Private sale help

Mrs44474

I was going to respond to the last letter and pick each of his points.. And end with something that shows we're done now and will not partake in this back and forth anymore... 

Or is that not wise? Or is it just that its not worth my time? 

Thank you all for your help. 

user1977

Bradden said:

I've no idea how @user1977 can say with any degree of certainty that they will not go "legal" without knowing what has been said by both parties.

From the (reasonable) inference from what we've been told that nothing was said about the timing chain prior to the sale.

Yes, of course it's always possible somebody will raise a fruitless court action against you, but it's unlikely for them to bother spending more time and money unless they've actually got a case.

The_Fat_Controller

IGNORE THEM

That is what to do.

It was a private sale.

TimSynths

You need to stop communicating with them now- not your car, not your problem as long as your advert didn't say-"brand new timing chain with guarantee" you have nothing to worry about.

Mrs44474

TimSynths said:

You need to stop communicating with them now- not your car, not your problem as long as your advert didn't say-"brand new timing chain with guarantee" you have nothing to worry about.

The timing chain was never mentioned. 

user1977

Becky44474 said:

The majority say ignore but I feel so rude!

What would you call attempting to sue you for something which isn't your liability?

Mrs44474

user1977 said:

Becky44474 said:

The majority say ignore but I feel so rude!

What would you call attempting to sue you for something which isn't your liability?

Fair point. Though hopefully we don't get to suing.. 😵

Bradden

Becky44474 said:

Bradden said:

 you may have inadvertantly opened a can of worm whilst trying to to the right thing.

Could you explain this please?

The difficult thing is, the buyers asked zero questions. We were very forthcoming in faults we knew of, but they didn't ask anything. We asked if they had questions and they said no... But I fear it's going to turn into a case of he said she said... What if they lie?? 

I didn't mean to alarm you.. I was just being cautious as we didn't know with any certainty if you had had potentially said anything which could have been used against you whilst trying to be decent and offering to pay for any of the costs they had claimed. I'm happy to hear that it doesn't seem the case.

Bradden

user1977 said:

Bradden said:

I've no idea how @user1977 can say with any degree of certainty that they will not go "legal" without knowing what has been said by both parties.

From the (reasonable) inference from what we've been told that nothing was said about the timing chain prior to the sale.

Yes, of course it's always possible somebody will raise a fruitless court action against you, but it's unlikely for them to bother spending more time and money unless they've actually got a case.

Completey agree it's a reasonable inference... I just couldn't see how you could be certain when the OP said this "We paid for a part that they originally thought it was, as a goodwill gesture. It wasn't that and its now come to light its the timing chain. " which I thought may have potentially weakened their case to deny any liability. I may have been wrong but I thought it was worth querying.

Undervalued

Becky44474 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Private sale so it is totally "caveat emptor".

You have already been generous in providing a "part" as a goodwill gesture.  What was that part?
If the timing belt went, that would be apparent immediately it went.

Who tampered with the timing belt?  Was it the buyer?  How do they know it had been tampered with, given the belt went?

Anyway, you need to avoid any further engagement with them.  Definitely do not offer a sum of money back.
The only exception would be depending on the nature of these "formal letters" - are these just letters to threaten, or are these formal legal letters - letter before action?

It was a camshaft censor, that's what they thought it was.. 

The tampering of the timing belt I've no idea. I think theyre trying to imply we tampered with it to get it sold? Something about a fudged job to silicone a cover or something. I have no idea. Though that was only mentioned in text and phone call and they've not mentioned that since, which is weird. They just keep saying the belt has slipped/snapped.

The formal letters are just templates that I assume people use for car sales from businesses.. Nothing from small claims. I'm sure the judge wouldn't even give it time of day, but we've been screwed over with parking tickets before through small claims when we were in the right too! 

When was the timing belt / chain last changed?

This is an important item which should be changed at the manufacturer's recommended interval which will be a combination of age and miles. Although they will often last far longer it can do substantial damage to the engine if it fails, hence the replacement schedule. Sometimes one will fail early, either due to another fault that puts excessive load on the belt / chain or very very occasionally due to a defect in the belt or chain.

If you can show that it was changed as recommended then you have done nothing wrong. If, on the other hand you knew that it was due for changing or were totally negligent then the buyer has at least a moral case!

As other have said legally it is generally "caveat emptor" but not if the item was deliberately missdescribed. They might try to claim (perhaps falsely) that they asked about this critical item and you wrongly told them it was in date.