Cancelled car sale, costs incurred

sclondon2018

Hi all. Any advice welcome. 

So I agreed to purchase a used car advertised on a main dealers website and paid a deposit to them and signed a sales order/contract. I was told the car would be ready in 10 days and so in order to get the money quickly I sold my car to WeBuyAnyCar for about £2500 less than I could have gotten privately which I intended to do but the timeframe meant I had to get rid urgently. 

I then get a call (2 days after the supposed ready date) saying the car hasn't passed their 'pre approved inspection' and they can't sell it to me and have to send it to auction. They've then sent my deposit back and despite saying they'll 'try' and find me an alternative nothing has happened. I am now essentially £2000-£2500 short for my new car because they agreed to sell me a car and then went back on it. 

Any ideas where I stand legally with regards to this loss I have incurred owing to them not checking the car is suitable for sale before advertising it AND entering into a contract to sell it to me and taking a deposit? 

Thanks. 

retiredbanker1

Unless you were trading in your old car against the new one the dealer has no liability for the fact you sold your car for £xxx.
Now you are a cash buyer you can get a better deal on your next car?

Would you really want this car if it did not pass their pre-inspection check - it must have had a major problem for them to send it for auction?
Be pleased they have been honest with you and did not sell you a lemon.

Ayr_Rage

You have know way of quantifying any loss, hoping for £2500 more from a private sale is just your guesswork.

As for legal standing, you don't have a leg to stand on as the only contract with the seller was for you to purchase their car, your own vehicle was not part of the contract so as you disposed of it of you own free will they have no liability to you.

They have returned your deposit and that is all they are obliged to do if they cannot supply the goods.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

You'd have to check the terms to see if they are permitted not to continue with the sale in such an event, if there is such a term you'd then have to check the contract is balanced and that you have equal rights not to continue on a discretionary basis. 

If the contract permits such and is fair then I don't think there is much to be done.

If it doesn't or is unfair then they have breached the contract and you are entitled to be in the position you would have been had they sold you the car.

I'm not sure that would cover you selling the car as it was your choice to do so and if you had purchased the car anywhere you'd have the same issue of having to sell the car quickly if you need the funds. 

What you may have is claim for loss of a bargain if you sourced another car (that was as close to the same as you can get) from somewhere else and it cost a fair bit more. 

Pragmatic approach is probably to see if the same place has another car that's of interest to you and politely lay it on thick to see if they'll knock a few quid off for the agro.  

Olinda99

agree with the above and would add that in the absence of the terms and conditions mentioned above then they have breached the contract and you entitled to the costs of them doing that

this could for example include hiring a car for a reasonable amount of time while you look for another one

I would also add that again in the absence of any specific terms of conditions, once a contract is signed and money paid the car becomes legally yours so unless there were terms of conditions allowing them to do so if it failed a pre-delivery check then they have effectively sold 'your' car. you could contact the auctioneers and say the garage does not have legal title to the car they are selling

but again check the terms conditions before you do anything as much of this may well be covered in them when you signed the contract

Grumpy_chap

sclondon2018 said:

Hi all. Any advice welcome. 

So I agreed to purchase a used car advertised on a main dealers website and paid a deposit to them and signed a sales order/contract. I was told the car would be ready in 10 days and so in order to get the money quickly I sold my car to WeBuyAnyCar for about £2500 less than I could have gotten privately which I intended to do but the timeframe meant I had to get rid urgently. 

I then get a call (2 days after the supposed ready date) saying the car hasn't passed their 'pre approved inspection' and they can't sell it to me and have to send it to auction. They've then sent my deposit back and despite saying they'll 'try' and find me an alternative nothing has happened. I am now essentially £2000-£2500 short for my new car because they agreed to sell me a car and then went back on it. 

Any ideas where I stand legally with regards to this loss I have incurred owing to them not checking the car is suitable for sale before advertising it AND entering into a contract to sell it to me and taking a deposit? 

Thanks. 

To assess whether you truly lost the £2.5k, what other offers did you obtain for your old car before accepting the WBAC offer?
If all the offers were similar, then the extra £2.5k via private sale was possibly unrealistic.  Not every advertised price sells at, or near, that advertised price.

On balance, you are probably better that the supplying Trader did a proper inspection of the car and honestly decided to move on via the trade than proceed with the sale and lumber you with a problem.

sclondon2018

Thanks all for your replies. I do agree completely that it's best I know now, it's more the fact that they advertised the car and essentially sold it to me without inspecting it was suitable which has led to me to not having a vehicle to get to work in and 'potentially' loosing the extra money I could have used to buy a different car with. Their actions or lack thereof in my opinion have started a chain of events which have now led me to incur a (potential unless proved) financial loss and hardship. 

sclondon2018

So I have just looked at the 'Vehicle Order Form' which has all the details of the vehicle on and DOES NOT mention that the vehicle must be checked first. 

It also states:

Subject to the terms and conditions overleaf, you (the Purchaser) will purchase and we (the Vendor) will sell the Vehicle and/part(s) described above (the "Goods") for the Purchase Price specified above.

