Car dealer threatening action

tommyedinburgh

sensiblekate said:

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. 

Please, please, please do not be someone else’s door mat and pay a penny.

Don’t be a mug. 

GrumpyDil

Haven't commented before as you have been getting good advice but.
He is the professional. He had the opportunity to inspect the car pre purchase. If he didn't properly check the car pre purchase then that is his issue. Don't maintain any further conversation with him unless he does actually issue court proceedings, which based on what you have said, he will lose. 

Belenus

sensiblekate said:

...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. 

He is very unlikely to do that and, if he does, he will almost certainly lose as you have a very sound case.

He is trying it on.

Don't let him harass and bully you into paying him a penny. Ignore him.

BOWFER

In the photos of the car in the showroom, can you see the showroom floor?
He'd be a blithering idiot to put a car with a huge leak on his nice shiny showroom floor and said photos could be used against him.
I can understand the stress you're under, especially if the bloke seems like a bit of a nutter and he has your address, I'm wondering what people wold suggest you do if he keeps at you.
Police will just claim it's a civil matter, unless it turns to threats etc.

HHarry

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago - a Poster in the same situation after selling a horsebox.  They had many replies saying to not panic and ignore them.

Don’t panic and ignore them.

sensiblekate

BOWFER said:

In the photos of the car in the showroom, can you see the showroom floor?
He'd be a blithering idiot to put a car with a huge leak on his nice shiny showroom floor and said photos could be used against him.
I can understand the stress you're under, especially if the bloke seems like a bit of a nutter and he has your address, I'm wondering what people wold suggest you do if he keeps at you.
Police will just claim it's a civil matter, unless it turns to threats etc.

Yes, there are roughly 20 photos of the car in the showroom! Have screenshotted them all as evidence. 

LudaMusser

When the dealer took the car in it would have been assessed. He can’t come back to you three weeks later and complain about an issue now

Herzlos

sensiblekate said:

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

Do nothing. If you want you can send a reply stating you won't pay and that you'll ignore any further communication that isn't from the court. He won't take you to small claims court because he has no case and it'll cost him money.
Small claims will cost you a little bit of time and travel money, in the unlikely case it happens, and you can claim your travel expenses back. You won't have to pay him anything.

What country are you in? Because the laws for harassment differ from country to country, should you want to report it to the police. In Scotland he only has to harass you once (which he has done) but as I understand it, he needs to be a more persistent nuisance in England.

sensiblekate

Herzlos said:

sensiblekate said:

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

Do nothing. If you want you can send a reply stating you won't pay and that you'll ignore any further communication that isn't from the court. He won't take you to small claims court because he has no case and it'll cost him money.
Small claims will cost you a little bit of time and travel money, in the unlikely case it happens, and you can claim your travel expenses back. You won't have to pay him anything.

What country are you in? Because the laws for harassment differ from country to country, should you want to report it to the police. In Scotland he only has to harass you once (which he has done) but as I understand it, he needs to be a more persistent nuisance in England.

Thanks Herzlos, we are in Scotland so may look into that. 

Mutton_Geoff

I'll repeat what others have said. Do nothing. However, I see you've already emailed them. Nothing you say can help your case, just keep quiet and wait for the summons (there won't be one). Continued communication with the dealer cannot ever be to your advantage and so the best thing is to ignore everything.