Sold as Seen ?

stueybuk

Hi,
I have recently bought a car off somebody I know through work. I have agreed to pay for the car over 3 installments and have paid the first one. I have a receipt that says "Sold ad Seen". He assured me that the car was well looked after. Having had it for 3 weeks I decided to take it for a service and I have just had a phone call from the garage saying that the Head Gasket has gone and it is beyond economical repair.
Not sure where to go from here and what rights I have.
Any advice appreciated.

Stuart

stueybuk

Just to add, the garage have said that someone has put sealant in the cooling system to try and hide the issue.

bris

Unless you cam prove he lied to you then with a private sale its "Caveat emptor" (sold as seen).


If it truly is a private sale then you are on your own, the time to do the due diligence is before the sale not after.


Funny how there has been no problems until you took it for a service, which means it must have been running fine, so it's entirely possible the seller didn't know.

pinkshoes

How long did the previous owner have it for?

Are they particularly car savvy? Do you know which garage they used to service it?

Can the garage say WHEN the sealant was put in?

How many miles have you driven in the three weeks?

m0bov

During a service they dont normally check for gasket issues. How did they discover this? I think there is more to this...

stueybuk

I have done approx 250 miles in the 3 weeks I have had the car, I took it in for a service as the engine was stuttering when applying the accelerator.

stueybuk

The previous owner has had it for about 6 years and have said that it was regularly serviced.

davidwood123

Keep paying them what you owe.

Don't think because a fault has occurred that you can suddenly stop paying

macman

With a private sale, you have very few rights, as long as the vehicle was road-legal. But the fact that you have only paid for a third of it does put you in a much stronger negotiating position in reality..
But give us some context: make, model, year, mileage and price agreed?

pinkshoes

stueybuk wrote: »

The previous owner has had it for about 6 years and have said that it was regularly serviced.

In which case they must have known about the problems...

Proving it will be hard though. I would start asking some questions about which garage serviced if etc...

My DH bought a motorbike, and the engine blew within 2 trips! The previous owner must have know something was amiss, but as we couldn't prove it, there was nothing that could be done unfortunately.

LilElvis

pinkshoes wrote: »

In which case they must have known about the problems....

Would someone who knew the car had a major fault which would soon become apparent a) sell it to someone they know and b) accept payment in instalments? I would expect them to sell to a stranger with cash on collection.