Faulty car sold by a private seller I suspect to be a dealer

davedelaney

I appreciate all the replies.

I hadn't performed enough due diligence and I completely accept the fault is my own. As much as I'd like to get my money back, as others have mentioned, for the price of the car itself minus the scrap value - it's really not going to be worth it, nor expected. I understand that. My father accompanied me to the sale and the guy took him in the passenger seat (as it's quite a small car I didn't opt to go along) for a 'test drive'. It's laughable looking back - what moron would accept a vehicle without test driving it himself, but there we are.

Regarding his mention that it was likely to be the alternator (as he said he had spoken to his mechanic who said this would probably be the case), my garage has determined that the entire ABS unit needs replacing at a bare minimum, and that it's certainly not the alternator. There were a couple of issues such as a tire that needed replacing and the windscreen would as well due to a minor crack (not an MOT failure) which he was upfront about before sale and that I was happy to actually do.

I'm more annoyed by the fact that I'm quite sure it's a dealer masquerading as a private seller. Alluding to the above, if he was a genuine private seller, I would accept his account that he suspected it was the alternator - but as others have mentioned, the fact he's likely a dealer means more is expected of his ability to assess the fault, and that I feel ripped off because of this. The fact he used a fake name, claimed a story about his father owning the car, a 'burner' mobile phone (no WhatsApp or results in Google), all leads me to feel quite sour about it as it feels like a crafted rip-off. It's eaten away at me for the past couple of days, and as others have said - for the actual money spent, it's not worth the stress. 

AdrianC

Grumpy_chap said:

The "no speedo" is problematic as I understand that means an MOT fail, so that is the maximum life of the car.

Only if it's "clearly" non-functional with the car stationary.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/7-other-equipment#section-7-8

motorguy

AdrianC said:

Grumpy_chap said:

The "no speedo" is problematic as I understand that means an MOT fail, so that is the maximum life of the car.

Only if it's "clearly" non-functional with the car stationary.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/7-other-equipment#section-7-8

And not insurmountable (in terms of knowing what speed you're doing) with a cheap dash mounted sat nav.

AdrianC

motorguy said:

AdrianC said:

Grumpy_chap said:

The "no speedo" is problematic as I understand that means an MOT fail, so that is the maximum life of the car.

Only if it's "clearly" non-functional with the car stationary.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/7-other-equipment#section-7-8

And not insurmountable (in terms of knowing what speed you're doing) with a cheap dash mounted sat nav.

Or even a free app on your phone.

Grey_Critic

You suspect he is a dealer - contact Trading Standards it is possible he might have previous for this sort of thing.

Sandtree

Grey_Critic said:

You suspect he is a dealer - contact Trading Standards it is possible he might have previous for this sort of thing.

Most trading standards these days don't officially take direct issues from individuals but allow CAB to take the calls and filter for them.

The beyond economic repair for a car like this pretty much means something more than a wiper blade needs replacing... a spark plug is probably 50/50 if its BER. 

Some desktop research and review of the V5 should hopefully help work out if it was a dealer in any official manor 

HansOndabush

I think these pseudo dealers buy the cars as spares or repair for around £200 and sell them on as if they only have a minor issue for around what you paid. It's a dodgy business usually involving not very nice characters.

Herzlos

HansOndabush said:

I think these pseudo dealers buy the cars as spares or repair for around £200 and sell them on as if they only have a minor issue for around what you paid. It's a dodgy business usually involving not very nice characters.

It's almost certainly a trade in that they don't want to honour any liabilities on. If the car was decent they'd clean it up and sell it through the correct channel.
Or it's an attempt to avoid paying tax, but that still points to dodgy dealing.