Friends who bought my car have stopped paying the agreed monthly installments

macman

You are not a trader, so none of this applies. It was a private sale, the only things that applies here is caveat emptor.
Don't get dragged into any discussions about condition, because it is not relevant.
It's quite clear that the buyer is simply trying to evade payment, and using alleged defects as a means to an end-how can they possibly think that you can guarantee the condition of the battery 6m after you sold the vehicle?
You need to make it clear to them that the vehicle was sold as seen and that you intend to get paid the balance even if you have to resort to the SCP to do so. The longer you mess about the more likely that they will think they can get away with it, so write a letter tonight and send it RD tomorrow, giving them 14 days.
Your only mistake was agreeing to give them the vehicle on credit in the first place.

john_white

regarding the date of registration. The car when imported will come with a certificate of deregistration which shows the date of first registration in it's original country of registration.

faithcecilia

john_white wrote: »

regarding the date of registration. The car when imported will come with a certificate of deregistration which shows the date of first registration in it's original country of registration.

Or a dating letter from the manufacturer confirming the build date if outside the EU, or a CoC if from the EU.

alocacoc

hope youve now learnt that you dont have friends in life theyll change or backstab you at the drop of a hat.

and I wouldnt bother with the ccj Ive had one against me and I dragged it out for 2 years and even then I pleaded poverty so have to pay peanuts

your in a lose lose situation they have the car you dont and the logbook is theres the fact you offered to do payment arrangements on the car as a favour means you dug your hole a little deeper

may aswell have the car back and sell it as spares or fix it yourself

patman99

What make/model is it?. A lot of Jap imports are very sort-after, especially diesels as they all have the winter-running kit fitted (unlike UK spec ones) so do not freeze-up at -15.

DansMum_2

macman wrote: »

You are not a trader, so none of this applies. It was a private sale, the only things that applies here is caveat emptor.
Don't get dragged into any discussions about condition, because it is not relevant.
It's quite clear that the buyer is simply trying to evade payment, and using alleged defects as a means to an end-how can they possibly think that you can guarantee the condition of the battery 6m after you sold the vehicle?
You need to make it clear to them that the vehicle was sold as seen and that you intend to get paid the balance even if you have to resort to the SCP to do so. The longer you mess about the more likely that they will think they can get away with it, so write a letter tonight and send it RD tomorrow, giving them 14 days.
Your only mistake was agreeing to give them the vehicle on credit in the first place.

Exactly. Buyer beware... Thay have no leg to stand on. You should be paid your money and then they put in down to experience.

debbie828813

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all your comments and advice. I would really rather it didn't go to small claims court but I will if I have to. Even if it takes ages to get payment, I would rather do it out of principle. I had no knowledge of any of the mentioned faults and as unfortunate as it is, that is just the way it goes.

Esqulax

Reading through all of this I get the impression:

Its a Private Sale. Done.

Faults, wear 'n' tear, MOT Failures are irrelevant.

So if they say you 'Mis-sold them the car' - No you diddnt, they saw it before they bought it.

'You said it was in Excellent condition' - It was clean, and tidy inside an out. You're not a qualified mechanic, so an MOT was there from one to prove it was roadworthy.

Either way though, no matter what they say or the condition of the car now or then is irrelevant. They agreed to buy it from you.

I get the feeling - Call it a hunch - that they may have avoided the payment to pay for repairs. This is a horrible thing to do, and im sure had they asked you nicely before all this kerfuffle an arrangment could have been made. Alas.

But yes, you went the right way about selling it, and are going the right way about sorting it. EVERYTHING apart from what is in the sales agreement is irrelevant.

Good Luck

FATBALLZ

Theres a couple of things to learn from this..

1. Avoid selling a car to a friend - you never know what could go wrong, and it could lead to resentment and ruin a friendship
2. Don't lend friends money - you have effectively given them a loan

I don't have any new advice for you, but you are definitely in the right with this, please make sure you see it through. Your 'friends' are just trying it on, everyone knows cars can go wrong.

Parva

As a matter of interest, the last time I checked I believe that the DVLA had to be able to ascertain the imported cars year of manufacture to allow them to issue the corresponding 'year' plate in the UK. I know it was something daft like they had to be able to ascertain that 90% of the car was manufactured in a certain year so things like engine changes from original spec for that vehicle would likely render its age as unidentified and these get a 'Q' registration plate (hence why you see many kit cars with 'Q' reg).

I'm probably not 100% spot-on but I am pretty damned certain that DVLA has to be extremely satisfied that a car was manufactured in a given year before they will issue a UK registration plate that indicates that the car is of that vintage. This is why, when buying personalised plates for a car the vehicle receiving them must be at least as new as the intended private plate but it's acceptable to put a 20 year old registration on a 1 year old car but not vica versa.

Therefore, any argument that the car is older than the 'R' registration it has been designated with is bull and they should try and challenge the DVLA on that one!