Private sale - any comeback?

finolaaa

i bought a car this wknd from private guy on carzone, i saw the car before i bought it and took it for testdrive aswell, ad said car to be seen in rathfarnham and make sure finance and insurance sorted out because he didnt want time waster. its a 01 opel corsa, 3 door, working fine, nct for another year.. i noticed later that day i bought it, that ground at my feet wet and ground behnd seat also and when i press it ,it's like sponge you can see water. so friend said maybe its just drying out from valet.. so 3 days later its still same, gotta go to garage etc to sort it out cos seems to be serious enough problem..
Anway decided i'd ring the guy i bought it off to ask him to look at it, his phone turned off.. so i texted him and still 24 hours later, havent got delievery report since, tried since to ring. i didnt see his actual house just cul de sac in estate..
anyone have any idea what i can do? have i any rights at all????:eek:

-Chris-

Moved from Scam thread.

Barr

so you think you've been scammed because the floor is wet

artanevilla

My 01 3 door Corsa has the same problem actually, I think it's a leak.

finolaaa

Barr wrote: »

so you think you've been scammed because the floor is wet

not scammed but he couldnt have Not known that there was a problem.. anyway development in that is i went to opel garage to ask them and they siad i need a new radiator core, which will cost anything between 400 and 550... rung carzone to tell them, they cant do anything, cant even flag him! and they just gave me national consumer agency and They havet even got back to me!!
grr!!

-Chris-

National consumer agency can't help you. It was a private sale.

You have no comeback whatsoever. It's a case of buyer beware unfortunately!

Anan1

I can't see how the radiator core could be responsible for water in the car. Are you sure it's not the heater matrix? Is the car losing coolant?

cantdecide

Who inspected the car for you?

BostonB

Anan1 wrote: »

I can't see how the radiator core could be responsible for water in the car. Are you sure it's not the heater matrix? Is the car losing coolant?

Thats what I think too. Either Opel guy just said one thing and meant the other. I hope theres nothing more to it than that. You never know with Main Dealers.

no1beemerfan

Can you clarify what in the car is wet? Driver's footwell and front passenger footwell or driver's footwell and rear passenger footwell?

If its both front it could be heater matrix but if only one front and one rear would it not be sunroof or door seal failure?

seamus

In order to have any comeback you would need to show that the seller deliberately set out to defraud you by lying about the article being sold or deliberately doing something to prevent you discovering a fault or defect.

He is not obliged to tell you about every little fault or problem with the vehicle.

BostonB

Heater matrix tends to fog up the windscreen and theres a slightly toxic smell from it. Your not meant to breathe those fumes either. At least that what it was like when it went in a golf I had. It didn't wet the carpets though.

fonecrusher1

OP i hate to be captain hindsight here but you should have noticed this when you took the car for a test drive. A quick sweep of the floor with your hand would have alerted you to the issue.
I bought a second hand civic coupe a few years ago privately with a damp boot. Obviously i didn't know at the time of purchase because i didn't check. I spotted the problem about a week after the transaction & when i phoned the seller he denied any knowledge of it. Lying little fcuker.

Most 10 year old cars will have some little fault, its being able to find them before handing over cash is the tricky bit.

goat2

finolaaa wrote: »

i bought a car this wknd from private guy on carzone, i saw the car before i bought it and took it for testdrive aswell, ad said car to be seen in rathfarnham and make sure finance and insurance sorted out because he didnt want time waster. its a 01 opel corsa, 3 door, working fine, nct for another year.. i noticed later that day i bought it, that ground at my feet wet and ground behnd seat also and when i press it ,it's like sponge you can see water. so friend said maybe its just drying out from valet.. so 3 days later its still same, gotta go to garage etc to sort it out cos seems to be serious enough problem..
Anway decided i'd ring the guy i bought it off to ask him to look at it, his phone turned off.. so i texted him and still 24 hours later, havent got delievery report since, tried since to ring. i didnt see his actual house just cul de sac in estate..
anyone have any idea what i can do? have i any rights at all????:eek:

car must have been caught up in the follding, shows the seals are not keeping out water, watch out,
you have rights, within 3 months i think, act not, act fast, get an opinion from a friend of yours who is a mechanic

Henry Ford III

goat2 wrote: »

car must have been caught up in the follding, shows the seals are not keeping out water, watch out,
you have rights, within 3 months i think, act not, act fast, get an opinion from a friend of yours who is a mechanic

OP has no rights. Private sale.

