Car dealer threatening action

Looking for some advice on our rights re. a traded in car. 


We traded in a 2012 Jeep Compass on Saturday 6th March. We had had some problems with it starting in the cold weather but had been fine recently and salesman took it for a test drive and said nothing. 


I noticed the Jeep was then on auto trader from at least 18th March, with photos showing it in a showroom and claiming it has an MOT up until March 2022. 


Today my husband received a very angry phone call from the owner of the car garage (more than 3 weeks since we sold the car) accusing us of selling the car to him, knowing it had a massive oil leak. He said it was the worst oil leak he had ever seen! There had been absolutely no sign of this when we sold it! The car was also always parked on our driveway and we would have seen any oil leaking out on the stones. 


He is threatening to take us to court and claim back for expenses. 


Surely if this has happened in the three weeks since we sold the car, we cannot be held liable? Also, it has been advertised on auto trader in their garage saying it is in great condition etc. 


Any advice on how to deal with this m, or what our rights are, would be gratefully received. 

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Comments

  • David713
    David713 Posts: 218
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    edited 30 March 2021 at 6:33PM
    Simply write to the garage (don't phone as you won't have a record of what you said) pointing out that when you traded in the car, there was no oil leak (let alone a massive one which would have been spotted during the test drive or in the 3 weeks since) and as such, you refute that there was anything wrong when you handed it over.
    Have a look here:
    What is the vehicle's registration number - MOT History (check-mot.service.gov.uk)
    and see if the dealer carried out an MOT and if so, was any leak mentioned on the advisories.
    One other thing.
    See if you can find the Autotrader ad stating the condition of the Jeep and if you can, print out and keep a copy of this.

  • Belenus
    Belenus Posts: 2,548
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    edited 30 March 2021 at 6:28PM

    He is threatening to take us to court and claim back for expenses. 

    If he has any sense he won't do that as, unless you have misrepresented the car in some provable manner,  you would almost certainly win.

    He is the professional and he or his staff should have inspected the car and satisfied themselves about its condition and value before accepting it as a trade in.

    He is trying it on.

    Follow David's advice above and then ignore any further contact unless you get a Letter Before Action, a Solicitor's letter or court papers. 


    A man walked into a car showroom.
    He said to the salesman, “My wife would like to talk to you about the Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
    Salesman said, “We haven't got a Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
    The man replied, “You have now mate".
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    David713 said:
    Have a look here:
    What is the vehicle's registration number - MOT History (check-mot.service.gov.uk)
    and see if the dealer carried out an MOT and if so, was any leak mentioned on the advisories.
    "The worst leak he's ever seen" would not just be an advisory, but a fail.
    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/8-nuisance

    8.4.1. Fluid leaks

    ...

    You should fail a vehicle if a fluid leak creates a pool on the floor within 5 minutes that’s more than 75mm in diameter or if there are many leaks which collectively leak fluid at the same rate.

  • David713
    David713 Posts: 218
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    I realise that but I would have hoped that a massive leak would have been spotted before the car was presented for the MOT test where as a small leak (that could have developed into a larger one at a later time) might have been flagged up.
  • Stubod
    Stubod Posts: 2,141
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    edited 30 March 2021 at 6:58PM
    ..he is trying it on, just ignore him, and just hope you don't have any warranty problems with the car you purchased from them....
    .."It's everybody's fault but mine...."
  • Thanks for your replies - much appreciated! On checking the MOT, they haven’t carried it out yet (although it states in the advert that it has a ‘long’ MOT). We had it MOT’d in January and there was no mention of an oil leak in the advisories.  
    Also why would he still advertise it for sale if there is such a big problem? 
    My husband drove the car over 40 miles for the trade in. Surely if this oil leak was so bad, he wouldn’t have managed that? 
    We will take your advice and write to the garage and then ignore any further correspondence unless official.  

  • David713
    David713 Posts: 218
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    Just out of curiosity, does the advert state the exact mileage of the Jeep? and if it does, how does this differ from the mileage when you traded it in?
  • David713 said:
    Just out of curiosity, does the advert state the exact mileage of the Jeep? and if it does, how does this differ from the mileage when you traded it in?
    Interestingly enough, it is advertised as 60,000 but was just over 62,000 when we traded in. 
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 14,662
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    Thanks for your replies - much appreciated! On checking the MOT, they haven’t carried it out yet (although it states in the advert that it has a ‘long’ MOT).
    He'll probably offer to MOT it before sale, which is quite common.
    Also why would he still advertise it for sale if there is such a big problem?
    Because he's a used car dealer :) If it does actually have an oil leak, he'll probably get it fixed on the cheap before he sells it.

    Not that it's your problem; he's the expert in this situation and agreed the car was in a suitable position when the trade-in was accepted.
  • gerdo
    gerdo Posts: 183
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    Get a friend to phone the dealer to enquire about the vehicle. Get them to ask what the exact mileage is and ask if they call in now, will it be available for a test drive. If it has a massive oil leak, it won't be available for a test drive.
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