Car issues

Helpadvice123

About 10 months ago I purchased a car off a private seller off Facebook market place. After two weeks it had an engine management light with an issue. I tried to contact the seller but they said they could not help. 

Following trying to repair the car, the garages discovered the car had been remapped. This was not disclosed by the seller and garages think this was done during the sellers ownership of the vehicle. 

I have sent a letter to the seller asking to resolve the issue. 

Do I have a case in court? 

The advert was simple but did not comment on the condition of the car. It had a new MOT at the time.

marcia_

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Helpadvice123

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

BoGoF

Helpadvice123 said:

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

Not sure how that helps unless the advert said 'not remapped'.

Unless there was anything misleading said in the advert you are not going to have much joy and by your own admission the advert was non commital......probably delibaretely so.

marcia_

Helpadvice123 said:

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

 Yes because unless the advert stated it had not been remapped the seller has done nothing wrong. 

 Do you have screenshots of the advertisement? Court cases require evidence. 

cymruchris

I don't think you'll have a case of any kind. It's a used car and a private seller. Even if you could prove it was done on X day - it won't prove that the person that sold you the car knew about it. Yes - they might have. Yes - they probably did. But for you to prove that is nigh on impossible. There are lots of ways to 'remap' a vehicle - and not all would be the cause of the engine issue. Again, being used, there might have been a problem there already that the remap brought forwards a little. There are far too many variables, howabouts and whatifs that mean you're on a hiding to nothing. That's not what you want to hear - but buying privately comes with risks. It's why vehicles are generally cheaper than buying from a dealer - with a dealer you have comeback, with a private sale rarely do.

Helpadvice123

BoGoF said:

Helpadvice123 said:

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

Not sure how that helps unless the advert said 'not remapped'.

Unless there was anything misleading said in the advert you are not going to have much joy and by your own admission the advert was non commital......probably delibaretely so.

Thanks for your reply. So despite them knowing about it but not admitting the car was altered with, despite proof there is no case? 

Helpadvice123

marcia_ said:

Helpadvice123 said:

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

 Yes because unless the advert stated it had not been remapped the seller has done nothing wrong. 

 Do you have screenshots of the advertisement? Court cases require evidence. 

Yes but it was simple just stated the description of the car mainly. I understand from what I have read there was no comment on the cars quality such as “no issues” etc 

Helpadvice123

cymruchris said:

I don't think you'll have a case of any kind. It's a used car and a private seller. Even if you could prove it was done on X day - it won't prove that the person that sold you the car knew about it. Yes - they might have. Yes - they probably did. But for you to prove that is nigh on impossible. There are lots of ways to 'remap' a vehicle - and not all would be the cause of the engine issue. Again, being used, there might have been a problem there already that the remap brought forwards a little. There are far too many variables, howabouts and whatifs that mean you're on a hiding to nothing. That's not what you want to hear - but buying privately comes with risks. It's why vehicles are generally cheaper than buying from a dealer - with a dealer you have comeback, with a private sale rarely do.

Thanks for your reply. So even if the car was remapped during ownership and there is proof I there is still no case? What about if issues were cleared before selling could that be proof? 

cymruchris

Helpadvice123 said:

BoGoF said:

Helpadvice123 said:

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

Not sure how that helps unless the advert said 'not remapped'.

Unless there was anything misleading said in the advert you are not going to have much joy and by your own admission the advert was non commital......probably delibaretely so.

Thanks for your reply. So despite them knowing about it but not admitting the car was altered with, despite proof there is no case? 

You don't have proof that the person that sold it to you did it. You have anecdotal evidence likely from some kind of electronic reader that something changed on X date - that's not the same as proving the seller did it.

Another example - People have minor scrapes and dings on their cars week in week out - and get them sprayed at the local bodyshop. It's not insurance recorded - so nobody ever mentions that when they sell the car. 

Who'd buy the car if you said 'Ford Focus - wing resprayed last year because I scratched it against a branch - rear quarter sprayed in 2022 because a trolley hit the car' etc.

Sellers don't have to declare everything - they just have to not be dishonest in whatever they've actually said.

It's for you as the buyer to conduct your own checks and enquiries to be sure you're happy buying privately

Helpadvice123

cymruchris said:

Helpadvice123 said:

BoGoF said:

Helpadvice123 said:

marcia_ said:

 Not likely you would have a case with a private sale where you state the advert said nothing about the cars condition . Private sales are not the same as business sales. You don't get the same legal protections 

Firstly thank you for your response. Is this still the case if the garage say they can tell when the car was remapped? 

Not sure how that helps unless the advert said 'not remapped'.

Unless there was anything misleading said in the advert you are not going to have much joy and by your own admission the advert was non commital......probably delibaretely so.

Thanks for your reply. So despite them knowing about it but not admitting the car was altered with, despite proof there is no case? 

You don't have proof that the person that sold it to you did it. You have anecdotal evidence likely from some kind of electronic reader that something changed on X date - that's not the same as proving the seller did it.

Another example - People have minor scrapes and dings on their cars week in week out - and get them sprayed at the local bodyshop. It's not insurance recorded - so nobody ever mentions that when they sell the car. 

Who'd buy the car if you said 'Ford Focus - wing resprayed last year because I scratched it against a branch - rear quarter sprayed in 2022 because a trolley hit the car' etc.

Sellers don't have to declare everything - they just have to not be dishonest in whatever they've actually said.

It's for you as the buyer to conduct your own checks and enquiries to be sure you're happy buying privately

Ah I understand. So despite the reader or garage saying it was done during ownership or no matter when, that isn’t proof to say buyer knew about this and to clarify they are not legally obliged to say?