To expect them still to pay?

[BananaLeaf]

Last year we emigrated to another country. It was always the plan to sell our 12 year old car when we left. A while before we left SILs car was written off and she asked about buying ours as they are maxed out doing a huge renovation on their house and couldn’t afford to borrow any more for the sort of car they would want.

I told her the price I wanted and didn’t hear back. I had a bad feeling about dealing with family anyway so I messaged and said I think I’ll just get rid of it as I would hate anything to go wrong with it after we left.

She said she please don’t get rid of it could she please have it...but couldn't pay for it right now. I said no problem take your time to pay for it, trusting that would happen regardless.

Anyway 6 months later she messages DH and says it’s failed MOT and will cost almost the agreed cost of the car to fix it. Long story short she has now sold it on and made an executive decision to pay us about 60% of the original amount, justifying it by saying in her opinion we never would have got original amount anyway.

It’s not just the money, I feel completely let down and taken advantage of. I would never do that to someone. If I agreed to pay for something I would pay it no matter what, especially if it was family. If I had known we would still be held responsible for the state of the car after they took possession I never would have sold it to them!

I could have sold it to someone else and got the full cash amount straight away. I knew it was a mistake but felt under pressure to go ahead with it as they had limited options and I was happy to do her a favour, but now we are out of pocket.

Obviously it is bad that the car didn’t pass mot but I had raised that as a concern and it was their decision to proceed so the assumption was that they would take on the risk. Tbh I would have said to pay a reduced amount anyway after hearing about the MOT, but the unilateral decision not pay the loan in full is really disappointing.

AIBU to think they should still pay the agreed price or at least offer?

[Hereward1332]

If she sold the car for £1k more than she agreedto pay you, would she be giving you the profit?

[Chocolateisfab]

Memo to self op.
If she comes to stay direct her to local hostelry.
Do not treat her as a guest.
She is a cf...

[howabout]

Binglebong if SiL had crashed the car the insurance would have paid out. It is not the same at all. Also not the same as hiring a car for 6 months where you are guaranteed a functioning car with no strings or additional costs.

[Binglebong]

I'm curious - if SIL had crashed the car on the way home should she have paid nothing? It's the same thing, just a matter of degrees.

[bridgetreilly]

SIL is totally a CF here. The question is whether the actual amount of money is worth making a stand over in the context of family relationships. OP is the only one (with her DH) who can make that judgment.

[NorthernRunner]

Not forgetting that the OP said her SIL didn’t consult them until after she sold it...that’s wrong.

[NorthernRunner]

Flocking- for free!

I’m shocked that there are so many posters who would appear to let this slide. I think the SIL has behaved appallingly

[Flockingflamingo]

Is everyone missing that the sil got 6 months use out of the car?!

[LittleChristmasMouse]

How do you know the car was a lemon when the OP sold it? It might have been in great condition for a 12 year old car and the SIL drove it like the Stig and burnt the clutch out?

[Waveysnail]

So the car was a lemming and you wanted to sell it to an unsuspecting buyer. Hmm. Sounds like sil did you a favour. Sold the car honestly and gave you the money.

[Bluntness100]

Where does the op quote the car value?

[LittleChristmasMouse]

Surely the SIL accepted the risk anyway when the OP expressed misgivings that something might go wrong and so would prefer an immediate sale and the SIL begged her not to do it?

Having basically said that she accepted that risk but wanted to go ahead it's a bit rich to then back out when the said risk becomes an eventuality.

[Binglebong]

We don't know it's a £500 car - that was used by someone as an example.

[Honeydukes92]

@Bluntness

🤔 it’s a £500 car. The Majority of its value was in the 6 months MOT it had. Nobody buys a £500 car and expects it to go 1.5 years without costing anything 🤔.

If you borrower your friends primark flip flops and broke them, would you offer your friend 60% of the value ... because they weren’t really very good quality? 🤔

‘Selling a dud’ really doesn’t apply, you KNOW the gamble when you buy a £500 car, I’ve done it myself!

[LittleChristmasMouse]

Then the SIL should pay a hire charge for the 6 months, risk free usage of the car.

[Bluntness100]

Tbh, if 6 months after I sold a car to a family member it failed an MOT with a hefty cost, I wouldn't expect any more than the price she managed to get for it

Me neither. In fact I'd be quite apologetic that I tried to cream them for more than it was worth due to its condition.

[BarrenFieldofFucks]

Tbh, if 6 months after I sold a car to a family member it failed an MOT with a hefty cost, I wouldn't expect any more than the price she managed to get for it.

If she had pocketed some I'd feel differently.

[Bluntness100]

I'm not sure I'd take the line with family that I sold you a dud but you bought it at your own risk. That's a bit mercenary for me.

How much did she sell it for? Did she make more than she is giving you? If not, then I'm not sure I'd ask for more than she sold it for.

[CornishMaid1]

SIL is the CF here. She should pay what she agreed to pay. You don't renege after all this time.

Saying that, it depends what the price was. If say you were selling it for £5,000 and she gave you £3,000 then I would not be happy to lose £2,000, but if it was £500 and she gave £300 I probably wouldn't argue over £200.

I may have to use her logic in the future. When I need a new kitchen I am going to get it on finance, have the kitchen and then say to the finance company after 6 months that it is a used kitchen and the worktop is a bit marked, so I am only going to repay 60%.

[SandAndSea]

It's always worth going absolutely batshit at moments like this, by the way - if they're family, they're always going to be there, and if you let them get away with cheeky shit, they WILL file you as a pushover and they will do it again. It changes the relationship and they will stop respecting you. The fact she's done this at all speaks VOLUMES about how she regards and respects you and her brother.

I almost agree with this. I wouldn't go "absolutely batshit" but I do think you need to go a bit large in cases like this.

[DavyCrocket]

It's up to you if the price is reduced but her. It really is as simple as that.

[ILoveMyCaravan]

So she's had free use of your car for six months and gave you no options when she came to sell it as she's no vested interest in getting a good price for it. Sounds like she's not shopped around for either the best price to get it fixed or the best selling price. Total CF. I would be livid. How do you even know she's given you the full amount it sold for?

[QueenDaisy]

Like someone else has said, she’s a thief, if I was you, I’d have no further contact with her, forget about her & enjoy your new life a long way away from a thief

[NorthernRunner]

The fundamental point for me is that it wasn’t hers to sell. I appreciate you had put it in her name, but she hadn’t paid for it before she sold it. Morally that’s so wrong. The failed MOT is almost irrelevant. What she did is really shitty. She should pay you the full agreed price.
I would stay clear of any money dealings with them in future.
I hate it when people get funny with money, just pay what you owe 🤦🏻‍♀️

[poobumwee]

It was not hers to sell in the first place.
It was loaned to her on the understanding that she paid you an agree amount
She is taking the piss. I would be livid-but let DH sort it.
Just don;t go out of your way to help her out again