used car I sold claimed unroadworthy

kcheetx6

Hi, been reading all these posts, you all seem to be making claims either true or false and even I am getting confused. The buyer should have done his homework before buying and should have inspected the vehicle beforehand. I have in the past bought bad cars but have never gone back to the seller to claim back my money as I haven't done my research first. Only piece of advice I can give is to seek legal advice or try to contact Mr Moneysavingexpert himself. He should be able to give you the correct legal standing as to sales of goods act. hope you get this sorted soon

ghostfinder

You got £800 for a Ford Ka?


you should be in sales - your a natural

Kiran

kcheetx6 wrote: »

Hi, been reading all these posts, you all seem to be making claims either true or false and even I am getting confused. The buyer should have done his homework before buying and should have inspected the vehicle beforehand. I have in the past bought bad cars but have never gone back to the seller to claim back my money as I haven't done my research first. Only piece of advice I can give is to seek legal advice or try to contact Mr Moneysavingexpert himself. He should be able to give you the correct legal standing as to sales of goods act. hope you get this sorted soon

There's no need to seek legal advice, the seller has nothing to worry about unless she mis represented the car and the buyer can prove it.

Joe_Horner

All those relying on the sale of goods act and the fact this was a private sale should be careful in what they advise.

As already pointed out, selling (or offering for sale) an unroadworthy car is a criminal offence under the Road Traffic Act, which has nothing at all to do with sale of goods. There is no defence of "I didn't know" against that offence.

It would appear that the buyer in this case is well aware of that seeing as he's specifically raised the matter of roadworthiness in his complaint. He may or may not be able to cancel the contract on the basis of that, but he can certainly give the OP a lot of grief and (if they could find anyone to take the case up) potentially a criminal record.

Far more pertinent than the Sale odf Goods Act is the question of "what is unroadworthy?" in regards to the RTA. Section 75 defines it as a vehicle who's use would be unlawful under regulations concerning:

(i)brakes, steering gear or tyres, or
(ii)the construction, weight or equipment of vehicles,. . .

Corrosion doesn't come under any of those headings - construction concerns the design and method of construction, not the structural condition.

Condition is dealt with by s.75(3)(b) which says it's unroadworthy if:

"it is in such a condition that its use on a road would involve a danger of injury to any person"

Corrosion that would fail an MOT doesn't necessarily fall into that either. Unless it was so bad that the tester would feel the need to tick the "dangerous" box, a bit of rust is unlikely to fly as making the car unroadworthy within the meaning of the section.

But, to be on the safe side, the OP should speak to someone like CAB to help prepare a defence in case it's needed. Ignoring civil claims is one thing, but ignoring someone who could press for criminal charges against you isn't a smart move.

mattyprice4004

What about cars sold as being in an unroadworthy condition?

londonTiger

Chopper_Read wrote: »

Sold as seen should cover it. It not a get out for dishonesty.

what led you to assume that OP was dishonest based on their post?

Dishonesty would be to say the car was service just a few months ago when it's never been serviced.

99.9% of car owners would never know about rusting/corrosion under their car. This is what the MOT is for - because people just don't do DIY on their cars any more. If a MOT says the car is safe then it is safe.

The new owners have no comeback for this.

londonTiger

forgotmyname wrote: »

Its nice to buy a used car and actually make it home

How much was this car, i presume not a lot.

If they call ask them for the name of their solicitor so you can pass it onto yours. They have instructed you to only deal through them.
Your solictor will contact their solictor.

Or just say, Stop harassing me or i will call the police.

for the cost of a solicitor - the new owner can just get to corrosion fixed. Sure the winning party can get their legal fees recovered. But it's a gamble. The plaintiff would need to prove the seller was misleading the buyer and/or the corrosion is indeed dangerous and would need to pay a professional to give their verdict.

What a world we live in. How much is the car valued btw?

londonTiger

dissenchanted wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your help! The text of the ad follows:

Super little Ford KA Luxury 1.3 in dark metallic blue

The car is 2001 and has done almost 103,000 miles

Seriously doesn't this car have a reputation for being a rust bucket.. What is it worth anyway if it was in perfect condition, something like £1000.

You'd have to be a complete idiot to be so pedantic over such a low value car and it's age. the buyer just needs to suck it up and get it repaired.

Joe_Horner

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

What about cars sold as being in an unroadworthy condition?

That's allowed within the Act. There's a startutory defence that you :

"had reasonable cause to believe that the vehicle or trailer would not be used on a road in Great Britain, or would not be so used until it had been put into a condition in which it might lawfully be so used"

So, if you're selling as unroadworthy and the buyer turns up with a trailer you're fine.

On the other hand, if they turn up for your "drives ok but spares / repair" car with no obvious way to transport it apart from driving it then you're committing an offence by going through with the sale. It is NOT "their problem once they've paid" as people often assume!


eta: well, it is their problem but it's yours as well. If they get stopped you could well find yourself being charged in that case!

londonTiger

Joe_Horner wrote: »

That's allowed within the Act. There's a startutory defence that you :

"had reasonable cause to believe that the vehicle or trailer would not be used on a road in Great Britain, or would not be so used until it had been put into a condition in which it might lawfully be so used"

So, if you're selling as unroadworthy and the buyer turns up with a trailer you're fine.

On the other hand, if they turn up for your "drives ok but spares / repair" car with no obvious way to transport it apart from driving it then you're committing an offence by going through with the sale. It is NOT "their problem once they've paid" as people often assume!


eta: well, it is their problem but it's yours as well. If they get stopped you could well find yourself being charged in that case!

what if the buyer claims it's unroadworthy and comes back to return it driving it here? Does their claim go thrown out the window?