Private sale

jansky82

All she has is a written statement by me. I called it proof of sale and it states that the she have seen, inspected and tested the car. It also says that the buyer must tax and insure the car in the moment of sale and whatever happens it is buyer's responsibility. 

She has send me a picture of the dashboard about 5 hours after the sale with some faults showing up. There was no faults when she test drove the car. 

I am not a car dealer, I am a private person. 

I will be seeking citizens advice and solicitor as I feel threatened

The_Fat_Controller

There have been several topics on exactly this type of issue over the last few months.

DO NOT engage any further with the buyer, they took the car as seen and have no comeback unless you omitted any relevant information.

If they continue to harass you tell her you will be calling the police. 

knightstyle

How did she prove the picture was 5 hours after buying, pic dates can be altered. Plus why didn't she ask for her money back when these 'faults' appeared? Surely that is what any normal person would do.
She may be genuine but it all sounds like a scam to get a free car for a couple of weeks.

jansky82

She did ask for a refund for the car and all the costs to repair it in the letter 3 weeks after the sale, however now she wants to take legal action (the image is from the night 5 hours after the sale apparently). I responded to the first letter saying that I will not refund the money explaining gently why. I also said that if she wants to take legal action, then I will await her response, thinking it would be the end of it. Clearly now she wants to take me to court.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

Assuming you are really just a private seller and did not misrepresent the car then it is buyer beware ,  I would keep any screen grabs or printed adverts safe though. This is on the basis that no false claims were made, for instance 'MOT passed with no advisories - when in fact there were some, or 50,000 on the clock where it actually is nearer 60,000.

https://www.whatcar.com/advice/selling/what-if-a-car-i-sold-privately-goes-wrong/n20219

OP this is pretty much the correct advice.

The Consumer Rights Act doesn't apply, parts of the Sale of Goods Act do in that the car must have been as described. 

So if you simply advertise a "car" with a photo then the condition could be anything, if you advertise a car as being "in top condition with no problems" then the car must match that description. Your description would include any information you told buyer, what was said verbally is hard to demonstrate, anything in emails, text messages, messenger, etc would count towards the description. 

You must have title to sell the car (i.e it's yours to sell) and it must be roadworthy,  I'm not sure what that last bit means specifically, the motoring forum might know more

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/motoring

If you think the car was correctly described and meets the definition of roadworthy then it's unlikely the buyer has a claim. 

Belenus

jansky82 said:

All she has is a written statement by me. I called it proof of sale and it states that the she have seen, inspected and tested the car. It also says that the buyer must tax and insure the car in the moment of sale and whatever happens it is buyer's responsibility. 

She has send me a picture of the dashboard about 5 hours after the sale with some faults showing up. There was no faults when she test drove the car. 

I am not a car dealer, I am a private person. 

I will be seeking citizens advice and solicitor as I feel threatened

Jansky, please stop worrying. You don't need to consult citizens advice or a solicitor. This woman is almost certainly just bluffing hoping that you will cave in.

Ignore any further correspondence unless she sends a Solicitors Letter, a Letter Before Action or issues County Court proceedings. That is extremely unlikely.

If she starts to further harass you in any way report it to the Police.

Do not give in to chancers or bullies.

NBLondon

jansky82 said:

I also said that if she wants to take legal action, then I will await her response, thinking it would be the end of it. Clearly now she wants to take me to court.

That was the correct response.  "She wants to take you to court" is not the same as "she will take you to court" is not the same as "she will get the court to agree with her".

She may have been very unlucky that those faults all happened just after buying the car - or she may have damaged it in the interim.  Or - cynical view - she may have already had a faulty car of the same model; used parts from the car she bought from you to repair it and then took the photo after putting the dodgy parts in the car she now wants to return.

Ignore until you get an actual court notification.

GadgetGuru

Echo the above comments.
If she has had £3000 worth of work done to the car, then it is not the same car that you sold and you can no longer accept it back anyways. DO NOT respond to the buyer any further. This is just pressure in order to panic you, which it seems she is succeeding in doing. You do not need to spend any money on a solicitor etc - hold your ground, or just block her messages. 

JetpackVelociraptor

It starts off with a vague threat regarding one fault that appeared 2 weeks later. If you don't cave in to that, they escalate - now it's legal action, and a whole host of faults that have cost her tonnes of money already and started just 5 hours after she bought it! Next thing it will probably have viciously maimed someone's grandchild, she'll be a nervous wreck with huge health issues from all the stress involved and her uncle or husband will be a consumer rights lawyer...

I don't believe a word of it. If it was faulty 5 hours later, if it was so badly faulty she felt the need to photograph the warning lights on the dashboard, why didn't she contact you then? Why did it take her 2 weeks to get on to you, why did she choose to spend £3000 at the dealership before getting in touch with you about it? Has she shown you a receipt for the £3000?

Regardless, ignore it until she actually takes legal action. If you get a letter before action, seek professional advice or at least talk to citizens advice. Private sellers aren't held to the same standards as businesses, you're not expected to be an expert in cars in order to sell your own car. As long as you haven't lied about the condition of the vehicle, and it doesn't sound like you have, then you've done nothing wrong.

Spoonie_Turtle

JetpackVelociraptor said:

If it was faulty 5 hours later, if it was so badly faulty she felt the need to photograph the warning lights on the dashboard, why didn't she contact you then?

This bit here is the stinkiest bit.  If it really developed a fault that quickly, why not contact you then, or even the next day?  Three weeks is ludicrous.