Bought a car (private); broke down same day after <30miles... HELP!!

forgotmyname

When it broken down the RAC probably said it was the pump or filter. Previous owner changed them and it may have been all good until you broke down. Or it could have been you were unlucky.

I sold a car and within a month the gearbox failed. Neighbour kept asking if i wanted to sell it and had just been away in the car and covered over 1000 miles in 2 weeks.
When i came back another car came up for sale and i sold it to him as all good.

Nobody could have forseen the gearbox failing it was all good and i had fitted a new clutch the year before, and yes i had topped up the gearbox oil.

Proving they knew will be difficult, they could say yes it failed in Jan and they fixed it with no problems since. And none on your test drive.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

"Mechanically tip-top" means nothing. That's just puffery.

I would argue that in fact they told you the fuel pump had been bought from ebay (used?) and fitted by an amateur, that is, themselves. You still chose to buy it. Why are you even surprised that the fuel pump had issues?

SurfDJ

forgotmyname wrote: »

Proving they knew will be difficult, they could say yes it failed in Jan and they fixed it with no problems since. And none on your test drive.

Thanks. I'd like to know if I even need to prove whether they were cognant of the fault, and if not what bearing does that have on whether the advert is deemed to have 'misrepresented' the vehicle (by the use of the terms 'mechanically tip-top' and 'drives faultlessly)'.

SurfDJ

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

"Mechanically tip-top" means nothing. That's just puffery.

I would argue that in fact they told you the fuel pump had been bought from ebay (used?) and fitted by an amateur, that is, themselves. You still chose to buy it. Why are you even surprised that the fuel pump had issues?

Thanks for your input.

I only found out the pump might be a used part (and fitter by the seller) after the fault developed. To my knowledge the fuel pump was not an issue; by reasoning that it has recently been replaced. So yes, surprised indeed.

'Tip-top' is in the English vernacular...
tip-top
adjective UK ​ /ˈtɪp.tɒp/ US ​ /ˈtɪp.tɑːp/ mainly uk informal
excellent; perfect:
Of the very best class or quality; excellent

Although 'drives faultlessly' is probably a little less ambiguous.

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Does anyone know of any related threads where a court judgement was needed? Be interesting to know how other situations have played out. Thanks.

arcon5

Doesn't sound like the seller knew to me.
He broke down 5 months ago after which he replaced a couple parts and it started working again. He used sparingly for nearly half a year and even let you test drive it without any issues.
Nothing conclusive here he mislead.
Your case is not risk free. A gamble at best.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

SurfDJ wrote: »

Thanks for your input.

I only found out the pump might be a used part (and fitter by the seller) after the fault developed. To my knowledge the fuel pump was not an issue; by reasoning that it has recently been replaced. So yes, surprised indeed.

'Tip-top' is in the English vernacular...
tip-top
adjective UK ​ /ˈtɪp.tɒp/ US ​ /ˈtɪp.tɑːp/ mainly uk informal
excellent; perfect:
Of the very best class or quality; excellent

Although 'drives faultlessly' is probably a little less ambiguous.

----

Does anyone know of any related threads where a court judgement was needed? Be interesting to know how other situations have played out. Thanks.

I know what tip-top means. It's like saying "excellent condition". It has no legal meaning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery

"In law, puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no "reasonable person" would take literally"

You said in your first post
"The seller mentions in the advert that they have replaced the fuel filter and pump recently, they have receipts for the parts but did the work themselves. " I presume you mean that only the fact that it was replaced was in the advert and they told you the rest later?

lincroft1710

Bearing in mind if this has to go to a hearing, you would be talking weeks if not months, are you happy to be without a car for this length of time. Given the price you paid is it worth considering getting the fuel pump replaced and asking the vendor if he would contribute say 50%.

SurfDJ

arcon5 wrote: »

Doesn't sound like the seller knew to me.
...
Nothing conclusive here he mislead.
Your case is not risk free. A gamble at best.

Hi, Thanks for your input. My contention is that the vehicle was misrepresented, not that the seller misled me.

After doing some intense googling I found this... http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Misrepresentation.php which details some cases of misrepresentation. It seems there is such a thing as 'Innocent Misrepresentation' whereby even if the seller was unaware they were misrepresenting the goods it is still possible to null and void the contract.

SurfDJ

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

I know what tip-top means. It's like saying "excellent condition". It has no legal meaning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery

"In law, puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no "reasonable person" would take literally"

You said in your first post
"The seller mentions in the advert that they have replaced the fuel filter and pump recently, they have receipts for the parts but did the work themselves. " I presume you mean that only the fact that it was replaced was in the advert and they told you the rest later?

Hi, Thanks! I learnt a new term today, 'puffery'!. Even if the term 'tip-top' is deemed puffery, would the statement 'drives faultlessly' not be deemed as objective rather than subjective? Genuine question.

And yes, the advert states the fuel filter and pump were replaced but not that it was a second hand/used pump or that the seller did the work themselves. As mentioned, this led me to think that any prior issues involving these parts would have been rectified by their replacement (as well as the 'drives faultlessly' statement).

lincroft1710

Replacement is replacement. You inferred that the parts were new and fitted by a garage. "Drives faultlessly" is subjective, you test drove the car, did it "drive faultlessly"? If it didn't, then why did you buy it?