HELP (legal)

LeroyBoyce

Hello,

I sold our old car for £1400.

He has now claimed a light came on and has cost him £900 to repair!

He is demanding £200 towards to cost of the repair.

For all I know he's !!!!!!ed it up himself, or something?

He bought the car "sold as seen".

He says he is going to take me to court as this is all within 28 days of purchase.

Can he do this?

vax2002

Yes he can take you to court for anything he wants, even leaving your gate open.
Will he win the case, no.
He bought the car second hand in a private sale and it came with all faults and imperfections.
I would, Ignore him, until he puts up or shuts up.

Yorkie1

Assuming you were a private seller and not a trader, you'd only be liable if you actually misled him about the light at the time of sale - i.e. he asked you about it, and you lied.

It sounds as though it was working when you sold it to him, and that you did not mislead him about it at the point of sale.

In private sales, misleading statements aside, the principle of caveat emptor applies - buyer beware. The buyer is not protected by any sale of goods act type legislation

As others have said, he will lose at court.

DUTR

What if the buyer decided to not use the courts and take matters into his own hands and arrange for the seller's windows to be put through or something?
A few uneasy evenings perhaps?
OP did you know about the 'fault' ? As others have said though, sold as seen, unless you are a trader , trading from home.

LeroyBoyce

I knew nothing of any faults.

The car was SORNd for 2 months prior to sale, but I made all that perfectly clear.

I gave him all the service information and he made a first visit to thoroughly look over the car, then returned to buy.

He drove it.

I told him it might benefit from the battery being replaced before the winter.

Since buying the car, he told me he has serviced it, then this light came on, that has subsequently cost him £900 to put right.

He told me he will be round tomorrow to collect some money, which I then told him I'm not prepared to pay him.

He then got angry, so I asked him to not contact me any more (20 missed calls on my phone - I'm a teacher, so couldn't answer during the say).

He then said he'd be taking me to court.

It is making us all a little uneasy, especially as we have a little boy, and one on the way...

LeroyBoyce

Oh, and there was no light on when he drove the car away?

How am I not to know he has a mate at the local garage who has conjured up a huge bill, with the intention me getting me to give him money?

DUTR

LeroyBoyce wrote: »

I knew nothing of any faults.

The car was SORNd for 2 months prior to sale, but I made all that perfectly clear.

I gave him all the service information and he made a first visit to thoroughly look over the car, then returned to buy.

He drove it.

I told him it might benefit from the battery being replaced before the winter.

Since buying the car, he told me he has serviced it, then this light came on, that has subsequently cost him £900 to put right.

He told me he will be round tomorrow to collect some money, which I then told him I'm not prepared to pay him.

He then got angry, so I asked him to not contact me any more (20 missed calls on my phone - I'm a teacher, so couldn't answer during the say).

He then said he'd be taking me to court.

It is making us all a little uneasy, especially as we have a little boy, and one on the way...

What is worrying, is you keep mentioning 'this light' there are many lights in the car which indicate various things, it does seem odd from the buyers side that the fault cost £900 to fix yet he only wants £200 recourse.
Anyways what is the light reffering to?

LeroyBoyce

Some engine management light, or something, but the car was absolutely fine when he drove it away.

He said a sensor needed replacing, and this was masking another fault that meant that sensor needed replacing, costing £900.

He claims the garage told him it has been faulty for ages, so I must have known about it?!

I can only assume he was suggesting the £200 as a "good will" gesture?

JQ.

The buyer has no right to any money off you, and it sounds like they are trying to bully you into handing over some cash.

Personally I'd put a call into the police non-emergency number to report the person for harassment, so that if they do turn up at your house the police already have a log of the issue. I'd then send the buyer a text telling them you've informed the police of their threats, that they are not welcome at your house and if they contact you again you will call the police again and press them to take action over their harassment of you. I'd then completely ignore them.

DUTR

LeroyBoyce wrote: »

Some engine management light, or something, but the car was absolutely fine when he drove it away.

He said a sensor needed replacing, and this was masking another fault that meant that sensor needed replacing, costing £900.

He claims the garage told him it has been faulty for ages, so I must have known about it?!

I can only assume he was suggesting the £200 as a "good will" gesture?

What car are we talking about?
If the car has not been driven for a while, then it would not surprise me that the gas sensor light would illuminate, though after a good run it should distinguish again.

LeroyBoyce

It is a Subaru Impreza, and he has been taking it to a main dealership.

I've just spoken to him again (and recorded the phone call).

He tells me that they HAVEN'T charged him £900, they told him it will be £900 to fix. They have just charged him £70.

He told me the car worked fine all the way home. The next morning it was playing up.

It is now impossible/dangerous to drive.

He wants to drop it back here and demand his money back.

He also admitted he has given it a complete service, and told me all the parts he replaced.

I do sympathise with the poor chap, but all I know is the car worked perfectly for two years while we owned it.