Defendant small claims court

Sandtree

Cooper11294 said:

Can anyone tell me what constitute's "roadworthy?" I always thought it was the MOT, but the claimant is saying it wasn't roadworthy because the engine blew?

MOT shows it passes the minimum legal safety and environmental requirements... I would argue that roadworthy goes beyond purely safety requirements. A car that breaks down every 3 minutes could in theory pass an MOT but you wouldn't call it roadworthy  

unholyangel

Sandtree said:

Cooper11294 said:

Can anyone tell me what constitute's "roadworthy?" I always thought it was the MOT, but the claimant is saying it wasn't roadworthy because the engine blew?

MOT shows it passes the minimum legal safety and environmental requirements... I would argue that roadworthy goes beyond purely safety requirements. A car that breaks down every 3 minutes could in theory pass an MOT but you wouldn't call it roadworthy  

Easier for a vehicle to pass roadworthy than it is an MOT. You will not get an unroadworthy vehicle passing an MOT, but a vehicle that fails an MOT is not necessarily unroadworthy. 

Unroadworthy has a specific meaning which actually is solely based on safety.  Brakes, steering....all things that, if not maintained, make the vehicle potentially dangerous even when handled by experts.

Manxman_in_exile

If the OP has actually received a court claim - as opposed to a threat - it might be helpful to see what the Particulars of Claim are.

It might be that the purchaser/claimant has expressed their claim in terms of saying the car was not "roadworthy", but unless they're a lawyer they probably don't know what that actually means.

I think focusing on what "roadworthy" means might be a distraction for the OP and they might be better advised to concentrate on what exactly is alleged by the purchaser/claimant.

(I remember several years ago - shortly after I joined this forum - that there was a similar thread where the OP had a claim against them regarding a private sale they had made.  The OP was assured that they had nothing to worry about as it was a private sale.  IIRC they lost the case in court and the consensus here was that the judge had misunderstood the law.  Which I'm sure does sometimes happen.)

Cooper11294

No vehicle/s were sold around the same time, or any other time. They are saying it wasn't advertised properly,  didn't mention engine rebuild (but told them as soon as they got here. It was sorn so hadn't been driven far, they were also informed of that ,and didn't say there was only one key. You only have so many words you can use in adverts 

pinkshoes

Cooper11294 said:

No vehicle/s were sold around the same time, or any other time. They are saying it wasn't advertised properly,  didn't mention engine rebuild (but told them as soon as they got here. It was sorn so hadn't been driven far, they were also informed of that ,and didn't say there was only one key. You only have so many words you can use in adverts 

 But WHAT did the advert say?!?!

If would be REALLY helpful if you could let us know this, as it is VERY important. 

You rebuilt the engine and it blew up after 40 miles, so it doesn't look good!