Sold my 12yr old car privately. Buyer wants a refund. Any advice please?

patman99

Not neccessarily. The op might have changed the battery becuase they had it checked and the mechanic told them it was at the end of it's life.

s_b

patman99 wrote: »

Not neccessarily. The op might have changed the battery becuase they had it checked and the mechanic told them it was at the end of it's life.

the first thing people assume isits a battery issue so go that route often removing a perfectly good battery with an inferior one
or they take it somewhere where frankly the guy doing the diagnosis has less knowlege than the customer but also advises goes for a battery first
see it quite often im afraid

Terry98

s_b wrote: »

the first thing people assume isits a battery issue so go that route often removing a perfectly good battery with an inferior one

Any tips?

I have been caught out twice with battery problems. Both times the car would suddenly not start and both times a new battery was needed.

BeenThroughItAll

Terry98 wrote: »

Any tips?

I have been caught out twice with battery problems. Both times the car would suddenly not start and both times a new battery was needed.

And there is every likelihood that, in those two cases, the old battery was !!!!ed.

Hintza

arcon5 wrote: »

Sounds like op knows more than he/she's making out

Absolutely, the buyer encounters the exact problem the OP encountered before selling the car. That is no coincidence the only question then is how much did the OP know?

arcon5

Also anybody got a link to the thread where the op declared a fault and subsequently lost in the county court...?
This whole caveat emptor response isn't as clear cut anymore.

prowla

It is entirely possible that a battery needed replacing.

The last time it happened to me I had dropped off my son to school (about 10 miles) and then the car wouldn't start; the AA man came and checked it out and found it wasn't holding its charge - I bought a new one off him (I was OK paying a bit more to have it there and then) and I never had another problem with it.

However, if it is a new battery and it isn't charging, then that probably implies an alternator issue; that would likely show up in days, so putting a new on in to dupe a buyer would likely need some precise timing.

Assuming that there was no such deception (and probably even if there was), the buyer inspected the vehicle and accepted it, so they've no comeback.

vikingaero

arcon5 wrote: »

Also anybody got a link to the thread where the op declared a fault and subsequently lost in the county court...?
This whole caveat emptor response isn't as clear cut anymore.

There's been a few notable threads such as the motorhome one where people trotted out caveat emptor/private sale/sold as seen and the seller "lost" in court.

But I've seen a few threads on other motoring sites where the tide seems to be turning and more judges are scrutinising claimants and not allowing them the Tesco/Amazon returns/refunds they expect.

[Deleted User]

I seriously doubt they will have a leg to stand on if they take you to court.

How would they be able to prove there were problems with the car that a: you knew about, and b: didn't tell them about?

Is there anything in the service history you gave with the car that reports a problem, which you haven't fixed, and didn't mention to them?

Even then, surely it would be the buyers responsibility to read the service history before buying it from you? Letting them read the history would be the same as telling them surely? unless you deliberately neglected to include a particular garage receipt that reported electrical problems?

Unless they can get a garage/mechanic to testify that they found the same problem with your car before you'd sold it, and had told you about it, I see no way they could win in court. Andy why would any garage or mechanic want to get involved in other peoples court action?

Sorry to hear about this, it's unfortunate for the buyer, but it's the risk they take.

Le_Kirk

arcon5 wrote: »

anybody got a link to the thread where the op declared a fault and subsequently lost in the county court...?
This whole caveat emptor response isn't as clear cut anymore.

Try this one: -
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5185951