Moral and Legal dilemma - caravan

Popcorn!

My mum had an old second hand caravan for a couple of years but only used it a couple of times so decided to sell it. We put in in the front driveway with a notice saying it was for sale. Afew days later we sold it for cash (£300) to a man who then towed it away.

A little while later we had a phonecall from him to say one of the wheels had fallen off as he was driving along the road, and he would have to get it taken away by the RAC. He said he was a member but they don't cover caravans so it would cost £200, and he wants my mum to pay it.

I looked online to try and find out if we are liable to pay him or not. All I could find was information on private sales of second hand cars, and the rules for this are apparently that you must not make untrue claims about the vehicle. but you are not liable if the car is not in good condition or anything goes wrong with it as a dealer would be. We didn't make any claims like this - we said we only used it a couple of times and had never had it serviced. How were we to know anything would be wrong with it?

So this seems to suggest we aren't liable, although we can't prove we didn't claim the caravan was in good condition.

My mum is thinking about paying because she feels guilty (although I think it isn't her fault).

We don't know what to do, does anyone have any advice? It would be much appreciated!

custardy

no legal requirement.it was a private sale and sold as seen.
he came and saw it
was happy to pay the price and drive it away.
unfortunatly for the buyer it his resposibility to make sure the vehicle is safe and roadworthy to take on the road

LittleVoice

And would he produce a bill from a reputable garage regarding towing it anywhere on the day in question? (And £200 seems a bit steep to me, given that he must have been fairly local to you to have seen the for sale notice.)

Noah'strolly

sounds suspicious to me.

Wyndham

At the point he got the keys and you got the money, it became his I think. I wouldn't pay. £300 for a caravan is very cheap, so there is an argument for saying 'what did he expect?'

So long as you didn't misrepresent it, it not your fault. He knew you hadn't had it checked, and he didn't get it checked either.

Russ66

Caveat emptor

He's got a bloody cheek phoning back:mad:

tallyhoh

So if you pay he gets a caravan for £100?? I doubt the story of the wheel. If your mum persists, turn up at the blokes house unexpected and ask to see the new wheel and which garage did he use??

I think its a load of cobblers - show your mum this.

digp

tell him to do one

Coupon-mad

I agree with everyone else on here, tell your poor Mum to forget about it, this man is most likely pulling a fast one to get back £200 from someone that he's decided is a pushover.

If he's not pulling a fast one, it's still tough I am afraid, the seller is simply not liable at all. If he had posted his dilemma on here and we believed him, he would still have received replies like 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware).

Either way, he doesn't have a leg to stand on (or a wheel!).

david29dpo

All the above is true. You are not liable in law but it sounds like your mum as a moral issue with this. Been there,done that but you may have a nice brick through your window.

Biggles

david29dpo wrote: »

Been there, done that but you may have a nice brick through your window.

Don't be ridiculous, of course she won't, poor Popcorn's worried enough without trying to scare her like that.

Popcorn, tell your Mum the guy's trying it on and just to forget it. If he gives her any more hassle after that, inform the police he's harrassing her.