Car purchase gone wrong

Cuilean

My friend could do with some help regarding a car purchase. She's not long had her first baby, and is in the "Sleep deprived new mum" stage, which has lead to (By her own admission) some poor judgements. There are quite a few points in here which worry me, but hopefully someone here can advise. I suspect she's been stitched up like a kipper.

My friend saw a car she liked on Autotrader. She met the guy selling it half way between their two houses, after he finished work. She didn't get his address, just a mobile phone number. She liked the car, paid, and drove it home.

The next day, the car broke down three times. She rang the seller, who said she should get it repaired enough to return it and he'd refund. She did this, and rang him to arrange collection, only to find he'd blocked her number.

He's continuing to advertise cars for sale on Autotrader.

As the days have gone on, more and more things have gone wrong with the car, to the point where she doesn't feel it's safe to drive. She's tried the CAB and Trading Standards, but without an address, they've said there's nothing she can do. She's also not in possession of the log book.

Any helpful advice would be good. She's kicking herself, and really upset, so I think she realises in hindsight how silly she's been.

Dannytyler

try and get the address through another car he is selling on auto trader?

Ebe_Scrooge

Dannytyler wrote: »

try and get the address through another car he is selling on auto trader?

This.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but one of the golden rules of car buying is "don't meet in a layby". A genuine trader will have a premises, a genuine private seller will be happy for you to go to their house. Meeting elsewhere is a red warning light straight off.

I'm not meaning to be disrespectful to your friend, but unless you can get an address then you're a bit snookered. You could perhaps ask Trading Standards if they'd be prepared to be a "fake buyer", so to speak, and phone the guy up on one of his other adverts ?

Failing that, recruit the local rugby team to phone him up, pretending to be interested in one of his cars, then "have a quiet word with him".

I'm sorry, I feel for your friend - I know that violence is not really the answer, but people like this really do need sorting out. If the "official" people are not interested then what else can one do ?

---lee---

I like Dannytyler's idea. Another is to contact the previous owner through the V5 details and find out how they disposed of the car.

Dannytyler

send me a link to one of his cars for sale and i will give him a call tomorrow? i could arrange to go and have a look at one of his motors.... hopefully he will give me his address and i will pass it on to you

Cuilean

Thank you so much to everyone who's replied. I've passed all your ideas on to my friend, and hopefully she'll be able to explore her options. Not sure if she's familiar with the local rugby team, mind you

Hoof_Hearted

How much did she pay?

Richard53

---lee--- wrote: »

Another is to contact the previous owner through the V5 details and find out how they disposed of the car.

Not possible.

Cuilean wrote: »

She's also not in possession of the log book.

arcon5

Apply to dvla for log book then or wait for it to come through