The only parts of the T&C's overleaf that I can see that are even vaguely relevant are as follows...

DELIVERY;

We may give you notice cancelling this Agreement at any time before delivery if the Manufacturer ceases to make the model or specification of goods, or if we are unable to obtain them from the importer or other supplier, and clause 14 will apply. (not the case)

If we are unable to supply any accessory (factory fitted or otherwise) you have ordered as part of the specification, we will contact you and offer at your option either to substitute a reasonable equivalent or to delete the accessory from this Agreement and adjust the Purchase Price accordingly. Subject to this, you shall have no claim against us in respect of our failure to supply any accessory, and shall not be entitled to cancel the Agreement. (also not the case)

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY;

Unless set out otherwise below, we limit our liability for any breach of this Agreement (and for any other liability arising out of or connected to this Agreement) to the amount of the Purchase Price. We expressly exclude all liability for loss of profit, good will or contracts and for any indirect, consequential or economic loss. The limitations of liability in this clause 21 do not apply in cases of fraud, death or personal injury.

There is no mention of them needing to do any checks of the vehicle or that they can cancel it if it isn't suitable. I have been looking at similar vehicles and I can only find them at around £2000-£3000 more expensive for the same specifications, mileage, age, etc from elsewhere.

Ozzig

sclondon2018 said:

There is no mention of them needing to do any checks of the vehicle or that they can cancel it if it isn't suitable. I have been looking at similar vehicles and I can only find them at around £2000-£3000 more expensive for the same specifications, mileage, age, etc from elsewhere.

Is the relationship healthy enough to ask them which auction they sent it to?
Might be worth a punt bidding on the car you were buying anyway and hopefully any money saved could go to the cost of making good whatever they didn't like about it.

sclondon2018

Ozzig said:

sclondon2018 said:

There is no mention of them needing to do any checks of the vehicle or that they can cancel it if it isn't suitable. I have been looking at similar vehicles and I can only find them at around £2000-£3000 more expensive for the same specifications, mileage, age, etc from elsewhere.

Is the relationship healthy enough to ask them which auction they sent it to?
Might be worth a punt bidding on the car you were buying anyway and hopefully any money saved could go to the cost of making good whatever they didn't like about it.

Yes they did tell me but unfortunately it is a trade only auction. Apparently it was some rear end damage from a few years ago that has been repaired sufficiently, but as it wasn't repaired by them they said they can't warranty the car and as such will send it to auction. I asked if they could just re-do the repair (I don't think it was anything major) so they could warranty it and they said no.

Aylesbury_Duck

sclondon2018 said:

So I have just looked at the 'Vehicle Order Form' which has all the details of the vehicle on and DOES NOT mention that the vehicle must be checked first. 

It also states:

Subject to the terms and conditions overleaf, you (the Purchaser) will purchase and we (the Vendor) will sell the Vehicle and/part(s) described above (the "Goods") for the Purchase Price specified above.

The only parts of the T&C's overleaf that I can see that are even vaguely relevant are as follows...

DELIVERY;

We may give you notice cancelling this Agreement at any time before delivery if the Manufacturer ceases to make the model or specification of goods, or if we are unable to obtain them from the importer or other supplier, and clause 14 will apply. (not the case)

If we are unable to supply any accessory (factory fitted or otherwise) you have ordered as part of the specification, we will contact you and offer at your option either to substitute a reasonable equivalent or to delete the accessory from this Agreement and adjust the Purchase Price accordingly. Subject to this, you shall have no claim against us in respect of our failure to supply any accessory, and shall not be entitled to cancel the Agreement. (also not the case)

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY;

Unless set out otherwise below, we limit our liability for any breach of this Agreement (and for any other liability arising out of or connected to this Agreement) to the amount of the Purchase Price. We expressly exclude all liability for loss of profit, good will or contracts and for any indirect, consequential or economic loss. The limitations of liability in this clause 21 do not apply in cases of fraud, death or personal injury.

There is no mention of them needing to do any checks of the vehicle or that they can cancel it if it isn't suitable. I have been looking at similar vehicles and I can only find them at around £2000-£3000 more expensive for the same specifications, mileage, age, etc from elsewhere.

It may not mention that it would be checked first, but it's much better that it is.  Plenty of threads crop up here where a car clearly hasn't been checked before sale, or if it has, that the check wasn't thorough or results were ignored.  If they'd said to you "Would you like us to check the car before the sale is completed?", what would you have said?

I agree with you that the first two clauses there are not relevant to your situation, but the limitation of liability section is.  Selling your car was a voluntary process, so I don't think you have any rights there when it comes to the price you got versus what you think you might have done, given more time.  That leaves the loss of bargain argument if you have found a genuinely close match that costs £2000 more, but it needs to be genuine.

I agree with the suggestion to go to the auction and try and buy it that way, but personally, I'd be glad I've avoided buying what sounds like a problem car that was perhaps priced accordingly.  I wonder if there was something about it that made it so unusually cheap and which had deteriorated further to the point where they didn't want to sell it to you as a consumer?