Private used car sale

Stokiest75

I sold a car on Sunday just gone, advertised it on Marketplace on Saturday. On Sunday I had a reply to my ad and a couple turned up in the afternoon.
They had a look around it and liked it, so we went for a test drive, during which she tested various controls including the air con which wasn't cold, she remarked on this saying it was important that the air con had to be OK, I said that I hadn't been bothered by it not working as I didn't use it and it sapped fuel too.
She was happy on the rest of the test drive and they decided to buy it. 
The car, a Nissan Note diesel 12 plate had service history-12 stamps in book, invoices and bills for over £3000 spent by previous owner over last 3 years, 2020 to 2023, had tyres and exhaust and brakes done, between last year and this, so was quite well looked after. Cam belt done in Jan 21 by local garage for£500.
I had bought car in Feb this year as my job was supposed to be changing and travelling more but it didn't happen that way so I decided to sell it. 
Anyway upshot is yesterday I had a text saying she wasn't happy with the car and wanted a refund, as she had gone to a garage yesterday for the aircon to be looked at and they told her it had a leak and was going to be pricy to put right, also they had taken timing belt covers off and said the fuel pump sprocket was buckled and could cause engine failure at any time, so I had sold her a defective car.
I replied last night how could I know that the sprocket was buckled as I had no reason to take belt cover off as I had invoice for the belt being replaced so that was sufficient, also if sprocket was damaged would not previous garage who did the job pick it up and report it to customer, plus how do you buckle a sprocket that substantial?
So she has quoted sale of goods act and not being fit for purpose. What I have read only states that as long as advert is true and what I told them was enough.
I had serviced the car before hand with oil and all filters plus antifreeze so that cost me 150 pounds plus I sold it for less than I paid for it obviously. 
So do I have to give refund or even some money back at all or is that admission of guilt? They had opportunities to not buy the car to start with in regard to the aircon mot being as it should but went ahead and bought anyway so in my mind accepted the fact it wasn't working as it should. I could have even taken it to get it checked out if they had put off buying it perhaps, I have an appointment at citizen's advice after work I just wanted opinion so I have got an idea what to say when I see them.
Sorry to be so long winded, if I don't want to give them a refund will have them turning up at my house possibly causing aggro that's the trouble. 
Ad was as follows:
NISSAN Note 1.5 dci March 12.99800miles service history-12 stamps in book, Nissan folder with all books, 2 keys. Bills and receipts for work carried out including timing belt and water pump in Jan 21 81236 miles. New tyres, discs and pads last year, new exhaust in Jan 23 at mot some wear to drivers seat. Radio code card and ign key code card for replacement keys.
So not described wrongly at all. 
Views on the matter appreciated 

caprikid1

If all the above is correct then the only response is, sorry cannot help you. I sold the car in good faith accurately described.

As you have correctly pointed out Sale of Goods Act is more B2C related than for private sales as long as you accurately described it.

It is not uncommon for people to accept minor faults and then find out it's not a £5 fix but thats not your problem.

Ultimately it comes down to how much hassle you can tolerate and can you hold your nerve.

The normal Pistonheads response is

1. Is the car described accurately ?
2. Sorry your car now.
3. Block their number
4. See you in court ....

caprikid1

Incidentally the normal ask is for a substantial discount, these types of buyers are professional traders / scam artists. 

Your buyers are the type that should be buying new / from a garage.

CliveOfIndia

Private sale, sold as seen, buyer beware.

She's trying it on.  Firstly, she knew the aircon was broken, but still bought it.  Any other "hidden" faults such as the fuel pump sprocket is just bad luck, a private seller is not expected to know about stuff like that.

Bottom line - you advertised the car honestly, told the buyer about any known faults, didn't deliberately lie about anything.  She hasn't got a leg to stand on, I'm afraid.

The only possible comeback a private buyer might have would be if you deliberately lied - for instance, advertising that the cambelt had been replaced 1000 miles ago when you know damn well it hadn't.  And even that can be difficult to prove.

As it stands, you need to politely tell her you're very sorry but you sold the car in good faith, she test drove it and decided she wanted to buy it.  Not your problem any more.  And she certainly has no right for a refund, whether full or partial.

Clive_Woody

Time for car inspection is before handing over cash. Sold as seen.

Aretnap

CliveOfIndia said:

The only possible comeback a private buyer might have would be if you deliberately lied - for instance, advertising that the cambelt had been replaced 1000 miles ago when you know damn well it hadn't.  And even that can be difficult to prove.

Not that it affects the OP but for completeness, even as a private seller you are responsible for ensuring that your description of the car is accurate, and if the car is not as described there is no need for the buyer to prove that any deception was deliberate.

