Car dealers pretending to be private sellers

mo786uk

goonarmy wrote: »

And arent these dodgy folks selling cars at the roadside also breaking the law? Round here they get stickers on off the trading standards when they can be bothered.

it is not illegal to seel cars on the road or from a house from a consumer protection point of view - there may be planning or highway laws applicabel though

as someone has said, if they are trying to claim to be private it should be enough to disocurage you to start with

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

Surely the point of eBay is that it is an auction site.

If i sell something on eBay and it is fairly described then i would expect to be paid and the buyer to hesd off never to be seen again.

I had assumed it was the same for all buyers.

As Autotrader prices are more expensive for this very reason.

I may be wrong as far as classified adverts go.

No. If you are a trade seller then you have to fulfill your auctions under the SOGA.

Linus2864

I would stay clear. As others have said, the sellers may be dealers trying to avoid their legal obligations.

It is illegal for a dealer to pose as a private seller:

CAB Link

"Sometimes dealers pose as a private seller to avoid their legal obligations and to dispose of faulty or over-priced cars. It is illegal for a car dealer to pretend to be a private seller."

Hope this helps

L

goonarmy

mo786uk wrote: »

it is not illegal to seel cars on the road or from a house from a consumer protection point of view - there may be planning or highway laws applicabel though

as someone has said, if they are trying to claim to be private it should be enough to disocurage you to start with

http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/parking_rubbish_and_streets/parking_and_vehicles/vehicles_for_sale_on_street.aspx
But it is ilegal.

Joe_Horner

bigjl wrote: »

Surely the point of eBay is that it is an auction site.

If i sell something on eBay and it is fairly described then i would expect to be paid and the buyer to hesd off never to be seen again.

I had assumed it was the same for all buyers.

As Autotrader prices are more expensive for this very reason.

I may be wrong as far as classified adverts go.

No. An auction listing isn't subject to the DSR "cooling off" period, but all oher consumer law applies if the seller's a trader. If he's trying to look like a private seller he's also committing an offence but it can be a tough one to get anyone (including EBay) to do anything about.

goonarmy wrote: »

http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/parking_rubbish_and_streets/parking_and_vehicles/vehicles_for_sale_on_street.aspx
But it is ilegal.

Only in London - comes under the London Local Authorities Act 1990 as unlicenced street trading. Other areas may have byelaws against it but it's not "automatically" illegal outside London.

colino

The bottom line is these scum are fleecing everyone. They probably have been around long enough to get trade cars but offer no back up whatsoever and have no intention of paying any dues, whether it is business rates or tax. They create a nuisance by their varied stockpile of junk being untaxed/MOT's around residential streets and for the saving of a couple of hundred pounds, by getting "a deal" off of these chancers, people are just contributing to the problem.

arcon5

bartelbe wrote: »

Now as far I understand it if I buy from a private seller it is all at my own risk. If I miss a fault on inspection, then that is my problem.

Whereas with a dealer if I find a serious fault which the dealer didn't tell me about, as a buyer I would have legal right to money back or to return the car.

Depends on the fault, the vehicles age, mileage, description, price and other factors. If you buy a 10 year old 150k mile car and the clutch goes, you can bet it's wear and tear and they are not liable. If you buy a 10k mile car then obviously the story is different.
Although whether you have a right to a repair or a refund depends on how long you've had the car and other factors.

Quite simply, if the trader is pretending to be a private seller and you want the benefits of buying from a dealer then go elsewhere as the odds are if problems did arise they would wash their hands of it anyway.

arcon5

bigjl wrote: »

Surely the point of eBay is that it is an auction site.

If i sell something on eBay and it is fairly described then i would expect to be paid and the buyer to hesd off never to be seen again.

I had assumed it was the same for all buyers.

That's a good point, SoGA doesn't apply in full to auctions. So I guess it depends how it was listed.

worried_jim

My local council is stamping down on it by placing warning stickers on the window's over every advert.
This spot has had one car for sale for years now but yesterday is looked like this-

Joe_Horner

arcon5 wrote: »

That's a good point, SoGA doesn't apply in full to auctions. So I guess it depends how it was listed.

The exemptions from SOGA for auctions arises from s.12(2) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, which states that a buyer at an auction is not to be regarded to be dealing as a consumer. But it specifically only applies to goods sold "at public auction at which individuals have the opportunity of attending the sale in person".

So EBay "auctions" aren't included in the exemptions and SOGA does apply to them