Bought a lemon from private seller!

gonthemicrobe

Right so going to meet the seller tomorrow to hand over. Legally what should I do to be extra careful and keep me in the right?

I'm only giving him section 10 of the V5, which I've already explained. He's asked I sign a receipt to say I've returned it and also that I hand back my original receipt. Not keen on either of these, especially the second one which is a no-no.

For security with the money I'll get him to do a bank transfer then hand over the keys once the money is in, should only take a few minutes with Faster Payments. Anything else to be wary of?

missile

Follow the instructions on the V5 and complete as you would if selling car to him.
Why do you want to keep the receipt? If it is important to you, make a photocopy of the receipt then give him original.
I would be happy to accept cash or a BACS transfer.
Good luck :beer:

Herzlos

How did you get on?

gonthemicrobe

All sorted now, returned the car and got the full refund. The stress and £200 I spent on insurance and repairs can be a lesson learned.

Car broke down on way to return it to the trader but he came out to get it. Almost had to laugh at the whole situation, but just glad to be rid of the vehicle.

Herzlos

Good stuff. I wonder if it's back on Autotrader yet?

gonthemicrobe

I had a look out of curiosity but it's not showing anywhere. It will pop up eventually though, no doubt with a few quid extra on the price to cover the repairs that have been done.

PS the advice on here was fantastic thanks. Had it not been for the forum I wouldn't have worked out the seller was a secret trader and wouldn't have had much of a leg to stand on!

DoaM

How did he give you the refund? Cash? BACS?

In regards to an earlier post about DMF reliability ... someone I know has a Mark V Golf which has a DMF. It's still on its original clutch and currently has 170k miles on it. (He's had it from new, and he was expecting the clutch to only last 70k but it's already 100k past that).

gonthemicrobe

He offered either option but ended up going with him to the bank to withdraw cash then put it into my account. Was all fairly amicable in the end.