So if you are, say asked if the car has ever been in an accident and you say no, if it turns out that it was crashed and repaired badly by a previous owner then the buyer may still have a case, even though you didn't know that you were describing it inaccurately. You can of course get round the problem by saying something like "not as far as I know, but I haven't owned it from new".

Hence it's also best to avoid saying things like "Fantastic condition! Extremely reliable!" in adverts and stick to simple statements of fact which you can be confident are true, as the OP appears to have done.

HillStreetBlues

I agree with the others. Caveat emptor.

Grumpy_chap

So long as you are a true private seller, you can simply say that the car was "sold as seen" and you described accurately and no refund is possible.
No need to elaborate and certainly do not get into any further or protracted discussions.  
Ignore any threats of courts etc.

If I read the post correctly, this is a 13-yo 130k mile car and priced appropriately.  The buyer can't expect perfection from that.

If the buyer can find evidence that you have a repeat practice of buying cars and selling on after a few months, they maybe able to challenge you claim to be a private seller.  Not an issue at all if you bought the car expecting a new job and it simply did not realise as you expected.

Stokiest75 said:

I sold a car on Sunday just gone, advertised it on Marketplace on Saturday. On Sunday I had a reply to my ad and a couple turned up in the afternoon.
They had a look around it and liked it, so we went for a test drive, during which she tested various controls including the air con which wasn't cold, she remarked on this saying it was important that the air con had to be OK, I said that I hadn't been bothered by it not working as I didn't use it and it sapped fuel too.
She was happy on the rest of the test drive and they decided to buy it. 
The car, a Nissan Note diesel 12 plate had service history-12 stamps in book, invoices and bills for over £3000 spent by previous owner over last 3 years, 2020 to 2023, had tyres and exhaust and brakes done, between last year and this, so was quite well looked after. Cam belt done in Jan 21 by local garage for£500.
I had bought car in Feb this year as my job was supposed to be changing and travelling more but it didn't happen that way so I decided to sell it. 
Anyway upshot is yesterday I had a text saying she wasn't happy with the car and wanted a refund, as she had gone to a garage yesterday for the aircon to be looked at and they told her it had a leak and was going to be pricy to put right, also they had taken timing belt covers off and said the fuel pump sprocket was buckled and could cause engine failure at any time, so I had sold her a defective car.
I replied last night how could I know that the sprocket was buckled as I had no reason to take belt cover off as I had invoice for the belt being replaced so that was sufficient, also if sprocket was damaged would not previous garage who did the job pick it up and report it to customer, plus how do you buckle a sprocket that substantial?
So she has quoted sale of goods act and not being fit for purpose. What I have read only states that as long as advert is true and what I told them was enough.
I had serviced the car before hand with oil and all filters plus antifreeze so that cost me 150 pounds plus I sold it for less than I paid for it obviously. 
So do I have to give refund or even some money back at all or is that admission of guilt? They had opportunities to not buy the car to start with in regard to the aircon mot being as it should but went ahead and bought anyway so in my mind accepted the fact it wasn't working as it should. I could have even taken it to get it checked out if they had put off buying it perhaps, I have an appointment at citizen's advice after work I just wanted opinion so I have got an idea what to say when I see them.
Sorry to be so long winded, if I don't want to give them a refund will have them turning up at my house possibly causing aggro that's the trouble. 
Ad was as follows:
NISSAN Note 1.5 dci March 12.99800miles service history-12 stamps in book, Nissan folder with all books, 2 keys. Bills and receipts for work carried out including timing belt and water pump in Jan 21 81236 miles. New tyres, discs and pads last year, new exhaust in Jan 23 at mot some wear to drivers seat. Radio code card and ign key code card for replacement keys.
So not described wrongly at all. 
Views on the matter appreciated 

Aretnap

Stokiest75 said:

So she has quoted sale of goods act and not being fit for purpose. What I have read only states that as long as advert is true and what I told them was enough.

Her referring to the Sale of Goods Act is a bit of a giveaway that she doesn't know what she's taking about, as the Sale of Goods Act has been mostly replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. So she's 8 years out of date, on top of being just plain wrong.
 
Whether under SoGA or the CRA you are correct that the requirement for a car to be "fit for purpose" only applies if you are a trader, i.e. someone who buys and sells cars professionally/for profit. If you're a private seller the only statutory grounds she would have for a refund would be if the car was not as you described it, or if you did not have good title to the car (i.e. if it was not yours to sell in the first place). 

Stokiest75

Thanks for the replies much appreciated 

Stokiest75

As an after thought what about if I am threatened with court action? How involved is that.