Sold a secondhand car advice please !

ollybally

So I privately sold a car about 2 weeks ago I had no issues with it the car was imported from the uk originally My sister was planning on driving it but circumstances changed so she decided to sell it .

The car passed Nct with no problems and was put up for sale .
The buyer called a week later saying there was a problem with the gearbox and asked did I know anything about it which of course I did not . The engine was fine but car would not move its an automatic so it's some sort of electrical fault I think .
The buyer disconnected the battery or some thing like that and it was fine again !
I got a missed call off them last week and called them back turns out called me by mistake said car was fine and how good it was to deal with me etc

Now buyer calls in fowl form ssying the car is scting up again and claiming I sold them a dud vehicle and ripped them off which is not the case .
The car was driving perfect when I sold it with 2 year Nct now the buyer is up
In arms and wants a refund !!

It is unfortunate the car is giving trouble but was fine when I sold it !!!

What are my rights ??

hyperborean

ollybally wrote: »

So I privately sold a car about 2 weeks ago I had no issues with it the car was imported from the uk originally My sister was planning on driving it but circumstances changed so she decided to sell it .

The car passed Nct with no problems and was put up for sale .
The buyer called a week later saying there was a problem with the gearbox and asked did I know anything about it which of course I did not . The engine was fine but car would not move its an automatic so it's some sort of electrical fault I think .
The buyer disconnected the battery or some thing like that and it was fine again !
I got a missed call off them last week and called them back turns out called me by mistake said car was fine and how good it was to deal with me etc

Now buyer calls in fowl form ssying the car is scting up again and claiming I sold them a dud vehicle and ripped them off which is not the case .
The car was driving perfect when I sold it with 2 year Nct now the buyer is up
In arms and wants a refund !!

It is unfortunate the car is giving trouble but was fine when I sold it !!!

What are my rights ??

Not your problem, unless you want to be a mug and take it back

MidlandsM

You need to do nothing to rectify the matter only to simply inform the new owner of the car that the car was ok when you sold it to them, stating it had no faults known to you.

Be polite and Express your regret at hearing they are having issues, but tell them there is nothing you can do at this stage, as it was a private sale.

LowKeyReturn

Legal advice can't be given here and you would be unwise to rely on anything said on boards.ie or the interweb generally, but do a search in the motors forum for 6,732 threads on this subject.

Incidentally caveat emptor is what I'm going to call my boat.

billy few mates

A case of 'Seller Beware'.....

LowKeyReturn

billy few mates wrote: »

A case of 'Seller Beware'.....

I'm missing punch line of this play on words :pac:

professore

He's stuck with the car.

Did he not have a mechanic check it out? That's what I do when buying privately and also run a cartell and a garda check. If the owner won't agree to a mechanic check I walk away.

ollybally

professore wrote: »

He's stuck with the car.

Did he not have a mechanic check it out? That's what I do when buying privately and also run a cartell and a garda check. If the owner won't agree to a mechanic check I walk away.

Yes indeed the buyer (she) had a family member look at it that knows about cars and as I said earlier car was perfect when sold

LowKeyReturn

ollybally wrote: »

Yes indeed the buyer (she) had a family member look at it that knows about cars and as I said earlier car was perfect when sold

Okay lets, for giggles, descend into the absurdly theoretical. Did you make representations to the buyer that the car was in perfect condition?

ollybally

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

Okay lets, for giggles, descend into the absurdly theoretical. Did you make representations to the buyer that the car was in perfect condition?

Car was perfect when sold and when she called last week told me she was delighted with it and I was a pleasure to deal with but her tune has changed now anyway the joys of motoring !

chops018

I echo the above in the fact it is a Caveat Emptor situation.

I assume he had every opportunity to check the car out and be happy with it himself.

I also assume you're not a mechanic and so he should take your opinion with a pinch of salt.

It's like my father says when he is buying/selling a second hand car: "You've checked it all out for yourself and at the moment I don't know anything else wrong with it, so if you drive up the road and the engine blows then tough luck". Obviously he would say what he knew was wrong with it, and even when buying a car he would say the same himself that he wouldn't be back if it blew up either.

You never know what you're getting with a second hand car these days. Also the people selling them don't know what they're selling most of the time either. Unless you get a mechanic to check it fully out (and even at that the car could still blow up) then you can only really rely on what NCT it has.

billy few mates

An NCT is no indication of the reliability of the car....

chops018

billy few mates wrote: »

An NCT is no indication of the reliability of the car....

It certainly should be, and I would be much more confident buying a second hand car that had most of its NCT left on it.

the_syco

chops018 wrote: »

It certainly should be, and I would be much more confident buying a second hand car that had most of its NCT left on it.

An NCT means SFA, and I'd consider anyone who depends on it a fool.

As for the OP, tough titty to whomever bought it, but it sounds like they have since tampered with it, and thus could have caused the problem themselves.

chops018

the_syco wrote: »

An NCT means SFA, and I'd consider anyone who depends on it a fool.

As for the OP, tough titty to whomever bought it, but it sounds like they have since tampered with it, and thus could have caused the problem themselves.

Fair enough, but I have bought my fair share of second hand cars and it would just be myself and my dad looking at them. Usually the one's just gone through the NCT gave us little or no trouble (touch wood). So I'm just speaking from experience. Obviously everyone else's are different.

darlett

billy few mates wrote: »

An NCT is no indication of the reliability of the car....

Just one anecdote of thousands I'm sure but my old banger passed its NCT in June on one Thursday. Flyer. The following Thursday the engine overheated and I had to throw more money at to get it running ok again to sort out thermostat and fan issues.

The NCT truly is not indication of reliability. And how can it be?! Part X working today is no guarantee it will be tip-top at any given time later.

ollybally

Thank you all for the replies much appreciated !

LowKeyReturn

ollybally wrote: »

Car was perfect when sold and when she called last week told me she was delighted with it and I was a pleasure to deal with but her tune has changed now anyway the joys of motoring !

So did you tell her ir was perfect or make any other representations in the advert?

chops018

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

So did you tell her ir was perfect or make any other representations in the advert?

Even if he did it could well be regarded as a 'mere puff' and not a term in the contract, and so it wouldn't make a difference. We would obviously need to know more details.

LowKeyReturn

chops018 wrote: »

Even if he did it could well be regarded as a 'mere puff' and not a term in the contract, and so it wouldn't make a difference. We would obviously need to know more details.

I was desperately trying to make a thread out of this :pac:

alderdeer

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

So did you tell her ir was perfect or make any other representations in the advert?

Just wondering as this is a subject close to myself, what if the ad stated the car was in perfect condition and running well and when the buyer was in the yard they were told that
"as far as I know theres nothing wrong with the car but then I know absolutely nothing about cars except how to drive them"
and sure enough 2 weeks later their back with a clutch gone and noises from the engine looking for money or refund or going legal;)