dudara

Caveat emptor unfortunately

goat2

finolaaa wrote: »

i bought a car this wknd from private guy on carzone, i saw the car before i bought it and took it for testdrive aswell, ad said car to be seen in rathfarnham and make sure finance and insurance sorted out because he didnt want time waster. its a 01 opel corsa, 3 door, working fine, nct for another year.. i noticed later that day i bought it, that ground at my feet wet and ground behnd seat also and when i press it ,it's like sponge you can see water. so friend said maybe its just drying out from valet.. so 3 days later its still same, gotta go to garage etc to sort it out cos seems to be serious enough problem..
Anway decided i'd ring the guy i bought it off to ask him to look at it, his phone turned off.. so i texted him and still 24 hours later, havent got delievery report since, tried since to ring. i didnt see his actual house just cul de sac in estate..
anyone have any idea what i can do? have i any rights at all????:eek:

i have been in a car that had been valeted, had to drive one home from valeter for someone, there was no wet of floor, valet does not do that
looks like he had a ready to go, and used just to sell car, then disgarded, did he give you a name or an address, what about the tax book of car, is it stolen and then sold,

Victor

Isn't there one of the Sales of Goods Acts from the 1970s that was designed to discourage private sales by making the vendor responsible to a certain level? Or is that level only that it needs to be roadworthy?

goat2

Victor wrote: »

Isn't there one of the Sales of Goods Acts from the 1970s that was designed to discourage private sales by making the vendor responsible to a certain level? Or is that level only that it needs to be roadworthy?

yes there most certainly is, he is still the vendor, you normally have either 6 weeks to act or 3 months in that kind of case, so act fast and now,

What goes around comes around
You have his mobile number, he may well buy and sell a few cars every now and then, google his number every few days. He may have other adds up. You say he doesn't like timewasters

goat2

RoverJames wrote: »

What goes around comes around
You have his mobile number, he may well buy and sell a few cars every now and then, google his number every few days. He may have other adds up. You say he doesn't like timewasters

this timewaster thing is to not give people time to think, catch them in the hop. does he have a name and address, tax book is very important in this case guess he will say it is lost, then this could mean our man bought a stolen car also ,he could have given any name and address all bogus

-Chris-

How did this jump from a wet carpet to a stolen car?

Henry Ford III

goat2 wrote: »

yes there most certainly is, he is still the vendor, you normally have either 6 weeks to act or 3 months in that kind of case, so act fast and now,

I think not.

seanybiker

-Chris- wrote: »

How did this jump from a wet carpet to a stolen car?

Bit strange alright. Thinks it just the Irish in us, presuming that the seller was a scum bag without knowing anything about him.

robtri

from the AA website..... who i reckon know there stuff legally about this sort of thing...

The only legal terms that cover a private sale contract are:

• the seller must have the right to sell the car
• the vehicle should not be misrepresented
• it should match its description:
  • for example, if the ad states that there is a valid MOT, there should be a valid MOT.

Remember, if there are problems, you can only claim against someone you can find, and who has the means to meet your claim. Therefore:

• go to the seller's address and if possible get a home phone number – don't meet someone on a street corner
• check the documents carefully – make sure the seller is the person named on the registration document and other papers.
• http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-buyers-guide/cbg_legalrights.html

-Chris-

-Chris- wrote: »

How did this jump from a wet carpet to a stolen car?

i was going to ask for i wtf !

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I think not.

Spot on henry, all that legal muck doesnt apply in this case.

PauloMN

Take the hit, get the car fixed yourself, don't waste your time or anyone else's in trying to get some sort of recourse.

It's all simply explained here:
http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Guides-to-Consumer-Law/Shopping/secondhand-goods.html

If you buy second-hand goods through a private sale, your rights as a consumer are greatly diminished.

The goods merely have to be owned by the seller and fit their description, so it is very much a case of "caveat emptor", or "buyer beware".

A private seller does not have to disclose information about the car unless asked. They only have to sell something as advertised and fit for purpose i.e. the car must simply be roadworthy.

itarumaa

Just thinking here, if there would be law that the private owner would be responsibily lets say 3 months about the car he/she sold, then who would be crazy enough to even sell those cheap cars.

I sold 160e car before and I definitely wanted to sell the car to mechanic and not some individual who knows nothing about cars and then comes 2 weeks later complain about the car,

not worth of the hassle.

If the heater matrix was leaking when the car was sold, then any person who knows about cars would spotted that and realized that it is a lot of money to get right. If you do not know about cars, then get someone with you that knows, or do not buy cars without warranty. Altough I cannot see how someone selling cars would like to give warranty to 01 car, too much risk I would say.

stevenmu

Victor wrote: »

Isn't there one of the Sales of Goods Acts from the 1970s that was designed to discourage private sales by making the vendor responsible to a certain level? Or is that level only that it needs to be roadworthy?

Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 but it only applies to professionally sold goods and services. It does apply to second hand cars sold by dealers/traders, but not to sales by private individuals.

