Second hand car not roadworthy after a week!

KatieBW123

swingaloo said:

KatieBW123 said:

Alderbank said:

You say the seller is creative self employed etc. You also say this is only the second vehicle he has sold on eBay in twenty years.

This sounds to me like his trade or profession is producing paintings of dogs from photographs or embroidering cushion covers or such and the cars were his own private vehicles. If so the sale to you is not covered by the Consumer Rights Act, regardless of how eBay describes him.

I believe it is almost certain that your mechanic will tell you that you need a new gearbox at significant cost, and that he will be happy to do the job for you.
I'm sorry to say this Katie, but there are still a few mechanics around who like to take advantage of ladies who say they know nothing about cars.
I would take note of the useful comments above made by others and get a second or even third opinion before paying out too much money.

I feel it’s the seller who saw me coming. Have now had three mechanics look at it and say the same thing. That it’s a major fault that certainly wouldn’t have happened since purchase. 

Re his seller status. He would have to have registered himself as a business. I can only see one car sold in the past year, there is no detailed info available beyond that. 

Its very confusing, why do you say that. Is he still selling on Ebay? What does he sell if he is a business but has only sold one car?

You dont seem to be answering the relevant questions, was there evidence of oil leakage all over the engine when you looked under the bonnet before you bought the car?

He is registered as a business seller on eBay. That’s all I know. The ad was a classified ad rather than auction. I don’t see why you would register as business seller on eBay unless you were selling high value items and Income from sales would count as taxable. 

I didn’t look under the bonnet. I have no idea what I would be looking for. The oil I saw on the floor came a week after I had bought the car and a few days after I had alerted him to the issue re the noise. He sent me a voicemote again saying the noise had “always been there” and not an issue. Now I have had three mechanics tell me the noise is because of the gearbox. And that I would’ve been unlikely to have spotted any issue because two leakages from inside. 

KatieBW123

Alderbank said:

Being registered as a business does not mean that Consumer Rights Act applies. The Act is very specific - he must be a Trader which means a person acting for purposes relating to that person's trade, business, craft or profession.

Being registered, say, as a child minder business wouldn't count. His trade or business needs to be car sales, motor mechanic or very similar.

Did he own the car for his own private use (how long had he been the registered keeper?) or had he bought it recently with the intention of selling it on at a profit?

It was a private sale. My only hope is that he is registered as a business on eBay and told me he regularly reconditions cars and sells them on. This was his own car for quite some time. 

His eBay page and the listing certainly looked like a business. I know I have more rights under consumer act than sale of goods. 

KatieBW123

Just to update I have now had a third mechanic say the noise was due to gearbox failure and that there are internal oil leaks in the gearbox as well as the outside seals. 

Aylesbury_Duck

You don't need to convince people on here.

Having gone to the trouble of getting three mechanics to inspect it, just send a letter before action to the seller saying you want to reject the car for a full refund or you'll take him to court.  

sheslookinhot

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You don't need to convince people on here.

Having gone to the trouble of getting three mechanics to inspect it, just send a letter before action to the seller saying you want to reject the car for a full refund or you'll take him to court.  

This is the correct course of action. Can you request that the mechanics provide a short report of their findings and likely cause. This will be invaluable if and when you are in court. It all about how the vehicle was misrepresented in the advert. 

Are eBay willing to act to provide support to the buyer ?