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?

[Pinkyyy]

The amount of money she got for the car is irrelevant. She agreed to pay you a certain amount and that's how much she needs to pay. People always lose money in cars so just because she's lost 40% of what she agreed to pay you, doesn't mean she doesn't have to pay it.

[JacquesHammer]

she feels that it was overpriced at 500 pounds and only worth 300 pounds anyway, so it's fair

The time to decide it’s overpriced is when you’re making the agreement - you’re then free not to buy it.

You can’t buy it with an interest free loan, drive it for 6 months and THEN decide the price isn’t fair.

[mummmy2017]

Honest it isn't worth the bother, she will never pay up.
And yes your 100% right she cheated you..
Revenge is if she ever asks to come visit you say yes, but please book somewhere .
You may not get the money back but her cheap holiday costs her.

[Hereward1332]

Did she sell it to a stranger, or was it to a friend?

[Doorway]

She must have known buying a car of that age that it was unlikely to pass its MOT

[BlackSatinDancer]

Thank goodness for people like notatwork who read and understand and can summarise the problem in a nutshell.

It doesn't matter what happened to the car after title was transferred to the SIL. That is her problem. She may have driven for the 6 months in such a way as to cause (additional) problems that came up on the MOT.

It doesn't matter if the selling price was over-estimated either. The car was sold months ago at the price agreed by OP and her SIL.

What matters is there is a legally binding contract for the agreed amount which needs to be fulfilled.

[LittleChristmasMouse]

Yes, but it's family. Don't people help their family out sometimes?
Family don't usually swindle family out of money either do they? As the SIL has done here.

If you can afford to then sure help family out. Are you saying that you are compelled to give a family member a car even if you can't afford to?

[BananaLeaf]

Thanks for all the comments - I won’t be on the computer for a while re any questions

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

Gave us all the money (from the sale)

I'm sorry, but there's so much wrong here that I wouldn't believe her. I also wouldn't believe that the cost to fix it equalled the car's value - as a PP said, that would have made it scrap so she couldn't have sold it at all - and the "garage estimate" could have been from anyone, even a mate down the pub

Basically she's trying it on, hoping you won't bother that she's sold it without saying anything because you're abroad - but whether you do bother for a comparatively small amount has to be your decision

[BlackSatinDancer]

@BlackCatSleeping
Yes, family do sometimes help each other out and that is precisely what the OP has done. She has helped her SIL out by agreeing to accept payment at a much ater date, months down the line.

The SIL is abdicating her responsibility. It isn't the OP's responsibility to gift her car to her SIL or accept a reduced price for it.

[Honeyroar]

She's been very unfair to you (and bloody cheeky!).

Ok so the car may now have failed it's MOT and not be worth what she was meant to pay for it, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't worth it when it was given to her six months ago. The stuff that needs fixing may even be down to how she has been driving it (for example a burnt out clutch).

[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

[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 🤦🏻‍♀️

[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

[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?

[DavyCrocket]

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

[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.

[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%.

[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.

[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]

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.

[LittleChristmasMouse]

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

[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!

[Binglebong]

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

[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.