats off then, you are in the minority:T. Problem is you are up against the peeps that aren't legit, and hence you really are handicapped from the start:(

I'm not criticising you, merely trying to explain what I found out in a similar situation to yours many years ago, ;)

motorguy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Hats off then, you are in the minority:T. Problem is you are up against the peeps that aren't legit, and hence you really are handicapped from the start:(

I'm not criticising you, merely trying to explain what I found out in a similar situation to yours many years ago, ;)

Yes, totally agree. I did this for about 10 years starting some 20 years ago, and it got to the point whereby i simply couldnt be 'legit' AND make a profit, so i stopped.

Going ok this time. Good source(s) of decent ish cars at a reasonable price. Would love to go full time at it, but currently holding down a pretty well paid job too, so trying to juggle both.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

pgilc1 wrote: »

They said that it had been diagnosed as a failed water pump and a cracked head. My thinking is yes the pump has went but they've added cold water which has cracked the head..

They didn't add cold water to the engine, they added it to either the expansion tank or the radiator. Cold water won't crack a cylinder head, or there'd be a line of broken down vehicles with damaged engines caused by people topping the coolant up.

I'm betting the fault was already there, and that's why the seller wanted shut of it.

motorguy

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

They didn't add cold water to the engine, they added it to either the expansion tank or the radiator. Cold water won't crack a cylinder head, or there'd be a line of broken down vehicles with damaged engines caused by people topping the coolant up.

I'm betting the fault was already there, and that's why the seller wanted shut of it.

Cold water to a very hot system will certainly not do it any good. I had a punto a few weeks ago that overheated when i was driving it i had no choice but to drive on just for a few miles. By the time i'd added water and got the car headed towards home it gave up at the side of the motorway in a cloud of smoke.

The buyer shouldnt have driven on at it, but likewise, as you say, there may have been a problem already there.

bigjl

Paul,

not trying to be confrontational but as pew pew has said there will be no damage caused by adding cold water into the cooling system, it wouldn't have been that cold anyway, only at ambient temperature.

A head won't crack even if you where to run it up to temperature and then poured a bucket of water over it.

And I am a little bit confused over your business plan, you are ether selling cars or not, if you advertise a car on your site with the owners contact details then you need to research your possible liabilities, as there may be some, and don't ever do anybody a favour when you get nothing out of it, if they want to sell the car through you then you take the car into stock, prepare it as normal ad take your share of the price, simples.

If you have been out of the trade for 10 years, going by your previous post, then you are rusty, working as a home trader is difficult enough without doing people favours. There are a lot of "champagne chavs" out there that have only ever scrounged from others, they are skilled at getting money out of everybody and anybody, and firmly believe that due to having £4000 in cash they are in fact almost as rich as Lord Sugar, these kind of customers are more trouble than they are worth, and I make a point of never dropping the price to these pillocks, as you can guarantee that they will make my life a misery after they break the car doing donuts in Tesco's carpark.

But a webpage is only a webpage and I would be inclined to close the current one down, then change your contact numbers and start a new site.

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

Paul,

not trying to be confrontational but as pew pew has said there will be no damage caused by adding cold water into the cooling system, it wouldn't have been that cold anyway, only at ambient temperature.

A head won't crack even if you where to run it up to temperature and then poured a bucket of water over it.

Fair enough. As i said its not my car, and its only my humble opinion. I bow to superior knowledge!!

bigjl wrote: »

And I am a little bit confused over your business plan, you are ether selling cars or not, if you advertise a car on your site with the owners contact details then you need to research your possible liabilities, as there may be some, and don't ever do anybody a favour when you get nothing out of it, if they want to sell the car through you then you take the car into stock, prepare it as normal ad take your share of the price, simples.

Fair comment. Thats how i will be taking it from here on in.

bigjl wrote: »

If you have been out of the trade for 10 years, going by your previous post, then you are rusty, working as a home trader is difficult enough without doing people favours. There are a lot of "champagne chavs" out there that have only ever scrounged from others, they are skilled at getting money out of everybody and anybody, and firmly believe that due to having £4000 in cash they are in fact almost as rich as Lord Sugar, these kind of customers are more trouble than they are worth, and I make a point of never dropping the price to these pillocks, as you can guarantee that they will make my life a misery after they break the car doing donuts in Tesco's carpark.

Yup. I guess its about sussing out your customers and weighing up if they're the right customer for the right car. If anything, customers are even more demanding and press for an even tighter deal than before.

bigjl wrote: »

But a webpage is only a webpage and I would be inclined to close the current one down, then change your contact numbers and start a new site.

Yes, i'm working on that already. I bought an off the shelf s/w package for car sales website development, so i could be up and running with a new site by tomorrow lunchtime if i wanted for a matter of pounds.