Bought a car that turned out to be faulty

Ectophile

DB1904 said:

Ectophile said:

Make certain that you know who actually sold the car to you - was it him or his company?

If it was the company, you can't sue him.  If it was him, then you can't sue the company.  If you have no paperwork saying that his company sold the car, then sue him.

Generally, you're better off if you're suing a person.  Companies can be wound up at the drop of a hat.  People don't really want to declare themselves bankrupt to get out of paying a debt.

If you sue the person are you suing them as a trader?

A person is a person, even if they are working under a trade name.

DB1904

Ectophile said:

DB1904 said:

Ectophile said:

Make certain that you know who actually sold the car to you - was it him or his company?

If it was the company, you can't sue him.  If it was him, then you can't sue the company.  If you have no paperwork saying that his company sold the car, then sue him.

Generally, you're better off if you're suing a person.  Companies can be wound up at the drop of a hat.  People don't really want to declare themselves bankrupt to get out of paying a debt.

If you sue the person are you suing them as a trader?

A person is a person, even if they are working under a trade name.

Yes, but this guy is a trader and has a limited company so can he be sued as a person when selling a vehicle? 

GrumpyDil

That depends entirely on who sold the car. OP needs to check. If it was sold by the limited company he would sue the company. If it was sold by the individual trading as abc then he would sue the individual. 

DB1904

GrumpyDil said:

That depends entirely on who sold the car. OP needs to check. If it was sold by the limited company he would sue the company. If it was sold by the individual trading as abc then he would sue the individual. 

Looks like he has a limited company so can a trader sell a vehicle as a private sale?

GrumpyDil

DB1904 said:

GrumpyDil said:

That depends entirely on who sold the car. OP needs to check. If it was sold by the limited company he would sue the company. If it was sold by the individual trading as abc then he would sue the individual. 

Looks like he has a limited company so can a trader sell a vehicle as a private sale?

Of course he can. E.g if he sold his own car but the question here seems to be did he sell it as a trader, via his company or as a private sale. If this came to court, given it was not his personal car but a friends, I suspect the view would be he was selling it as a trader but that would be something to argue in court if necessary. 

motorguy

GrumpyDil said:

DB1904 said:

GrumpyDil said:

That depends entirely on who sold the car. OP needs to check. If it was sold by the limited company he would sue the company. If it was sold by the individual trading as abc then he would sue the individual. 

Looks like he has a limited company so can a trader sell a vehicle as a private sale?

Of course he can. E.g if he sold his own car but the question here seems to be did he sell it as a trader, via his company or as a private sale. If this came to court, given it was not his personal car but a friends, I suspect the view would be he was selling it as a trader but that would be something to argue in court if necessary. 

Agreed.

And as a car openly described as "taken as a trade in", and the sellers name and address not on the V5C all points towards it being a trade sale by the trader, not a private sale by the trader.

Also, he drove it 400 miles on the open roads, so he must have been using at very least his trade plates to do so, and quite likely his trade insurance.  

I would say there would be a lot of squirming done by the seller if he had to sit in court with this.  Courts take a very dim view of driveway traders trying to avoid their responsibilities to a seller.  

Jenni_D

motorguy said:

GrumpyDil said:

DB1904 said:

GrumpyDil said:

That depends entirely on who sold the car. OP needs to check. If it was sold by the limited company he would sue the company. If it was sold by the individual trading as abc then he would sue the individual. 

Looks like he has a limited company so can a trader sell a vehicle as a private sale?

Of course he can. E.g if he sold his own car but the question here seems to be did he sell it as a trader, via his company or as a private sale. If this came to court, given it was not his personal car but a friends, I suspect the view would be he was selling it as a trader but that would be something to argue in court if necessary. 

Agreed.

And as a car openly described as "taken as a trade in", and the sellers name and address not on the V5C all points towards it being a trade sale by the trader, not a private sale by the trader.

Also, he drove it 400 miles on the open roads, so he must have been using at very least his trade plates to do so, and quite likely his trade insurance.  

I would say there would be a lot of squirming done by the seller if he had to sit in court with this.  Courts take a very dim view of driveway traders trying to avoid their responsibilities to a seller.  

And more importantly - HMRC.

motorguy

Jenni_D said:

motorguy said:

GrumpyDil said:

DB1904 said:

GrumpyDil said:

That depends entirely on who sold the car. OP needs to check. If it was sold by the limited company he would sue the company. If it was sold by the individual trading as abc then he would sue the individual. 

Looks like he has a limited company so can a trader sell a vehicle as a private sale?

Of course he can. E.g if he sold his own car but the question here seems to be did he sell it as a trader, via his company or as a private sale. If this came to court, given it was not his personal car but a friends, I suspect the view would be he was selling it as a trader but that would be something to argue in court if necessary. 

Agreed.

And as a car openly described as "taken as a trade in", and the sellers name and address not on the V5C all points towards it being a trade sale by the trader, not a private sale by the trader.

Also, he drove it 400 miles on the open roads, so he must have been using at very least his trade plates to do so, and quite likely his trade insurance.  

I would say there would be a lot of squirming done by the seller if he had to sit in court with this.  Courts take a very dim view of driveway traders trying to avoid their responsibilities to a seller.  

And more importantly - HMRC.

I totally agree - both for personal tax and VAT, but i cant see the courts being interested in getting involved there in terms of enforcing that.  

BUT, if i was the O/P, irrespective i;d be passing on my "findings" to HMRC.