Sold as seen buyer wants to return

Spudserella

Hi there, I sold a car to someone I know from school. The car had a valid MOT and was all in working order.
I had a contract drawn up saying sold as seen for £X to be paid in instalments of £Y per week (as the buyer was strapped for cash) with a deposit of £Z. Both parties signed and the car was driven away. The v5 was sent off and the car is in the buyers name now.
The first two payments were made and then the third was missed. I've now had some messages from the buyer saying that the car broke down and that the recovery person told them that the head gasket has gone. The head gasket was not an advisory and I had the car checked over before putting up for sale and was told it was all fine. It's been 4 weeks since the car was sold. The buyer is now saying they'll bring it back and I can deal with it but obviously I don't want that. It was sold to them in working order.
How do I ensure that I get the outstanding money from them? I don't want to have to take them to court. Help?!

shaun_from_Africa

Court may well be the only way to get your money (providing that they actually have funds available).
Even without the "sold as seen" statement, if the head gasket was on the way out then the buyer should have noticed something in the past 4 weeks and for all you know, they may have been thrashing it since the day they drove it away.

Goods sold privately don't have to be fit for purpose or durable, all they are required to be is as described and as the car was okay for the past 4 weeks, it's more than likely that this was the case.

agrinnall

As far as I'm aware head gasket isn't something that could ever be listed as an advisory, so the fact that it's not mentioned on the MoT certificate is irrelevant. I'd suggest that you write a Letter Before Action (google it) to the buyer stating that the car was in working order when it was sold and you expect payments to be resumed (you might want to consider requiring full payment now to prevent future problems) or you will be forced to take court action.

George_Michael

agrinnall wrote: »

As far as I'm aware head gasket isn't something that could ever be listed as an advisory, so the fact that it's not mentioned on the MoT certificate is irrelevant.

There is nothing to stop the tester from adding it as an advisory if they noticed that the head gasket appeared to be failing.
Even though the engine itself isn't a testable item, this doesn't mean advisories can't still be given.

steampowered

I don't want to have to take them to court

You shouldn't be worried or scared of going to court. Issuing a county court claim for amounts below £10k is actually a surprisingly simple and easy process.

Simply write a 'letter before action' giving him 14 days to pay, and then issue a claim through the moneyclaimonline system.

As others have advised, there is no requirement for the car to be 'satisfactory quality' for private sales. Private sales are done on a 'sold as seen' unless agreed otherwise or unless you wrongly describe the item.

Spudserella

Thanks people. They've gone very quiet so I'll look into the letter before action tomorrow and hopefully it'll get me my money.
Also they've threatened to bring the car back, it's now in their name so if they do so can I contact the police and have it reported as abandoned? I don't want a broken car sat on my drive.
I don't actually know if the head gasket is what's happened to the car. The buyer has no car knowledge at all and is going on what they've been told by people who've not even looked at the car properly. Either way I don't want it dumped here.

macman

Why on earth did you agree to payment by instalments for a secondhand car, from someone you didn't know? It could be that they never intended to complete the payments.
Had you taken full payment, you could quite rightly have told them that the car was sold as seen and that they have no legal comeback whatsoever, as long as you did not mis-represent the condition of the vehicle.
That is still the case, but now you will have to pursue the outstanding payments through the courts, with no guarantee of recovery even if you win.
Remind them of their legal position and start with an LBA giving them 14 days to pay. Presumably your agreement stated that, should the payments be late, or cease, then the full debt becomes due immediately?

shaun_from_Africa

macman wrote: »

Why on earth did you agree to payment by instalments for a secondhand car, from someone you didn't know?

The did know them:

Spudserella wrote: »

Hi there, I sold a car to someone I know from school.

Sam_Fallow

If they are local to you, check and see if the car is still being used.

m0bov

Could have been ragged for all we know. Def send a LBA, but don't reply to texts or anything. Did they test drive it?

Spudserella

I told them to test drive it and have a good look around it but they didn't want to. I didn't want any comeback like this hence why I drew up a contract to ensure I had something legal in case they claimed it was broken or did not pay.
They claim that it is irreparable and won't even start, from what I understand they haven't had it looked at by a professional and are just going off what they've been told by their teenage boys and the recovery truck driver.