Sold car privately, buyer wants refund

JustAnotherSaver

What sort of comeback is there in a private sale? I though if the car turned out duff (depending on how duff) then the buyer could chase you for the refund and have legal right to do so?

"So long as it wasn't wrongly advertised". Depends how wrongly. I'm selling a XYZ which has done ABC miles. It has a bit of paperwork for it and the MOT expires #@%. You're welcome to look and test drive. 

They inspect it, they buy it & then a week later they say the clutch has gone, the engine blew up, the turbo failed etc etc etc. I want my money back / i want a partial refund.

They would have no right at all?

I tend to stay away from private sales as i always thought knowing my luck the car will break down the next day on the buyer and i can't be bothered with dealing with them accusing me of scamming, so i tend to either p/x or scrap. I have sold the odd one or two which have had issues. The first time round i didn't say anything, second time round i did & pointed out everything that was wrong.

treeroy

JustAnotherSaver said:

What sort of comeback is there in a private sale? I though if the car turned out duff (depending on how duff) then the buyer could chase you for the refund and have legal right to do so?

"So long as it wasn't wrongly advertised". Depends how wrongly. I'm selling a XYZ which has done ABC miles. It has a bit of paperwork for it and the MOT expires #@%. You're welcome to look and test drive. 

They inspect it, they buy it & then a week later they say the clutch has gone, the engine blew up, the turbo failed etc etc etc. I want my money back / i want a partial refund.

They would have no right at all?

I tend to stay away from private sales as i always thought knowing my luck the car will break down the next day on the buyer and i can't be bothered with dealing with them accusing me of scamming, so i tend to either p/x or scrap. I have sold the odd one or two which have had issues. The first time round i didn't say anything, second time round i did & pointed out everything that was wrong.

Yes. That is right. If the seller does not lie, and the buyer inspected it and bought it, and then the next day the engine and turbo blew up, they would have no right to return / refund it.

Alanp

If they contact you again then make up your own sob story, you can be as imaginative as you like, I’m with everyone else....SCAM

Were_Doomed

JustAnotherSaver said:

What sort of comeback is there in a private sale? I though if the car turned out duff (depending on how duff) then the buyer could chase you for the refund and have legal right to do so?

"So long as it wasn't wrongly advertised". Depends how wrongly. I'm selling a XYZ which has done ABC miles. It has a bit of paperwork for it and the MOT expires #@%. You're welcome to look and test drive. 

They inspect it, they buy it & then a week later they say the clutch has gone, the engine blew up, the turbo failed etc etc etc. I want my money back / i want a partial refund.

They would have no right at all?

I tend to stay away from private sales as i always thought knowing my luck the car will break down the next day on the buyer and i can't be bothered with dealing with them accusing me of scamming, so i tend to either p/x or scrap. I have sold the odd one or two which have had issues. The first time round i didn't say anything, second time round i did & pointed out everything that was wrong.

In a private sale only two things matter:

1) The seller has good title to sell the goods
2) The goods match the description and the seller responds truthfully to any questions asked

If the OP can pass those two hurdles (and it sounds like they can - they were open and honest about selling on behalf of their parents) then the buyer has no comeback. That doesn't mean they can't try, just that their hurdle to overcome is far higher than the seller's.

facade

treeroy said:

My husband spoke with a solicitor and he told him that it's illegal to sell a car that it's not according with the description and they both believe it's not safe for me to drive it until we replace the clutch and because your father didn't let him drive it around he thinks that you knew about this problem so can you please, as a good will, send us some money back to cover the replacement of the clutch? Please <name>, you seemed all very lovely and honest family and maybe you can understand us...

On the other hand, if the clutch really is gone.........

ACF10

Tbh I hate to say it but there more than likely is no bloody mechanic!! It's some scrote trying to have you on. 
A shady character buys a car with what seems like little scrutiny or deliberation in the first instance and decides all of a sudden he wants it back. You haven't a clue what this person has done with it in the interim.  

This is a car with clean history and probably 24 hours of no insurance - if they succeed in giving it back to you, unless you've updated the DVLA online, it appears as if it's virtually never changed hands. Whatever offences have been committed in that car be it speeding; drugs or something a little bit more nefarious it will come back to you initially.

This screams to me as a lot more than just buyer's remorse. It's common for criminals to burn through cars like nothing just to try and evade markers against the reg no. 

Supersonos

treeroy said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

What sort of comeback is there in a private sale? I though if the car turned out duff (depending on how duff) then the buyer could chase you for the refund and have legal right to do so?

"So long as it wasn't wrongly advertised". Depends how wrongly. I'm selling a XYZ which has done ABC miles. It has a bit of paperwork for it and the MOT expires #@%. You're welcome to look and test drive. 

They inspect it, they buy it & then a week later they say the clutch has gone, the engine blew up, the turbo failed etc etc etc. I want my money back / i want a partial refund.

They would have no right at all?

I tend to stay away from private sales as i always thought knowing my luck the car will break down the next day on the buyer and i can't be bothered with dealing with them accusing me of scamming, so i tend to either p/x or scrap. I have sold the odd one or two which have had issues. The first time round i didn't say anything, second time round i did & pointed out everything that was wrong.

Yes. That is right. If the seller does not lie, and the buyer inspected it and bought it, and then the next day the engine and turbo blew up, they would have no right to return / refund it.

The buyer doesn't HAVE to inspect it.  

The important part is that the seller doesn't mislead.  The seller doesn't even have to be forthcoming with any problems.  If the air conditioning doesn't work, the seller doesn't have to tell the buyer this, but they can't say that it does work when it doesn't.

It's up to the buyer to ascertain that the vehicle meets their requirements.

Coveredinbees!!!!

Go to the police

foxy-stoat

Coveredinbees!!!! said:

Go to the police

They will do nothing.  
OP just needs to stop replying and wait for any paperwork to drop through the letterbox, which is won't.

macman

facade said:

treeroy said:

My husband spoke with a solicitor and he told him that it's illegal to sell a car that it's not according with the description and they both believe it's not safe for me to drive it until we replace the clutch and because your father didn't let him drive it around he thinks that you knew about this problem so can you please, as a good will, send us some money back to cover the replacement of the clutch? Please <name>, you seemed all very lovely and honest family and maybe you can understand us...

On the other hand, if the clutch really is gone.........

The OP hasn't told us the circumstances of the test drive, but even if the buyer didn't test it, they could have asked to be driven round the block in it to see that the transmission worked. And they presumably drove it away after purchase, so the clutch was clearly working then. It doesn't matter if it subsequently fails a year later, a week later, 10 mins later, there is still no liability on the vendor, as long as they didn't say 'I guarantee the clutch is working fine and will not let you down'.