Selling car would you admit it needed costly repairs?

JohnSwift10

I've decided to treat myself to a new car as my 14 year old Hyundai i10 needs some costly repairs and is slowly rusting away.

Approx £1100 repair cost so far and probably more to pass it's MOT

The parts have to come from Hyundai and could take months 

The most costly part is the air con, £600 plus and £300 for wiper linkage.

My mechanic did suggest getting the parts from Ebay or a scrappy but they could have the same problems as my car.

I was thinking of selling it privately but I would probably feel guilty if I didn't mention the faults, easily discoverable on a rainy day.

I will most likely part exchange so should I mention the air con and wiper problem or just make sure it is not raining when I part exchange it?

elsien

Giving the benefit of the doubt that this is real, how about turning this on its head slightly and  putting yourself in the position of a buyer of a secondhand car where you find out you’ve been lied to by the seller. 

It may be buyer beware  for a private sale, but how’s your moral compass doing? 

JohnSwift10

elsien said:

It may be buyer beware  for a private sale, but how’s your moral compass doing? 

I did say I was thinking of selling it privately but I would probably feel guilty if I didn't mention the faults,

facade

You could advertise with the faults and sell it cheaply because of them.

You could try and palm it off on someone who doesn't check, but since you are asking I guess you would regret it and feel guilty if it is some poor 17 year old's first car. Plus they could come after their money back and cut the heads off your garden gnomes in the night or something as they know where you live.

I'd get the mechanic to fix the wipers with second hand parts and not mention the aircon.

If the buyer asks if the aircon works, the standard reply is "No, I don't bother with it but it probably just needs a regas" (This is code for "In your dreams, if it were that easy I'd have had it re-gassed already")

Or you could trade it in and not mention the wipers or air con unless asked- they won't and their offer for the car will be really low anyway as it is going straight to auction or to a trader who they do deals with on their trade-ins too old/worn to retail.

paul_c123

If its a private sale, you are obliged to describe it accurately and not knowingly misrepresent it. Putting the aircon to one side, the problem is the wipers. There is a reasonable assumption that a car is roadworthy unless otherwise specified. So, if the wipers don't work, and you didn't mention it, you are misrepresenting it.

Do the wipers work?

If so, then you could sell it and leave the description blank. If not, then you would have to say something like "wipers don't work, may be other faults".

If they come and view the car and ask a question (or questions), you need to answer them accurately. So vague things like "anything not working?" or "is it roadworthy?" would need to mention the wipers (if they don't work).

You mention it needs ".....to pass its MoT" - does the car currently not have an MoT? If that's the case, then you can simply say "its for spares/repairs" but of course the price will be a little above its scrap value, much much lower than a car with a reasonable length MoT remaining.

paul_c123

facade said:

Or you could trade it in and not mention the wipers or air con unless asked- they won't and their offer for the car will be really low anyway as it is going straight to auction or to a trader who they do deals with on their trade-ins too old/worn to retail.

Actually the obligation remains if its a trade sale, (ie private sale to a trader), its just that there is a presumption that the trader is an "expert" so the bar for proving it was not described accurately etc is higher.

LightFlare

14 year old i10 isn’t going to attract much anyway
a dealer would auction/scrap it anyway

paul_c123

LightFlare said:

14 year old i10 isn’t going to attract much anyway
a dealer would auction/scrap it anyway

A dealer wouldn't buy a car then immediately sell it trade (ie auction) or scrap it. Unless it was taken in as a part-ex.

Ms_Chocaholic

Can you part x it?

JohnSwift10

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Can you part x it?

Not looked at new cars yet other than online but webuyanycar values it at £1510

WellKnownSid

I believe you want a new car so are applying what is commonly referred to as "man maths" to justify getting rid of the old one.

A second hand wiper linkage is £17 on eBay or you can have a brand new for £51.  Do not ever approach the manufacturer to source a part for a 14 year old car - you are buying a part for a Hyundai i10 not a Boeing 737!

Aircon is not required to keep the car on the road.  What needed doing at the last MoT that you didn't get done at the time?

Personally I would get the £17 wiper linkage, get it through its MoT, and then you have the choice of either keeping it or selling it for reasonable money privately.