Private sale for van

born_again

Have you asked if they are prepared to cover the cost of you getting the repair done elsewhere?

Ectophile

Given that it was a business purchase, and it was "sold as seen" then you have little rights other than to have a van.  I don't see why he has to do anything for you any more.

ledge97

born_again said:

Have you asked if they are prepared to cover the cost of you getting the repair done elsewhere?

Yes, there reply was they aren't prepared to pay for it. They promised me they was going to have the van back for the 2nd time, but left me waiting nearly 2 months. They ignored my phone calls and messages, and it wasn't until I emailed them the 'breach of contract' letter that they gave me that response. 

ledge97

Ectophile said:

Given that it was a business purchase, and it was "sold as seen" then you have little rights other than to have a van.  I don't see why he has to do anything for you any more.

My understanding is that under B2B rights and Sales of goods act 1979, he's sold me a van not 'fit for purpose'. 'Sold as seen' doesn't mean anything as there was no terms or conditions when purchasing the van. For example if he stated that I'm buying the van on the basis of the leak/fault, then I'm accepting those conditions when buying it, but just saying 'sold as seen' doesn't mean anything if he doesn't state whats wrong with it. Had it been a private sale, maybe that would be different, but he's a business selling vans to make a profit. 

The van was sold with a recon engine, which was stated on the invoice, along with six month's warranty. The recon engine was purchased a month before I bought the van. A recon engine shouldn't be leaking, and therefore isn't 'fit for purpose'. 

I gave him the right to repair, which he failed to get right the first time he had it. I then made him aware that it was leaking again and he agreed to have it back again, but then parred me off for 2 months. 

bris

You do have rights but its difficult to enforce them on a B2B sale with a sold as seen description.

Unless you were given certain promises regarding the van then as a business you are expected to do your own due diligence on the condition of the van.

You have to also factor in age and mileage for second hand vehicles as normal wear and tear isn't classed as a fault.

A working van can take a lot of punishment, for instance every thing just gets crammed in my van, 8x4 sheet jammed up to the roof, timber stacked up in a similar way can all have a negative affect affect when going over bumps. etc. 

If you do have anything in writing including texts saying they are going to fix it that would be all you need, regardless of later ones saying the opposite  

ledge97

Thanks for your reply 👍

As for the description of the van, the paperwork states '6 months warranty on recon engine' which I have the paperwork for the recon engine that he purchased. He purchased the recon engine, installed it, and sold the van to me with warranty on the engine. I can only assume a recon engine would be fit for purpose and not susceptible to wear and tear.

Yeah I have everything in writing 👍 I have emails with photos attached saying he's going to book it in and repair the leak.

The thing is I've been advised by citizens advice to not have the work done by a third party garage until he agrees to it, as he could argue that the van has been compromised. But when I sent him the quotes, he replied saying he wasn't going to pay it and he would do it when he has a premises and equipment. But in my defense, he's had it once already, I gave him 2 months to booked it again, and he still can't do it.

DullGreyGuy

ledge97 said
'Sold as seen' doesn't mean anything as there was no terms or conditions when purchasing the van. 

All contracts have terms and conditions, some are helpfully written into contracts which both parties sign and others are verbal making it hard to say what the terms were plus there are implied terms such that if you hire a business to do a job they are competent at doing that work unless they have called out otherwise.

When you say leak and van I assumed you meant there is water ingress into the back of the van but as you keep mentioning the engine is reconditioned and warrantied is it some other form of leak?

You said you sent a "breach of contract" letter with a 14 day notice... what did that letter state would happen after the 14 days?

sheramber

I bought the van knowing it probably isn't a legitimate business, and I took a gamble... given how sketchy the findings have been so far, I may just have to take the loss. 

Have you answered your own question?

ledge97

sheramber said:

I bought the van knowing it probably isn't a legitimate business, and I took a gamble... given how sketchy the findings have been so far, I may just have to take the loss. 

Have you answered your own question?

I wasn't really feeling confident to begin with to be honest, however I've gave him every chance to rectify the problem and I gave him over 2 months to repair it for the 2nd time. I also gave him the option to get a quote himself, and haven't had a response for 2 weeks. After getting legal advice, I feel more confident moving forward, im just trying to understand the process.

ledge97

DullGreyGuy said:

ledge97 said
'Sold as seen' doesn't mean anything as there was no terms or conditions when purchasing the van. 

All contracts have terms and conditions, some are helpfully written into contracts which both parties sign and others are verbal making it hard to say what the terms were plus there are implied terms such that if you hire a business to do a job they are competent at doing that work unless they have called out otherwise.

When you say leak and van I assumed you meant there is water ingress into the back of the van but as you keep mentioning the engine is reconditioned and warrantied is it some other form of leak?

You said you sent a "breach of contract" letter with a 14 day notice... what did that letter state would happen after the 14 days?

I get that. In my case I've bought the van from a sole trader, who was selling the van with a reconditioned engine. He provided me with paperwork for the reconditioned engine, and also receipts for all the other parts he installed on the engine as proof i.e new clutch, new brakes, new top mounts etc. 

The leak was engine oil from the sump, which he agreed to repair (in writing).

In the 'breach of contract letter' (via email), I stated 'if I don't receive a response within 14 days, I will be forced to pursue legal action to enforce my rights and recover the costs incurred'. 

To which he responded 'if you go ahead with this I will not be paying the bill.' He then when on to say that he doesn't have a premises, nor the equipment to repair the van. As soon as he has, the van will be the first booked in.

I then responded saying that I've given him sufficient time to repair the van again, which i have an email from him saying that he 'hopes' to book the van in 1st week of April. But given that it's impossible for him to repair the van at this time, I will get the work done elsewhere and recover the costs. I also said that i was happy for him to get a third party quote himself. Now its been 2 weeks since I sent that response and I've had no reply.