Sold my car privately - buyer threatening court

Cranessss

Hello All,

I recently sold my 2012 car with 83k miles for just under £9k. I’ll cut to the issue now but go into further detail below. He’s now stating that my ad was fraudulent as it was listed in excellent condition but since driving home major faults have appeared that he claims I knew about. He sent me a long list as per the below:

One of the front grills is very loose
a nasty mark on the front that’s surely linked to the grill

Boot rattling and not closing every time properly 

Boot not opening with either fob every time. 

Parcel shelf rattling

Drivers electric windows switch very faulty, ready to die any minute. Works intermittently.

Passenger doesn’t open every time with key fob

I Went back to him with responses for all, although admittedly had nothing to say about the parcel shelf but also explained that I hadn’t had an issue with any of those things during my ownership so there wasn’t anything I could really do. 

He’s been pushing for me to fund the window and door issue but at no point has he showed me a monetary quote for this despite telling me he’s taken it to a local garage. Asking me if I’m willing to pay? And are you happy for a local garage to send you a quote?

I communicated with the buyer before hand that there was an outstanding recall on the car that could be replaced by main dealer for free and also pointed out the broken clip on the sun visor and gave him the replacement clip and explained I hadn’t bothered to repair it since I bought it. 

He’s referring to these issues and in particular the passenger door and window as major faults. I was at work and told him I’d respond as soon as possible and he then messaged approx 48 hours later to say I’ve still not heard from you and it would be easy to delete your account, if you do I will be forced to contact you by letter or in person. I explained to him I found his tone to be threatening and was feeling harassed by him as he’d been suggesting I knowingly lied and have been fraudulent which I haven’t, I sold the car in good faith nor have I seen and value from him which also makes me wonder if it’s a scam despite the individual seeming ok when visiting my home to test drive and carry out the inspection and he was at my home nearly 2 hours.

he stopped the test drive himself as he said it drives beautifully and even since he’s said the car absolutely lives up to expectation from the outside and to drive. 

He’s also threatened small claims court which worries me as I don’t want a claim on my record despite being absolutely clear in my conscience that I never had any of the issues he’s described and I’ve said to him the way he’s described them does not sound like major faults. 

What’re your independent thoughts on this matter? I found it deeply concerning when he said about contacting me in person if I deleted my Facebook account as I have a young family. 

Many thanks

Jack 

Ayr_Rage

Block and ignore him.

Cranessss

Thank you for your comment! I’ve responded to him previously given examples why I’ve never had those issues (apart from the parcel shelf) but he obviously didn’t like that response. Since he said about contacting me in person if I deleted my Facebook account  I confirmed I wouldn’t communicate on the matter anymore. He subsequently said he’d be seeking legal advice.

LightFlare

Agree - block and ignore

Keep a copy of the Ad just in case you need it, but chances are high you won’t

Cranessss

Thank you, I have a copy of the ad. He stated as I said it was excellent condition it’s fraudulent but in my opinion it is and backed up by his comments that it drives beautifully, a smart looking car and lives up to his expectations when driving among other things! 

fatbelly

No ccj will be recorded on your credit file unless you fail to pay within 30 days.

So let's remove that fear.

You have engaged with the buyer more than is reasonable, so now that he has issued a letter before claim, you should stop engaging and just say 'I await your claim'

When/if it arrives, you should only respond to the specific points he makes.

Personally I think he hasn't a clue about secondhand car ownership and probably none about the court process. I am sorry that your paths crossed.

Cranessss

Thank you, I’m going through a house purchase and that’s the only reason I sold to help it along. He hasn’t issued me a letter, only a Facebook message to state he will seek legal action but not what legal action that’ll be despite earlier messages mentioning the small claims court. Just wanted to be clear in case my posts suggest differently 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Any chance of posting a screenshot of the ad (with any identifying info removed), easy to say ignore but the car should meet the description and without seeing the exact description it's hard to advise.  

MobileSaver

Cranessss said:

I recently sold my 2012 car with 83k miles ... it was listed in excellent condition

Playing devil's advocate, that was a really silly thing to state for a twelve year old car with 83,000 miles on the clock unless you actually said "in excellent condition for its age" but there's nothing you can do about that now.

Cranessss said:

He’s also threatened small claims court which worries me

To take you to court the buyer has to pay a fee which he may be reluctant to do given his case is weak - the fact he himself has stated some of the problems are intermittent goes some way to casting doubt on whether you knew about them and/or whether they existed when he bought it.

Firstly though he needs to issue you with a Letter Before Action. This doesn't have to be a physical paper letter, email is fine and probably a Facebook message too; what matters is the content of the message which has to clearly lay out how the buyer wants you to resolve this and within what timeframe - have you received such a message?

Cranessss

Thank you for the further comments. I’ll see how I can get back to the ad, it doesn’t seem to come up with any details now it’s sold. 

Cranessss

Thank you, MobileSaver said:

Cranessss said:

I recently sold my 2012 car with 83k miles ... it was listed in excellent condition

Playing devil's advocate, that was a really silly thing to state for a twelve year old car with 83,000 miles on the clock unless you actually said "in excellent condition for its age" but there's nothing you can do about that now.

Cranessss said:

He’s also threatened small claims court which worries me

To take you to court the buyer has to pay a fee which he may be reluctant to do given his case is weak - the fact he himself has stated some of the problems are intermittent goes some way to casting doubt on whether you knew about them and/or whether they existed when he bought it.

Firstly though he needs to issue you with a Letter Before Action. This doesn't have to be a physical paper letter, email is fine and probably a Facebook message too; what matters is the content of the message which has to clearly lay out how the buyer wants you to resolve this and within what timeframe - have you received such a message?

MobileSaver said:

Cranessss said:

I recently sold my 2012 car with 83k miles ... it was listed in excellent condition

Playing devil's advocate, that was a really silly thing to state for a twelve year old car with 83,000 miles on the clock unless you actually said "in excellent condition for its age" but there's nothing you can do about that now.

Cranessss said:

He’s also threatened small claims court which worries me

To take you to court the buyer has to pay a fee which he may be reluctant to do given his case is weak - the fact he himself has stated some of the problems are intermittent goes some way to casting doubt on whether you knew about them and/or whether they existed when he bought it.

Firstly though he needs to issue you with a Letter Before Action. This doesn't have to be a physical paper letter, email is fine and probably a Facebook message too; what matters is the content of the message which has to clearly lay out how the buyer wants you to resolve this and within what timeframe - have you received such a message?

I haven’t received such a message, only threats to suggest he will take me to the small claims court and he will now seek legal advice. So I assume once that advice is sought he would then send a letter although deeming these things major faults based on his description for things I’ve never encountered seems like a waste of everyone’s time. 

He’s asked once whether I’d be willing to pay for the repairs to the door and once that a local garage is willing to send a quote over to me if I am willing. But why would I agree to that for issues I’ve never encountered and I feel like he’s pressuring me to sign off a blank cheque.