Mate bought a car 2nd hand, drove it 100 miles and engine failed

Beta Ray Bill

Hey

Quick one...
A mate of mine bought a 2nd hand car privately (not off a dealer), a few weeks

She literally bought it for the school run, after about 100 miles there was a catastrophic engine failure, and it cannot be repaired.

Does she have any rights here or is she screwed?

As far as I am aware she's screwed unless she can prove he lied about something.

Toyotafanboi

That's pretty much it, its buyer beware.

Those Polos are infamously **** unfortunately.

Have you confirmed the actual fault? It may not be as bad as you think?

loyatemu

Beta Ray Bill wrote: »

Hey

Quick one...
A mate of mine bought a 2nd hand car privately (not off a dealer), €1400 for a VW Polo about 4 weeks ago

She literally bought it for the school run, after about 100 miles there was a catastrophic engine failure, and it cannot be repaired.

Does she have any rights here or is she screwed?

As far as I am aware she's screwed unless she can prove he lied about something.

timing belt?

doh1988

No come back unfortunately as far as i know

Chijj

Unfortunately as people above stated it’s buyer beware.

I would recommend that she brings it to a independent mechanic, a friend of mine had a similar issue where the polo would go in to limp mode and after replacing the spark plugs it all cleared up for a year.

Will the car move at all ?

Beta Ray Bill

The guy has sold a heap of cars in the last 24 months

MODs can you lock this one up (Probably gonna go small claims)

FishOnABike

Beta Ray Bill wrote: »

The guy has sold a heap of cars in the last 24 months

MODs can you lock this one up (Probably gonna go small claims)

If he has sold a heap of cars in the last 24 months then he is on dodgy ground claiming to be a private seller. There might not be a hard and fast rule but the more cars he has sold the more likely he is to be considered to be operating s business rather than acting as a private seller. The more you have to show this the better.

easypazz

Beta Ray Bill wrote: »

The guy has sold a heap of cars in the last 24 months

MODs can you lock this one up (Probably gonna go small claims)

Small claims is under 1000 afaik, so I assume she bought a piece of junk for less than that in the hope it wouldnt calve.

She bought it in the knowledge it was a private sale with no come back.

Why is she taking it to small claims when she knows she bought it privately.

easypazz

FishOnABike wrote: »

If he has sold a heap of cars in the last 24 months then he is on dodgy ground claiming to be a private seller. There might not be a hard and fast rule but the more cars he has sold the more likely he is to be considered to be operating s business rather than acting as a private seller. The more you have to show this the better.

But she knowingly bought it as a private sale? She could have went to a dealers forecourt but choose to save money by buying privately.

If she wanted comeback pay a dealer extra surely?

Murt10

easypazz wrote: »

Small claims is under 1000 afaik, so I assume she bought a piece of junk for less than that in the hope it wouldnt calve.

She bought it in the knowledge it was a private sale with no come back.

Why is she taking it to small claims when she knows she bought it privately.

E2,000 is the limit for SCC.

It's obviously not a private sale as the OP states that your man is selling loads of cars.

A car dealer masquerading as a private seller does not make him one.

easypazz

Murt10 wrote: »

E2,000 is the limit for SCC.

It's obviously not a private sale as the OP states that your man is selling loads of cars.

A car dealer masquerading as a private seller does not make him one.

The deal was done as a private sale. She bought it knowing this.

If he is not a registered business I am not sure what the small claims court can do.

Dravokivich

easypazz wrote: »

The deal was done as a private sale. She bought it knowing this.

If he is not a registered business I am not sure what the small claims court can do.

If hes doing it for work, it doesn't matter if he registered or not. Revenue would be interested in undeclared income.