Sold car privately - Now told the car was misdescribed

MariusAdam

Hello,
I am writing here hoping to get a little bit of advice regarding the situation I find myself in.
I sold my car (2011 Vauxhall Corsa) privately on 25th Feb 2020. On the day three gentleman turned up to view the car, they all inspected it and one of them also test drove it giving it the green light and confirmed that the car works and drives well. Even though I was not asked, I mentioned that the timing chain will need changing soon and I also agreed on a £150 discount based on this. We exchanged the V5, completed two AA private car sales contracts, transferred the money and they were on their way. 

After a few days I received a text message asking me for £150 toward the replacement of the timing chain as this was going to cost him £400. I politely declined by saying that I already discounted £150 of the original price and I also informed him of the timing chain even though I was not asked.
After a few more days I receive a phone call from the buyer telling me that he now found out that the car has been in an accident and it also has different engine and he now wants his money back. Again I politely declined and told him that I was not aware of anything like this and that I used the car on a daily basis without having absolutely any issues. This continued for a few days till the point where I had to tell him to only contact me through a solicitor otherwise I was going to report him for harassment. Eventually the text messages and phone calls stopped.
Today,  7th May 2020 I received a complaint letter from the buyer saying the following: "I now find the goods have been misdescribed. You described the car as covering 48.000 miles from new. When upon inspection we have discovered the car doesn't have the original engine therefore your description of low mileage from new is incorrect". 
He quoted 1979 sale of goods act and asked for a full refund. He also enclosed in the letter a copy of my advert and a copy of the engine number (photo of an engraved metal plate that is unreadable) and claims that it doesn't match the V5 information.

A few relevant facts:
1.I owned the car for 8 months and bought it with a one year MOT valid from 12th June 2019 to 11th June 2020.
2. I have a HPI check that I made before buying the car on 20th June 2019 and an invoice for the purchase that follows on the next day 21st June 2019.
3. We both signed an AA private car sale contract in which is stated "sold as seen"
Happy to provide any additional information if needed.
Thanks in advance

bris

It's a private sale, they needed to do their due diligence before they bought it not after.
If you sold it with the information you had and didn't tell them any lies, I,e you didnt know about the new engine, then tell them to jog on as they have no case.

It sounds to me like they are traders, so they should have know better anyway.

MariusAdam

bris said:

It's a private sale, they needed to do their due diligence before they bought it not after.
If you sold it with the information you had and didn't tell them any lies, I,e you didnt know about the new engine, then tell them to jog on as they have no case.

It sounds to me like they are traders, so they should have know better anyway.

I honestly didn't know about the engine. The only thing I knew about was the timing chain because previously I had a Corsa that was making the same noise and it turned out to be the timing chain. I was also telling him every time that I wouldn't have met them at my address and I definitely wouldn't invite them in my house if I wanted to sell them a car with these kind of problems. 
I forgot to mention that he does now know about the existance of an HPI check so maybe that would calm him down?

molerat

Why didn't they check the engine number against the V5 and chassis number if it was that important to them.  Engine number is generally the same as chassis number from factory.

nyermen

"You described the car as covering 48.000 miles from new. When upon inspection we have discovered the car doesn't have the original engine therefore your description of low mileage from new is incorrect"
I wasnt aware that an engine change (even if really the case) resulted in a reset of the counter.  So if anything, the description of low mileage is better than expected...?

JReacher1

How much did you sell a 9 year old corsa for? Surely it can’t be worth more than £2k?

I’m surprised they are pushing this. I would just ignore them. 

MariusAdam

I sold the car for £2.6k but it was a 11 plate limited edition. A really nice car and well taken care off while it was in my possession. 
A friend of mine also told me that he might replace the engine himself considering that is was quite low mileage and he now tries to scam me into giving him a refund and be stuck with a tampered car.
I`ve also been at the Citizen Advice to seek some guidance and they told me that he hasn't got a case against me. 
All this situation has started affecting me because I tend to overthink stuff and stress quite easily. Would there be anything I could do in case he doesn't  stop contacting me? 

452

nyermen said:

"You described the car as covering 48.000 miles from new. When upon inspection we have discovered the car doesn't have the original engine therefore your description of low mileage from new is incorrect"
I wasnt aware that an engine change (even if really the case) resulted in a reset of the counter.  So if anything, the description of low mileage is better than expected...?

If the car has only covered 48000 miles then what's wrong with the description? It's down to the buyer to check before if the original engine is so important. 

Tell him the engine may have only done 36000 miles and you want another £500.

Kattekwaad

MariusAdam said:

A friend of mine also told me that he might replace the engine himself considering that is was quite low mileage and he now tries to scam me into giving him a refund and be stuck with a tampered car.

What the heck does this mean?

MariusAdam

Kattekwaad said:

MariusAdam said:

A friend of mine also told me that he might replace the engine himself considering that is was quite low mileage and he now tries to scam me into giving him a refund and be stuck with a tampered car.

What the heck does this mean?

What I was trying to say is that he might have taken the engine and other parts off the car and now he is trying to get me
to give his money back 

MoneySavingNovice

My suggestion is to stop communicating with the buyer. 

This is a case of 'caveat emptor' or buyer beware.  As a private sale, it is the responsibility for the buyer to satisfy him/her self of the quality and suitability of goods and perform due diligence before making a purchase. As you can demonstrate that you have provided appropriate information to the buyer prior to the sale you have nothing to worry or concern yourself with. 

Keep all the evidence, possibly inform the buyer that you will not be entering into further discussions with him/her and move on with your life!