Sold car without get buyers address

Warren100uk

Hi all, just looking for some advise please.

Last week we sold our father's car who passed away. The car was transferred into my wife's name as we wanted to use it for our mother but she decided she wanted it gone. Put it up for sale and someone wanted to come see it. 4 lads turned up, went over the car, test drove it and said they wanted it. Paid cash, I went to get the by to get their details but they said they were in a rush and asked for the new owner slip. Never sold a car before and now I know that was a mistake. Wife called DVLA next day and they said to send the V5 with a letter and they would take her off the registration. This week we get a letter to say the car was abandoned and has been recovered and they want £400 for costs to get the car back. 

Guess my question is if we don't want the car back are well still responsible for the costs if we don't collect the car? Wife called the recovery company and they gave the hard sell to get her to pay now. She explained we sold it, cancelled the insurance that night and don't want the car back.

We know now would should have got an address, we do have his name which I know is him because it was sold on Facebook and I have his profile but he could have give any false info I guess.

Any help advise would be appreciated.

Thanks 

k3lvc

Presumably the car was cheap enough that they've used it as a runaround/pool car for a few days and they had no intention of you knowing who they were

Can't answer whether you're on the hook for any costs from the recovery comany but I'd be holing on to all the correspondence (FB messages and to DVLA)

prowla

I once made that mistake and I subsequently received a couple of tickets.

The police and DVLA were helpful in resolving the issue.

Tiexen

Next time you sell a car download this from the AA:

https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/buyers-sellers-contracts

When you sell a used car privately, it is important to provide the buyer with a 'sold as seen, tried and approved without guarantee' receipt.

You should bear in mind that this doesn't affect the buyer's legal rights – the car must match any description that you give in writing or verbally in the course of the sale.

And you can't use a 'sold as seen' receipt to cover the possibility that the car may be unroadworthy either. The law is clear – it's illegal to sell a car in an unroadworthy condition.

If you're selling a used car, print two copies of our car seller's contract and complete them in front of the buyer. Each party should sign and keep a copy of this document as proof of sale.

ontheroad1970

Anyone can start a facebook account with any details they like.  

tightauldgit

if a car is found abandoned they will contact the registered keeper of course about it, but in this case it's not yours anymore as you sold it. You might have a bit of admin hassle on it, but other than that you shouldn't be on the hook for any costs. You might need to contact the police or they might well be in contact with you. 

While you should have got an address to pass to DVLA in reality they could have given you a false address and you'd have been none the wiser anyway

Car_54

tightauldgit said:

if a car is found abandoned they will contact the registered keeper of course about it, but in this case it's not yours anymore as you sold it. You might have a bit of admin hassle on it, but other than that you shouldn't be on the hook for any costs. You might need to contact the police or they might well be in contact with you. 

While you should have got an address to pass to DVLA in reality they could have given you a false address and you'd have been none the wiser anyway

But if the OP had given the false address to the DVLA, no-one would be chasing him for £400.

peter_the_piper

Does it matter when the DVLA took her name off her name off compared to when it was recovered?

Grey_Critic

What is it worth? Much more than £400 and abandoned - take possesion and apply for a v5 and start again.

facade

Grey_Critic said:

What is it worth? Much more than £400 and abandoned - take possesion and apply for a v5 and start again.

Apart from being dishonest, there may be a multitude of crimes associated with the car since it was sold, if only speeding/parking tickets.

walwyn1978

Yep, and it could be red flagged on police systems as being involved with crime/drugs/whatever else. I wouldn’t rush to take possession again, you’ll be opening yourself up to spending plenty of time explaining yourself to the boys and girls in blue