Car dealer threatening action

caprikid1

gerdo said:

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.

Just games that will antagonize the situation. Just write to the dealer, you were never aware of an oil leak, MOT'd recently, traded in good faith.

JustAnotherSaver

Methinks he's not had the interest in this that he's wanted/expected so he's trying to get some money out of you for it. 

NaughtiusMaximus

You have to love the irony of a used car dealer whining that he's been sold a dodgy car.

sensiblekate

This is part of the email he sent to my husband (this was after a very rude phone call where he accused my husband of lying and said ‘you know exactly what I’m phoning about’).

To say we are disappointed is an understatement. The oil has clearly been leaking for some time however an engineers report will determine whether the leak was present at the point of trade in or not however our workshop have 
advised that it has been leaking for some time.

We will be in touch regarding the next stage.


How can an engineer determine an exact date an oil leak started?! 

The owner does not seem like a nice character and the garage has a lot of bad reviews online. 

I’m sure this sounds really silly but I am actually a little worried as he has our address and I am at home on my own with kids (husband works away during the week). 

 

motorguy

sensiblekate said:

This is part of the email he sent to my husband (this was after a very rude phone call where he accused my husband of lying and said ‘you know exactly what I’m phoning about’).

To say we are disappointed is an understatement. The oil has clearly been leaking for some time however an engineers report will determine whether the leak was present at the point of trade in or not however our workshop have 
advised that it has been leaking for some time.

We will be in touch regarding the next stage.


How can an engineer determine an exact date an oil leak started?! 

The owner does not seem like a nice character and the garage has a lot of bad reviews online. 

I’m sure this sounds really silly but I am actually a little worried as he has our address and I am at home on my own with kids (husband works away during the week). 

 

Hes chancing his arm.

I would remind him he is the expert and has had the car three weeks and he had the opportunity to - and did - presumably, evaluate and inspect the car before purchase.

Then cease correspondence.  

End of

Norman_Castle

sensiblekate said:

I’m sure this sounds really silly but I am actually a little worried as he has our address and I am at home on my own with kids (husband works away during the week).

If he does turn up and you feel threatened call the police.

m0bov

I would just ignore, even if it was present at sale, its down to the buyer to inspect the car, should have checked then. Just ignore.

sensiblekate

Thanks everyone for your responses, much appreciated.

My husband responded to the dealer’s email, politely stating that we had not known of any oil leak before the trade in and did not accept responsibility. 

The car dealer then replied that the car now also has an overheating issue and that we must have known about these problems before we sold it to him (although, how can it have an overheating problem if it has such a huge oil leak?!). We had no issues with the car and would not have tried to sell it, if so. 

He goes on to accuse my husband of making up a story to disguise the underlying issues, and finally states that the car is a “pig in a poke”. 

He says we can either take back our new car to him, or pay the balance of repairs. If not, he will take us to a small claims court.  

We really don’t know what to do next. It seems like we will be out of pocket no matter what. 

rhino_horn

Do nothing! 
Car dealer here.. if we bought a part ex car that had a major fault we would just take it on the chin and get it repaired.... if the repairs are too lumpy we'd send the car to auction and just hope we get some of our costs back. He's chancing his arm. Let him take you to the small claims court. Don't answer the phone or reply to his emails. I doubt he will do anything...

pulliptears

He's had the thing 3 weeks, he could have been off roading in it for a weekend for all anyone knows.

Personally I'd send a letter stating what you already have, you traded in a vehicle with no known faults and then ignore him.  There used to be a way to bounce unwanted emails back as well, if you can figure that out, or even delete the account he's messaging do that.  Don't give him any headspace.