I have seen mentioned on the forums here that the revenue have a definition for a trader, I'm not sure exactly what it was but it's something to do with the amount of cars or total value they have sold within a year. Being defined as a trader by the revenue would I believe then cause the Sales of Goods act to apply. The only hope I can see for the OP is if this seller is actually a trader, so I'd suggest searching around and seeing if they have been selling other cars. Googling their contact details for e.g. may show ads for other cars.

If this seller is just a private seller though then there's no comeback under consumer legislation.

kdevitt

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I think not.

HFIII is correct - you have no rights in general.

But as said above - "the vehicle should not be misrepresented". So for example - if you asked if the car had ever been crashed, and he said no - and you can prove he himself crashed it, then you may have comeback. If you didn't ask if the car was crashed at all and you later find out it was, then tough luck.

The issue here is you need to be able to prove that you were misled. If I was a betting man - I'd say you didn't specifically ask if the heater matrix was ruined (who would!), in which case he didn't mislead you.

Anan1

The first thing i'd do here is dry out the car and see where the water's coming from.

simoniz

The seller has no responsibility once the deal is done (paper sign),
First you view and inspect the car and make an offer to buy it after your inspection.
Second you don't even know if the damage is there or happen right after the sales

I remember when I bought a NSR125cc motorbike, before I ask the Polish seller how much is the insurance (told me He never buy a insurance) Until I found out that the insurance is same as 600cc bike.
I rang the guy if possible to bring back the bike and told me It's not His fault even I ask Him before about how much the insurance (He Lied and never told me that was too expensive). I rang Gardai if any posible Help they can give me and told me that once I sign the paper It's all my responsibility.

I've learn a lesson now.

Gumbo

simoniz wrote: »

I remember when I bought a NSR125cc motorbike, before I ask the Polish seller how much is the insurance (told me He never buy a insurance) Until I found out that the insurance is same as 600cc bike.
I rang the guy if possible to bring back the bike and told me It's not His fault even I ask Him before about how much the insurance (He Lied and never told me that was too expensive). I rang Gardai if any posible Help they can give me and told me that once I sign the paper It's all my responsibility.

your correct in that the seller hasnt alot of responibility and all that, but why on earth would you ask some guy on the street for an insurance quote?

sorry you got done and glad you learnt a lesson though, we all learn from our mistakes

fonecrusher1

gumbo wrote: »

your correct in that the seller hasnt alot of responibility and all that, but why on earth would you ask some guy on the street for an insurance quote?

sorry you got done and glad you learnt a lesson though, we all learn from our mistakes

True enough. Its a harsh lesson but a lesson none the less. OP don't waste your time & energy trying to get a refund. You'll end up stressed out while the seller hasn't got a care in the world.
At the end of the day the guy can turn around & say i don't know what your talking about? & imply that the fault has been caused by something you did.
On a positive note, this will never happen to you again.

Forget about it.

goat2

RoverJames wrote: »

i was going to ask for i wtf !


Spot on henry, all that legal muck doesnt apply in this case.

how can you say it is not stolen, does he have registration cert, does he have the name of seller, does he have the address, the answer to all of this is no, and how does he know if the name he got is the proper one, then the car is a swumming pool, was the car clocked, of course it would raise suspicion,

-Chris-

goat2 wrote: »

how can you say it is not stolen, does he have registration cert, does he have the name of seller, does he have the address, the answer to all of this is no, and how does he know if the name he got is the proper one, then the car is a swumming pool, was the car clocked, of course it would raise suspicion,

How does he know the car hasn't been used to transport dead bodies or drugs?
How does he know if the the seller replaced the brake fluid with lemon juice?

Until the OP tells us whether he bought a car without seeing the VLC or countersigning it, until the OP gets the Gardai to make sure the reg matches the chassis number and they verify neither matches a vehicle that's in the stolen car database, then your assertions are pointless and groundless.

simoniz

gumbo wrote: »

your correct in that the seller hasnt alot of responibility and all that, but why on earth would you ask some guy on the street for an insurance quote?

sorry you got done and glad you learnt a lesson though, we all learn from our mistakes

I'm just asking an idea not a quote on mine, If He told me that NSR is not the same as 125cc on the road I wouldn't take it. If your're a geniune guy It's not easy to give an advice.

Gumbo

simoniz wrote: »

I'm just asking an idea not a quote on mine, If He told me that NSR is not the same as 125cc on the road I wouldn't take it. If your're a geniune guy It's not easy to give an advice.

but its up to you that you can get insurance on the car/bike your buying. the seller done nothing wrong in your case. his insurance might of been cheap because of age, location or NCB and yours expensiv because of age, location or NCB too.

simoniz

gumbo wrote: »

but its up to you that you can get insurance on the car/bike your buying. the seller done nothing wrong in your case. his insurance might of been cheap because of age, location or NCB and yours expensiv because of age, location or NCB too.

