Private car purchase-unknown s cat and insafe

KateCoulson

Hi,
Wondering if anyone could offer advice on whether I should make a small claim. 

- car was advertised on Facebook, in perfect condition, No mention of category s.
- I arranged to go and view the car through messenger, which stated the car was in perfect condition and very well looked after. 
- checked mot online, all was ok
- viewed car, test drove, ran fine and purchased via bank transfer 
-signed log book, which was presented open on the table, I didn't even think to look at the front where it states s category 
-when my log book arrived through the post,  I saw s category. Took the car to a mechanic immediately who advised not to drive it. After a brief inspection he could see brake fluid leaking, twisted suspension arm, suspected filler in sill, and the frame above the drivers door looked out of line. This was all on the drivers side of the car.
-contacted seller, who told me it was only an s category because the door was damaged, which she admitted to replacing, alongside new tyres, and the the car was in perfect condition and perfectly safe to drive. She also got very defensive pretty quickly.

-I let her know what the mechanic had said, and she told me it needed to be and independent report, not a local mechanic.  She did also tell me the car was perfectly safe to drive as it passed an mot last august


I'm now £3300 out of pocket, with insurance etc on top. The car is not road worthy, and a structural test from the rac ranges from £99 to £289. I'm concerned at spending more money on this, as I'm aware I have minimal rights through a private sale. With lock down, we are not earning either.

I've sent a letter before action, she's responded but is not engaging in any discussions about the car or a refund. I've been looking into my options and wondering if anyone had a similar experience,  and whether I should do a small claim?

tacpot12

Your best option is to prove, via an independent report, whether the faults you bought the car with made it unroadworthy at the time it was sold (would it have failed an MOT test?). If you can prove this, then you are likely to win at small claims court.

You are right to be concerned about paying for an inspection as the problem might not be with winning in court, but getting paid. The best chance of getting paid is if the vendor owns the house they live in and also owns a car. You might be able to check whether she owns the house via the Land Registry. Cost is £3 for the title information that will confirm this. There is no way that you can confirm she is the owner of a particular vehicle without her being able to show you an invoice for it.  

forgotmyname

Options, prove the car to be unroadworthy.  Otherwise its your car to drive or resell.

Check how many posts where buyers claim a friendly mechanic said the cars faulty and they want
a refund or some money back.   Get a proper report from someone qualified and willing to testify
if needed.

KimJongUn88

Did you specifically ask whether the car was an insurance write-off? Unless specifically asked, a private seller does not have to divulge if the car is a Cat write-off. 

AdrianC

You looked at the car... and didn't notice the body being twisted above the door.
You drove the car... and didn't notice the suspension damage.
You looked at the V5C... and didn't notice the note on it about the car having been written off.

Claiming they shouldn't have sold an unroadworthy car is one thing - but you're very much getting into the realms of he-said-she-said about whether you were made aware before the sale of the issues. And even if you can show they breached s75 RTA88, it doesn't automatically mean you're due a full refund.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/75

How was the car priced compared to other similar examples? Was it suspiciously cheap...?

The_Rainmaker

KimJongUn88 said:

Did you specifically ask whether the car was an insurance write-off? Unless specifically asked, a private seller does not have to divulge if the car is a Cat write-off. 

I would normally agree with you but looks like the seller was the one who wrote it off, in which case it could be construed as deception (maybe)

KateCoulson

She said she bought the car as an s category,  and I believe they've done the work. She said it was because there was scratches on the door. My knowledge of  cars is limited but a quick look on google tells me that would not give the car an s category. 

fred246

If it was me I would not want the car. I would not accept any offer to repair etc. You need to do something to change the situation. The Small Claims Court Fee is £105 up to £3000 claim. If you paid that she would then get her date in court which would focus her mind. Hopefully she would offer a refund without going to court. If you went it's just like Judge Rinder. She sold it knowing that it was previosuly written off. The judge would believe you as you could not have made that story up because you have no mechanical knowledge. Judges are random decision makers though depending on their mood. I think that's the cheapest next move that is legal.

Herzlos

This is why you need to run an HPI check, but it's too late for that.

When was it MOTd?
Is she genuinely a private seller? They dont normally buy damaged and repair them.

452

fred246 said:

If it was me I would not want the car. I would not accept any offer to repair etc. You need to do something to change the situation. The Small Claims Court Fee is £105 up to £3000 claim. If you paid that she would then get her date in court which would focus her mind. Hopefully she would offer a refund without going to court. If you went it's just like Judge Rinder. She sold it knowing that it was previosuly written off. The judge would believe you as you could not have made that story up because you have no mechanical knowledge. Judges are random decision makers though depending on their mood. I think that's the cheapest next move that is legal.

She sold the car as a write off, so what?

Whats she done wrong as a private seller?

AdrianC

KateCoulson said:

She said she bought the car as an s category,  and I believe they've done the work. She said it was because there was scratches on the door. My knowledge of  cars is limited but a quick look on google tells me that would not give the car an s category. 

Indeed. S is for Structurally damaged.

fred246 said:

If it was me I would not want the car. I would not accept any offer to repair etc. You need to do something to change the situation. The Small Claims Court Fee is £105 up to £3000 claim. If you paid that she would then get her date in court which would focus her mind. Hopefully she would offer a refund without going to court. If you went it's just like Judge Rinder. She sold it knowing that it was previosuly written off. The judge would believe you as you could not have made that story up because you have no mechanical knowledge. Judges are random decision makers though depending on their mood. I think that's the cheapest next move that is legal.

All of which is lovely, but the OP saw the V5C before purchase, and the V5C states clearly on the front that the car was a Cat S write off.
It's the OP's word against the vendors that they didn't know pre-purchase. And the vendor can point to the V5C, while the OP has to say "Umm, no, I didn't actually bother looking at that. Or the damaged bodywork above the door I got in through to test-drive it. And, no, I didn't even HPI it."

We don't yet know how it was priced compared to an ostensibly straight, clean example. If the price was substantially below the market, then the vendor's statements are going to be even harder to refute.