Conned in a private car sale

Lincar

I don't know what to do!

I bought a Honda Jazz from the daughter of a couple I work with. The father had been telling me how good the car was, well looked after, running perfectly no problems, just about to go through an MOT.

Once the MOT was done, the daughter brought the car to my work. As soon as I started it, I heard a noise coming from the front left of the car, I asked what the noise was and was told, she didn't know, but the brakes had just been done and maybe it was that.

I said I would have a engineer look at it and if there were any problems I would get back to her, she said ok. A few days later the car was taken for a test run and I was told that the gearbox was in a poor state and that it would take over £600 to fix it.

The private seller does not want to know, deal done as far as she is concerned. I now believe that they both, the father who I work with and the daughter who was selling the car, both knew about the gearbox and I was conned. I now have a car that I can't drive, can't sell on and don't have the money to repair myself. I have taxed and insured it as it's parked on a public road. I am not driving it and am still using my old car.

Can I take her to a small claims court? The car is a 2005 Honda Jazz SE and I paid £1,500 for it. I believed them both

missile

Buyer beware. It would be very difficult to prove your case. You can only hope seller does not turn up to defend the case.

sevenhills

Lincar wrote: »

I said I would have a engineer look at it and if there were any problems I would get back to her, she said ok. A few days later the car was taken for a test run and I was told that the gearbox was in a poor state and that it would take over £600 to fix it.

The machanic didn't say dont drive it, it may be just a little noisy, what did the machanic say?

SHAFT

Lincar wrote: »

I don't know what to do!

I bought a Honda Jazz from the daughter of a couple I work with. The father had been telling me how good the car was, well looked after, running perfectly no problems, just about to go through an MOT.

Once the MOT was done, the daughter brought the car to my work. As soon as I started it, I heard a noise coming from the front left of the car, I asked what the noise was and was told, she didn't know, but the brakes had just been done and maybe it was that.

I said I would have a engineer look at it and if there were any problems I would get back to her, she said ok. A few days later the car was taken for a test run and I was told that the gearbox was in a poor state and that it would take over £600 to fix it.

The private seller does not want to know, deal done as far as she is concerned. I now believe that they both, the father who I work with and the daughter who was selling the car, both knew about the gearbox and I was conned. I now have a car that I can't drive, can't sell on and don't have the money to repair myself. I have taxed and insured it as it's parked on a public road. I am not driving it and am still using my old car.

Can I take her to a small claims court? The car is a 2005 Honda Jazz SE and I paid £1,500 for it. I believed them both

So did you buy it without seeing and test driving it?

gabitzul

An £1500 Jazz, so old and towards the end of its life. Gearboxes are a bit of a weak spot on these, but there are plenty of spares around, inc. complete gearboxes.

Put it this way, if you replace the whole gearbox, you can also add in a new clutch and then you have a great car. It's not the end of the world.

King_Nothing

The time to get it checked by a mechanic was before you bought it, not after.

And, what is your proof that both the father and daughter knew specifically that there was something wrong with the gearbox, you yourself had to get someone else to tell you what was wrong.

It's a 14 year old, £1500 car.

foxy-stoat

Lincar wrote: »

As soon as I started it, I heard a noise coming from the front left of the car, I asked what the noise was and was told, she didn't know, but the brakes had just been done and maybe it was that.

No way that brakes, new or old on a stationary car on tick over would be making any noises, probably the thrust bearing, if you put your foot on the clutch did the noise stop?

No money should of changed hands until you were happy with the car.

No proof either, unless there was an advert that you printed off that stated the car was in excellent running condition with no issues and even then you will struggle that the fault was known or even there at the point of sale.

macman

It's a private sale. The vendor does not have to divulge anything-it's up to the buyer to ask. All the vendor has to do is not misrepresent the vehicle, and answer any questions honestly. Did you ask 'are there any known faults with the car'? Did you check the service history?
You paid for and accepted the vehicle with a known fault (the noise). How could it have been the brakes, if it had just passed an MOT? And the noise would only have been apparent when the brakes were applied.
What condition do you expect a 14 y/o car to be in, and did you really expect a car of that age to need zero ongoing maintenance or repairs to budget for?
However I suggest you send an LBA anyway, because you have nothing to lose. Maybe request a 50% contribution to the repair costs?

DoaM

£1,500 for a 2005 Jazz? :eek:

foxy-stoat

macman wrote: »

However I suggest you send an LBA anyway, because you have nothing to lose. Maybe request a 50% contribution to the repair costs?

To a work colleague's daughter and they probably know that private sale would mean its not even enforceable.

What exactly is the problem with the gearbox, a test drive and a poor state and a £600 figure doesnt really mean anything.

RealBobbyDazzler

Other than the mechanic saying gearbox is in a poor state, what issues have you found with it from driving it? What is the noise like, how are gear changes, does it crunch, is oil topped up?