Mate if you read it carefully If He mention that the NSR125 is not on the same group as other 125cc motorbike I wouldn't take, And It's so clear the only reason He said that He didn't pay for insurance is to avoid answering my question which He know that If He tell me the truth I wouldn't take it. The point here He is a scumbag too (Liar).
Anyway you're making a scene here It's not my thread and I'm resting my case 4 years ago. I'm just giving Idea/Lesson how to deal with a seller.

Like the OP's case If the seller mention the wet flooring problem, the seller knows that the buyer will be disappointed and not going to buy it.

alo1587

simoniz wrote: »

Mate if you read it carefully If He mention that the NSR125 is not on the same group as other 125cc motorbike I wouldn't take, And It's so clear the only reason He said that He didn't pay for insurance is to avoid answering my question which He know that If He tell me the truth I wouldn't take it. The point here He is a scumbag too (Liar).
Anyway you're making a scene here It's not my thread and I'm resting my case 4 years ago. I'm just giving Idea/Lesson how to deal with a seller.

Like the OP's case If the seller mention the wet flooring problem, the seller knows that the buyer will be disappointed and not going to buy it.

It was your responsibility to check your insurance regardless of what the seller said.Obvoiusly you went on his word.You have no one to blame but yourself.

simoniz

simoniz wrote: »

The point here He is a scumbag too

Scumbag sellers only prosper when there are buyers about lacking a bit of savvy. I see you have started a thread about another scumbag seller too, you don't have much luck with these folks but be patient and you will come across a decent seller with what you want for sale

simoniz

RoverJames wrote: »

Scumbag sellers only prosper when there are buyers about lacking a bit of savvy. I see you have started a thread about another scumbag seller too, you don't have much luck with these folks but be patient and you will come across a decent seller with what you want for sale

Thanks, I'm a victim of a lovely girl from wexford too after posting Her ads stated automatic and when we got to wexford from dublin the car is Manual, luckily I've print a copy of the page showing Her that the ads says automatic and She just said sorry

That would absolutely boil my p1ss :mad:

Gumbo

simoniz wrote: »

Thanks, I'm a victim of a lovely girl from wexford too after posting Her ads stated automatic and when we got to wexford from dublin the car is Manual, luckily I've print a copy of the page showing Her that the ads says automatic and She just said sorry

man that would do my head in!
thats why i wouldnt travel to view a car without pictures!

so you can double check the options stated!
ive seen ads with MFSW and xenons stated in the description then when you look at the ad there not there at all!

streetshooter

Small Claims court maybe, but a limited financial compensation.

Tigger

plese all stop

only thing that applies here is
car must be suitable and roadworthy
must be owner and the sellers to sell
must be safe , if ithas an nct you'd have a hard time even if it wasn't safe

thats how pivate sales work

only if its glaringly obvious can the "misreprentation" be enforced

yer man sold a car thats starting to leak somewhere, you shouldn't buy cars privatly unless you know what your doing

me and my mates are all bikers and petrol heads and even still we always look at cars in pairs to double the chance of seeing stuff

Henry Ford III

Doesn't even have to be roadworthy.

"I haven't driven it for 3 months and the NCT is out".

Caveat emptor.

PauloMN

Small claims court won't handle a claim from a buyer to a private seller.

Seriously, just get the car fixed, take the hit and learn the lesson. Perhaps buy from a dealer next time, where you might have some chance of getting a problem like that fixed (still not guaranteed though with a basic 3 month engine and gearbox warranty, but usually goodwill will come into play for a problem like yours).

Tigger

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Doesn't even have to be roadworthy.

"I haven't driven it for 3 months and the NCT is out".

Caveat emptor.

it does



why do you say it dosen't have you checked

Through a small advertisement
Vehicles are often advertised by private individuals on the internet and in the ‘small ads’ section of newspapers. If you buy a car from a small advertisement or on the internet from a private individual you are generally not buying from a person whose normal business it is to sell cars (although sometimes used car dealers do advertise in this way). Again in this case you have very little legal protection if you find that the car that you have bought is faulty. Your only right to redress is if the car is sold with a defect that would endanger people driving it. It is important that in this situation you protect yourself from unscrupulous people. It may be worthwhile to employ the services of a trusted mechanic who may be able to advise you on the mechanical state of the car.

Run_to_da_hills

Drill a few holes in the floor pan, sorted. :P

Grimreaper666

You can see why people try to sell cars privately though, can you imagine selling a car for 1500-2000 euros and the new owner coming back a week or two later with a list of complaints!! It's a 9 year old car!! If you want a perfect one buy a new one and even they give trouble sometimes. It must be the only object that's bought second-hand that's expected to be as new for a fraction of the new price. If you bought a second-hand washing machine and it blew up a week later I doubt very much that I would get any satisfaction from the seller even if it was a dealer. If I was buying i'd get it checked out by someone who knows what they're looking for and expect ware and tear as it is 9 years old remember.