Unhappy Car Sale - Interesting Update

tesuhoha

in_the_Cotswolds wrote: »

Did you put in the ad "to be towed or trailered away"?

To be honest no. It was advertised for spares or repair. It was also pointed out in bold that the car had no MOT. I am afraid that we did not realise that we had to be that specific. We assumed that the buyer would know that without an MOT they should not drive it.

He has just texted that he will arrange for the car to be towed. It seems a long way, 300 miles on 3 different motorways. We have replied that if we think he is going to drive it we will not sell it to him even if he has travelled 300 miles to collect it.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

he cant tow, tow =a proppelled vehicled "driven" (being the key word) means a fine if he tows it 300 miles home.

tesuhoha

JQ. wrote: »

Use this :

http://www.whatcar.com/images/subscription/usedcarreceipt.pdf

and as stated above make sure you note the time and make sure there are 2 signed copies, one for you and one him.

Once he's paid and you've signed over the V5 the car belongs to him and if he get's caught it is totally his responsibilty.

Thank you. Just noticed this.

So, its illegal to tow a car without an MOT?

tesuhoha

I've just read on another site that its okay to tow a vehicle if its insured and booked in for an MOT. Well, it is booked in for an MOT but 300 miles away?

Joe_Horner

Depends how he plans to tow it.

If he's thinking rope and a "driver" in your car then he'll never make it without being stopped, especially if he uses motorways - as soon as he's seen on the motorway they'll pull him. A ar must be MOT'd to tow this way and rope tows on motorways are a no-no anyway.

Not sure if that would count as it being "driven" as far as RTA S.75 is concerned but I suspect not. Towing regs are enough of a grey area (even traffic police have problems with them at times) that you could honestly say that seeing him tying it onto another car was "reasonable" grounds for you to think he wasn't "driving" it.

If he's planning an A frame or dolly (no driver required in the towed vehicle) then that's fine from your point of view but he may have problems himself if spotted. Technically normal (unbraked) A frames and dollies are only allowed as an emergency measure to get to a place of safety - to tow any distance you need to have a frame or dolly that operates all 4 brakes on the towed vehicle. AFAIK the towed vehicle should also be MOTd on an A frame (unless fully braking, in which case the car becomes a trailer and they don't have MOTs) but lots of people use them every da without a problem.

If he's thinking towing on a trailer then no problem at all for you, and none for him as long as he has suitable licence groups and an appropriate trailer / tow car (none of which is your concern)

tesuhoha

I think we need to advise him that he will most likely be stopped if he doesn't use the correct type of trailer. I am not sure if he will listen as he seems quite headstrong.

cb1979

Also you can only drive to a Mot station within a reasonable distance from your home, no policeman would consider 300 miles to be a reasonable distance

pinkteapot

OP, most important thing as already mentioned. DO NOT give him the whole V5!!

Only give him the tear off slip for the new owner.

You post the rest to the DVLA and then he receives his new V5 in a couple of weeks.

1d2a3d4d5i6o

hi how about this for a solution make the car undrivable. remove or disconnect an ignition part. if he doesnt take car then it can easily repaired! just an idea :beer:

NeverEnough

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It doesn't matter.

The way the law is worded it's an offence to sell an unroadworthy car (as a private or trade sale) unless you have good reason to believe they won't drive it

The offence is committed at the time you sell it, not when they drive away. In fact, you technically commit the offence even if they don't drive it if you think they might.

In this case the OP has good reason to believe the buyer intends to drive it, so he would be committing an offence if he sells it. Whether or not the police would care is a different matter which I honestly don't know the answer to.

Note that "unroadworthy" as far as the Act is concerned doesn't necessarily mean "without an MOT" because a car without an MOT can still be roadworthy.

But if there are defects - especially with brakes, tyres and steering - that would prevent it passing an MOT then the Op should be aware of the (possibly slight) risk.

If nothing else, it gives him a reason that EBay can't fault* to refuse the sale if he had other close bidders and doesn't want to be messed around by this guy.


* they can't insist that he honours a sale if doing so would require him to break the law because of the buyer's actions!




eta: just seen the OP's reply. Message EBay to let them know the situation. If he insists that you go ahead and turns up with a trailer then you'll still be bound by the auction but, if he doesn't come prepared to tow it, then you shouldn't get any comeback from EBay for it.

That's all just your interpretation and not necessarily what a Court would find, as it certainly is not as simplistic as you make it out to be but the OP is obviously scared witless by random postings on a forum rather than taking proper legal advice and will proceed as they wish to do, as is their right.