We Buy any Car - Changing their mind

pinkshoes

@Bmd1989 before you went to WBAC, what other quotes did you have to sell the car? What were you expecting them to offer?

You bought a car for £44k, and sold it 6 months later and WBAC (who are not known for being generous) offer you just £1k less than you paid, which is remarkable!

I was initially assuming this was some rare car that was on order for months, and was in demand so hence the high re-sale price. (My DH bought a motorbike then sold it 12 months later for the same price as they were in demand, and it just wasn't the right bike for him).

But those more knowledgeable are suggesting that the "book" price would be nearer £35k, which must have been what you were expecting, so surely you were rather surprised by the WBAC valuation??

This is sounding much more like an admin error and mistake, so you might end up needing some sort of contract law specialist. The difference in value and valuation are such a long way out that a court would likely view this as an obvious mistake. 

ArbitraryRandom

pinkshoes said:

This is sounding much more like an admin error and mistake, so you might end up needing some sort of contract law specialist. The difference in value and valuation are such a long way out that a court would likely view this as an obvious mistake. 

Maybe... but WBAC would need to explain why the online valuation AND the in person assessment both made the same mistake (and if any part of that was the OP's fault). 

I'd suggest (without prejudice) a settlement somewhere in the middle... otherwise it's the kind of thing well suited to a paper judgement, so at least if it does get to court it should be comparatively 'cheap'.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

pinkshoes said:

This is sounding much more like an admin error and mistake, so you might end up needing some sort of contract law specialist. The difference in value and valuation are such a long way out that a court would likely view this as an obvious mistake. 

It is correct that a mistake, including something like the price, could be classed as a unilateral mistake and void the contract, however it does require the other party to ought to have known.

I don't know where the bar is set for this but it would seem logical it would be on the higher end otherwise contracts would have less worth.

It wasn't that long ago that someone posted here to say they wasn't happy with the spec on their brand new car changing and was advised the dealer will likely cancel as they'd get more for the car than originally sold, the turmoil in the markets over the last couple of years could possibly be a plausible excuse to plead ignorance.

Vectis

Ok, so they hand the car back, what have you lost out on? You're back to where you were before 8th January. In fact, you say they're offering you a small amount of compensation for your trouble, so you're ahead on the deal.

Presumably they made a mistake, it happens, but what are you going to do? Would you honestly go to Court with all that entails to try to force them to pay you the mistaken amount? Seems a bit drastic, as it seems clear that it was a genuine error.

Try listing the car privately and selling it that way if you're unhappy with WBAC and desperate to sell.

As has been said already, I bet you were biting their hand off when you got that mistaken valuation? Surely you must have had an idea of what the car was worth, and you must have realised the offer was a mistake?

ArbitraryRandom

Vectis said:

Ok, so they hand the car back, what have you lost out on? You're back to where you were before 8th January. In fact, you say they're offering you a small amount of compensation for your trouble, so you're ahead on the deal.

If we're talking breach of contract, that's not actually how it works... 

The remedy if someone breaches the terms of the contract is to put the injured party in the state they would have been if the breach hadn't occurred - not the state they were in before the contract was signed. 

And, tbh, for ~£10k for a case that seems to be composed on non-disputed facts/hinges on contractual terms, it should be relatively stress free and minimal cost case (in so far as any legal action can be called either of those things). If the OP can't agree a settlement they're happy with, it has to be worth at least a letter before action... 

Grumpy_chap

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

pinkshoes said:

This is sounding much more like an admin error and mistake, so you might end up needing some sort of contract law specialist. The difference in value and valuation are such a long way out that a court would likely view this as an obvious mistake. 

It is correct that a mistake, including something like the price, could be classed as a unilateral mistake and void the contract, however it does require the other party to ought to have known.

The OP has been asked upthread what valuations were offered by other car buying services and seems to have chosen not to comment as yet.
This information could well be the key to whether a unilateral mistake was obvious and ought to have been known.

Bmd1989

Literally unbelievable and I’m still paying for it! 

Aylesbury_Duck

Literally believable, you mean.  What's unbelievable about it?

ArbitraryRandom

Grumpy_chap said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

pinkshoes said:

This is sounding much more like an admin error and mistake, so you might end up needing some sort of contract law specialist. The difference in value and valuation are such a long way out that a court would likely view this as an obvious mistake. 

It is correct that a mistake, including something like the price, could be classed as a unilateral mistake and void the contract, however it does require the other party to ought to have known.

The OP has been asked upthread what valuations were offered by other car buying services and seems to have chosen not to comment as yet.
This information could well be the key to whether a unilateral mistake was obvious and ought to have been known.

I would take the view it's for WBAC to argue/prove the OP should reasonably have known it was a mistake - there's no requirement for the OP to disclose if they approached other companies/researched what price to expect. 

The OP's argument would be that the price seemed plausible to the person who inspected the car and matched the online valuation on their website, so it wasn't that 'obvious' (as in the cases with an erroneous decimal place). 

Bmd1989

Sorry I’ve been at work. 

Okay, so this car a month ago was actually selling for more than what I paid for it, and there has been a crash in the market with the new year passing, I believe personally, their quotes was prior to the crash in market and now they’ve figured that out. 

Now, this is their mistake and not mine.c if their system has failed them why should I take the punch for it? My car could be in any state, when that car was in showroom condition and all I wanted was a simple sell. 

This is their mistake, it’s not in my name and they need to pay me as per the contracts states. If I was to buy a car on the street and think next week I could have bought the same car cheaper by a grand or two well that’s my mistake and I’ll have to swallow it! It’s a !!!!!! take.