Private car seller misrepresented car

DoaM

marcarm wrote: »

Does the fact the seller said "NO OIL LEAKS" not make a difference?

If my seller said that, I would take it as meant that there are no oil leaks. They should not make that claim unless they were 100% certain.

The goods must correspond with the description, so a description that says no oil leaks must be accurate.

As I said, for face-face sales then the buyer has the opportunity to confirm that the goods match the description, so that requirement of a seller falls somewhat into a grey area.

However, "No oil leaks" doesn't sound like the type of thing a private seller would say, unless the model in question was known for having that issue so that statement would be a sales differentiator.

caprikid1

I hope you got the car for a good price because there won't be many bargains to be had in future.


Private buyers are expecting Trade consumer rights on private sales. Do you work for We By any car ?


If the Seller said "No Oil Leaks" then they have most likely been a bit careless in their description and exposed themselves to the sort of individual who would pursue them through court but still want to keep the car !!!!.


I still think its not as clear cut as you think and you may wish to chalk it up to experience and move on.


Out of interest how old is the car and what did you pay ? Irrelevant of what the add said if it is 15 years old with 150,000 on the clock for a £1000 I doubt a court would find in your favour.

George_Michael

caprikid1 wrote: »

Private buyers are expecting Trade consumer rights on private sales.

Then again, maybe private buyers are simply expecting sellers to be honest, truthful and correct in their description of the goods that they are selling.

tacpot12

Geodark wrote: »

what exactly do you want? Do you want the difference? it would be hard to prove they knew unless it was dripping or down as and advisory

The seller should not have included such an risky statement in their ad. You don't need to prove whether they knew it had an oil leak or not. They said the car did not any oil leaks, and they are responsible for making this statement. An innocent misrepresentation is still misrepresentation.

A Trade seller would never say "No oil leaks" because they know the risk of being caught out by such a statement. Traders say as little about cars they are selling as possible to avoid being caught misrepresenting the car.

caprikid1

George_Michael wrote: »

Then again, maybe private buyers are simply expecting sellers to be honest, truthful and correct in their description of the goods that they are selling.

Take a look at most private classified adds, most people don't know the model of car they are selling so god only knows what they know about the condition.


Private sellers are not experts or traders, hence the onus is on the buyer to confirm they are happy with the car.


Most sellers think that because they get it serviced every year by a backstreet garage its well maintained.


As I said We Buy Any car love this, it is probably the good genuine cars that will get sold to them as genuine honest sellers cannot be bothered with the grief. We Buy Any car can filter out the lemon's or pay accordingly.


Not all oil leaks are identified by spots on the drive.

George_Michael

caprikid1 wrote: »

Take a look at most private classified adds, most people don't know the model of car they are selling so god only knows what they know about the condition.

If they don't know about the condition then they shouldn't make a statement of fact such as "NO oil leaks"

caprikid1 wrote: »

Private sellers are not experts or traders, hence the onus is on the buyer to confirm they are happy with the car.

And the onus is on the seller to ensure that the car is as described, something that is true whether that seller is trade or private.

DoaM

It's a 15 year old car ...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5929272/purchased-car-from-private-seller-seeking-damages

caprikid1

So you bought a 2003 Mini Cooper which you inspected in the dark ? You now wish the Seller to fix two oil leaks because they mistakenly claimed there were none.

You then took it to a Mini main dealer to have it fully inspected. If a court rules in your favour I would be amazed. The fact that you want to keep the car says a lot about you. Ask them to take the car back and then go to a dealer and buy a new car and move on with your life.


You would struggle with a dealer to get this resolved, good luck with a private seller for an old car like this.

davidwood681

George_Michael wrote: »

Then again, maybe private buyers are simply expecting sellers to be honest, truthful and correct in their description of the goods that they are selling.

Until they advertise their own car

OP, dream on. You're not getting anything out of this ( I bet you come back though and say you got a full refund, a years worth of fuel and a chocolate bar for your troubles though)

bris

Claiming there is "no oil leaks" is a statement and one that would definitely be classed as misrepresentation no matter how old the car is.


Did it also claim the steering works, or the tyres are round, no of course not, you don't mention everything that works so why mention the oil.


If you're going to put it in the ad then it better be true, in this case it wasn't. Innocent or not it's still a false statement.


I do think you have a case under the "damages" section so you could get the car fixed and claim compensation for this. No need to unwind the contract.


Write to him first giving him a chance to put it right in the form of a LBA so you do things properly.