Taking private seller to small claims

cookieishaku

Hi,

I purchased a car from a private seller a week ago and had to take it to the garage in 3 days. My partner test drove the car and said everything was fine and we purchased it.

The car had very sticky gears to which the seller advised she was used to it but the garage said it was fine and not a problem.

I later wanted to take the car for a drive and noticed how low the biting point was and a judder on the clutch. I questioned my partner on this and she said she thought that was what a nice car is like to drive.

We have since taken it to a garage and they have advised the clutch and flywheel needs to be replaced as the clutch plate was wobbling and damaging the fly wheel. Also while doing this they had to take off the turbo inlet and discovered leaking in the turbo which now also has to be replaced. Total £3125 to repair.

As the seller stated the garage said the gears were not a problem apparently she misled us into believing that it was fine. Checking over all the receipts for the car under her ownership I see no gear box diagnosis work completed.

My thought is to take her to small claims court, we sent her a message about this and she replied saying we discussed this and I had been driving it for a while as I was used to it, she also said this hadn’t come up in the MOT which it wouldn’t have as they don’t check for this.

What are the chances of winning the case based on her alleged information to the garage?

Cheers

born_again

Unless the seller lied to you about issues, which it sounds like they did not

The car had very sticky gears to which the seller advised she was used to it but the garage said it was fine and not a problem.

You are going to be wasting your time.

QQQQQQQQ_Y

You don't have the same rights with a private seller as you do with a business, You may have some rights if they have intentionally misrepresented the vehicle - I suspect your challenge will be around proving you've been misled and their likely defence that the car worked fine for them but they're not an expert mechanic.

CurlySue2017

As others have already said, I don't think this will go your way and spending money on a claim would be throwing good money after bad.

Okell

"… I later wanted to take the car for a drive and noticed how low the biting point was and a judder on the clutch. I questioned my partner on this and she said she thought that was what a nice car is like to drive…"

Sorry, but why did you buy a car based on your partner's test drive when she obviously knows nothing about cars? She thought that was what a "nice" car was like to drive?

Having said that:

"… The car had very sticky gears to which the seller advised she was used to it but the garage said it was fine and not a problem…

… As the seller stated the garage said the gears were not a problem apparently she misled us into believing that it was fine. Checking over all the receipts for the car under her ownership I see no gear box diagnosis work completed…

… My thought is to take her to small claims court, we sent her a message about this and she replied saying we discussed this and I had been driving it for a while as I was used to it, she also said this hadn’t come up in the MOT which it wouldn’t have as they don’t check for this…"

If your wife asked the question about the gears and the seller said something like "the garage said it was fine and no problem… I'm used to it…" rather than saying "… I'm not a car expert… and I don't know if it's a problem or not, I can't tell you…" that might be something you could exploit, but unless you have the exchange in writing it becomes a case of "… he said… she said…"

On the basis of you buying a car form a private seller the chances of you winning a court claim are approaching zero. But if you can "prove" (on the balance of probabilities) that your wife asked about the clutch/gears and was given an answer by the seller that they must have known to be untruthful, your chances might be 50/50 or better

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998358#Comment_81998358

It can also be that they asked a garage about it 3 years ago and at that point the brief check the garage did seem to be ok and its deteriorated/become more obvious since then. It's very possible that it was an accurate 100% accurate answer.

Can also be the garage didnt check properly but its not the sellers fault if this is the case, they are only relaying a message.

Confused by the statement that "juddering" is "what a nice car is like", the low biting point maybe.

At present you have no evidence of what was said nor any evidence that what they said was materially incorrect. It can certainly be the case that they asked the garage to look whilst doing a routine service or such and as a cursory check it didnt appear on the invoices etc; certainly I've done similar in the past and wasnt charged extra for it. It may have appeared on the job sheet but not clear if you have those in addition to the invoices or just the invoice.

Have your day in court by all means but dont do so if you're only willing to claim if you are going to win. At the end of the day most court cases are ruled in favour of the claimant by default as the defendant doesnt appropriately respond. Unfortunately the courts dont publish the rates that claims are actually settled but you'd expect to it to be a fairly modest proportion.

Vitor

With a private car sale, your rights are much more limited than if you bought from a dealer. The usual position is “buyer beware”.

It may be worth checking whether the seller was genuinely private. If she regularly sells cars, advertises multiple vehicles, or is effectively trading from home, that changes the picture.

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998432#Comment_81998432

It's not correct to say the OP has no evidence of what was said. Presumably his partner would make a statement.

PTP123

What is the car and how much did you pay?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998564#Comment_81998564

I didnt say they had no evidence, I asked if they have evidence. Ultimately she can say the defendant said X and the defendant can say they said Y or that nothing at all was said. If you have something backed up by an email, something in the advert, text message etc then it becomes harder for them to dispute

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998690#Comment_81998690

I suggest you read your earlier post again. "At present you have no evidence of what was said".

Fake news?