Have I bought my car from a car dealer or private seller?

sutyde

I bought a Ford focus from a man working part time for a used car dealer. He says the car is his personal car, however he is not the registered keeper of that car as showing on the V5C document. He claimed the car was a trade in from the ower. I bought the car from him and also gave my own car to him as part exchane. I have received the V5C from DVLA with my name on it.

I am wondering if this trading is a private trading. We did not sign any formal contract, only signed a piece of paper showing the trading parties and car specification and price.

The reason I asked is that the car developed an engine problem after only two weeks. I am just wondering if the seller should be responsible for it. There is no warranty mentioned in the paper we signed.

Thanks for your advice

Joe_Horner

The good news is that it's almost certainly not a private sale because (a) he's employed in the trade, (b) it wasn't "his" car that he was selling according to the log book and (c) he accepted your car as a px (in fact he also accepted the car you bought as a px from someone else!) - private sellers don't as a rule do px!

The bad news is that you'll also almost certainly have to go to court to enforce your rights and, even then, may find you don't get anything if (like a lot of these guys) they just ignore the court orders knowing that it becomes too expensive to collect or people just "run out of steam" trying to chase them.

dacouch

Sounds like he's selling the cheaper trade in's from his bosses garage

sutyde

Thanks all for your reply. The car was advertised on the motors.co.uk website, I phoned the seller and arranged viewing and test driving at his work place, ie the dealer garage. As I mentioned to him the MOT was due to expire, the seller said he will do a new MOT and deliver the car a few days later to my home. so we did the trade at my home.
I will have a garage to check the the car to see if it is expensive to fix.

lil.smartie

How did you pay?

motorguy

sutyde wrote: »

I bought a Ford focus from a man working part time for a used car dealer. He says the car is his personal car, however he is not the registered keeper of that car as showing on the V5C document. He claimed the car was a trade in from the ower. I bought the car from him and also gave my own car to him as part exchane. I have received the V5C from DVLA with my name on it.

I am wondering if this trading is a private trading. We did not sign any formal contract, only signed a piece of paper showing the trading parties and car specification and price.

The reason I asked is that the car developed an engine problem after only two weeks. I am just wondering if the seller should be responsible for it. There is no warranty mentioned in the paper we signed.

Thanks for your advice

Hes a trader. He took that car as a trade in and yours against that and gave you a receipt. Hes trying to masquerade as a private seller to have having to stand over the car. However, you have rights under the SOGA.

Ring him and ask him to resolve this problem. If he wont then it might get messy but you would be best to get Consumer Direct involved. And trading standards - they love this sort of thing.

arcon5

It hasn't developed an engine problem after 2 weeks, it's developed an engine problem after x years (depending on the age of the vehicle).

What is the problem?

I also agree with others, sounds like a dealer to me wanting to make a nice commission and avoiding the legal stuff.