sold car buyer wants money for repairs

eoj93 · 9 May 2012 at 6:02PM

Hi
Sold a 1989 mini with full 12 month MOT via Ebay. Buyer looked all around and under the car and took it for a test drive and was happy with the condition of the car and that it was in full working order. They happily paid for the vehicle and drove off.
An hour and half later we got a call from them saying they had got ten miles down the road and had broken down, they wanted to get the AA to tow it back to us for a full refund. I replied no as it was their car and was in full working order before it left us. I asked then to call us when the AA got to them to see what the outcome was.
I never received the call so thought everything was ok.
Two days later i recieved this email:
We do not wish this matter to be unreasonable and we are hoping that you will help us resolve the problem. The AA were unable to fix the car and so we had to pay £107 to have it towed all the back to Malvern. The AA engineer informed us that the ignition and the starter motor cannot be fixed, therefore the car is now undrivable. We hope that you consider it reasonable to contribute £300 towards the recovery and repairs. As your husband pointed out, we did buy the mini in "good faith" and as such we hope you find our request in good faith. I would be most grateful if you could respond - text phone or e-mail is fine. If you agree please send a cheque to my home address (i can give it to you if you don't already have it)If the matter can be resolved I would be happy to give you +feedback as I always have to everyone else I have ever dealt with and have always received the same. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you can understand the situation from our position
How do we respond as we feel threatened and their attempts of extortion, the car was driven daily by myself there was no such issues to what they claim, car was advertised truthfully and accurately,they also checked it thoroughly and test drove it before purchase, and it was started up several times while on the drive with no concerns.
Can someone please advise us what to do

s_b · 9 May 2012 at 6:07PM

its a try on on your good nature
i bet you were really decent to them when they came to see you
ignore them
seems a common ploy these days

Sgt_Pepper_2 · 9 May 2012 at 6:07PM

Tell them to do one and report them to eBay for feedback extortion so you won't get a neg from them.

mikey72 · 9 May 2012 at 6:08PM

Should have refunded. It depends on whether or not they want to go to court, and whether the judge decides the car is roadworthy. 10 miles isn't a long way.

pendulum · 9 May 2012 at 6:10PM

mikey72 wrote: »

Should have refunded. It depends on whether or not they want to go to court, and whether the judge decides the car is roadworthy. 10 miles isn't a long way.

You really are a mug aren't you.

mikey72 · 9 May 2012 at 6:11PM

pendulum wrote: »

You really are a mug aren't you.

I thought we kept you on here for that job?

pendulum · 9 May 2012 at 6:14PM

I'd reply firmly but politely, along the lines of "Sorry to hear the vehicle did not make it home however the vehicle registered in 1989 is a classic and unfortunately things can go wrong at any time with such old vehicles. I can confirm there were no symptoms or problems before the sale as proven by your successful test drive and inspection, so unfortunately I cannot help with the future maintenance/repairs to the vehicle once it became yours, and this is my final decision on the matter, but I hope once you get this fixed she'll be as good a car to you as she was to me, All the best..."

I'd then probably ignore any further messages, and just take a feedback hit if they choose to leave one.

charlie3090 · 9 May 2012 at 6:16PM

have they provided you with any evidence of this?,an aa report that you could check out,it does seem odd that it happened so suddenly,
im not saying that it is not true but there is so many scams these days it has to be a possibility.

maninthestreet · 9 May 2012 at 6:28PM

The car is not going to break down whilst actually driving as a result of a failed starter motor. As for the ignition being 'unrepairable' - exactly what part of the ignition system is 'unrepairable' - the coil or the distributor? Neither is that costly to replace on a mini.