HELP! private car sale wants refund

Fepearson

VPrivate buyer wants money back &
I need some advice. I sold 1985 Bedford TK Horsebox, the buyer opted not to view it, despite me saying that he should & that it was available for viewings, nor did he get it mechanically checked by anyone - he's got his own automatic company in Berkshire. I took it out last Friday & did about 10 miles, just to tick it over. It drove beautifully. He'd paid someone to pick it up today at 2pm, knowing that I was leaving at 2:45 & would not be back till late. He paid the full amount in bank transfer today. The driver was running 2 hours late, so the buyer said to leave the keys & paperwork in the truck & he was happy for the driver to collect it in my absence. Then I received a message from him whilst I was away from home, saying it keeps cutting out in second gear, the heating doesn't work & it won't drive faster than 50mph. It's NEVER cut out in second with me, ever. Don't think I've ever tried the heater on it if I'm honest - though he never specifically asked about the heater, so I have not mislead him about this & when I took it out on Friday, it did 65mph easily, I know because I had to slow down. He's demanding a refund. I signed a receipt saying the vehicle was sold with the buyer choosing not to view it & had left it in the box with the rest of the paperwork.

I gave him lots of opportunities to view it, but he opted not to. I honestly & genuinely sold it in good faith & I had never experienced the problems that he's reporting. I'm not a mechanic, I'm a private seller, I told him its mot'd till next July & that it runs great - to me it does, always has done.

I've returned home to find the Horsebox back on my drive & he's demanding a full refund. I've checked the mileage & it's done about 10 miles since I left it.

I'd already posted the DVLA documentation before he contacted me saying he wanted a refund.

Please can you advise me as to where I stand with this.

TIA

curty510

tricky one! But as its a private sale, you don't have to give him warranty/refund. He can take you to court if he can prove you were aware the horsebox had these faults. The fact that he didn't inspect/test/view the vehicle leaves him up a creek tbh. He may be prepared to go to court to get a refund, that's his only option really. So keep as much evidence as you can, ie with him saying he doesn't want to view or inspect it.

AdrianC

Fepearson wrote: »

VPrivate buyer wants money back &
I need some advice. I sold 1985 Bedford TK Horsebox, the buyer opted not to view it, despite me saying that he should & that it was available for viewings, nor did he get it mechanically checked by anyone - he's got his own automatic company in Berkshire. I took it out last Friday & did about 10 miles, just to tick it over. It drove beautifully. He'd paid someone to pick it up today at 2pm, knowing that I was leaving at 2:45 & would not be back till late. He paid the full amount in bank transfer today. The driver was running 2 hours late, so the buyer said to leave the keys & paperwork in the truck & he was happy for the driver to collect it in my absence. Then I received a message from him whilst I was away from home, saying it keeps cutting out in second gear, the heating doesn't work & it won't drive faster than 50mph. It's NEVER cut out in second with me, ever. Don't think I've ever tried the heater on it if I'm honest - though he never specifically asked about the heater, so I have not mislead him about this & when I took it out on Friday, it did 65mph easily, I know because I had to slow down. He's demanding a refund. I signed a receipt saying the vehicle was sold with the buyer choosing not to view it & had left it in the box with the rest of the paperwork.

I gave him lots of opportunities to view it, but he opted not to. I honestly & genuinely sold it in good faith & I had never experienced the problems that he's reporting. I'm not a mechanic, I'm a private seller, I told him its mot'd till next July & that it runs great - to me it does, always has done.

I've returned home to find the Horsebox back on my drive & he's demanding a full refund. I've checked the mileage & it's done about 10 miles since I left it.

I'd already posted the DVLA documentation before he contacted me saying he wanted a refund.

Please can you advise me as to where I stand with this.

What did your advert say - EXACT wording - and what did you state IN WRITING about the mechanical condition of it?

As a private purchase, it is 100% buyer beware - UNLESS the vendor makes any specific claims which turn out not to be true.

If you don't refund him, then he would need to take you to court (small claim if <£10k), and win, in order to get his money back. He can say that you made any verbal promises he liked - and you can of course deny them. If he has anything in writing, then it will be given much more credibility.

The fact he's a professional mechanic and you aren't will not help his case one bit.

In the meantime, I'd suggest you ask him nicely to move his rather large vehicle off your land...

Le_Kirk

You have double posted! Can you delete one of them, you will divide opinion and advice.

Herzlos

Can you get an independent mechanic to confirm his claim and see if any parts have been swapped over?

As he's in the trade, and the supposed expert here, who declined to view or check it out, it's very much buyer beware.

How you want to deal with someone elses vehicle on your drive is up to you; do you still have keys and is there anywhere better you can store it?

AdrianC

Herzlos wrote: »

Can you get an independent mechanic to confirm his claim and see if any parts have been swapped over?

Why on earth would you pay somebody to work on his truck for him?

Stoke

I would just say "thanks but nah". At the end of the day, as Adrian said, it's buyer beware in this scenario. I could buy a car from a guy tomorrow and if the cambelt snaps on the way home, I have literally no rights..... that's the benefit of going to a dealer.

The benefit of going private, is you save money and hopefully don't get a snapped cambelt. To be honest, an experienced car dealer should know to bloody go a check and car anyway...... regardless of the description on eBay or Gumtree.

AdrianC

Stoke wrote: »

I would just say "thanks but nah". At the end of the day, as Adrian said, it's buyer beware in this scenario. I could buy a car from a guy tomorrow and if the cambelt snaps on the way home, I have literally no rights..... that's the benefit of going to a dealer.

Where, for a 30yo vehicle, you pay a premium and get virtually no rights...

Stoke

AdrianC wrote: »

Where, for a 30yo vehicle, you pay a premium and get virtually no rights...

For me the buyer was a buffoon for not turning up and inspecting the vehicle himself. I would never personally buy a car without seeing it unless I was paying less than £200 and even that is at a push.

Herzlos

AdrianC wrote: »

Why on earth would you pay somebody to work on his truck for him?

Not do any work, just to provide a report that could be used if it ever went to small claims, that the faults he reported don't actually exist. Potentially, any evidence that parts have been swapped out would result in a police report about a scam from the dealer, and put the whole thing to bed as well.

So basically covering bases, rather than helping out this buyer.

AdrianC

Herzlos wrote: »

Not do any work, just to provide a report that could be used if it ever went to small claims

And that report will involve work.

that the faults he reported don't actually exist.

It's not down to the OP to prove anything. It's down to the buyer to prove that he was actively lied to.