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AIBU?

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Original poster

Sold my car and buyer isn't happy

209 replies

monotonousmum · 09/05/2022 11:24

I sold my car at the weekend, and the buyer has messaged today to say she isn't happy.

Car is 13 years old. Only known issue is that the boot needs to be opened via remote button on the key. It's been like this for three years - and I showed her this before she took the car.

This morning I've had a text to say she's taken it to a garage and they've valued it at £900 under what she paid for it. Brakes need doing, wiper needs replacing, and apparently an electrical problem causes the boot issue.

She hasn't asked me for anything yet. Just told me she's not happy.

I've sent a polite response back to say its a good car, and she should maybe get another opinion. A dealer offered me £200 under what she paid for it last week, and it's a 13 year old car so not going to be perfect.

I offered her to test drive it, she didn't want to. She asked for a reduced price, which was agreed (slightly more than she offered, but £300 less than my asking price). The price was in line with the autotrader valuation, and similar cars for sale.

I feel bad for her if she's not happy, but I have no intention of giving her a refund or anything. AIBU?

OP posts:
LookItsMeAgain · 09/05/2022 12:54

Oh yes. The old nugget of "Buyer Beware" or Caveat Emptor applies here.

They could have brought the car to a garage before they completed the transaction to have it checked over, but they didn't.

Anything that they discover now is entirely up to them to fix on the car. You're not obliged to do anything about how they are unhappy about things.

Vidax · 09/05/2022 12:54

Discovereads · 09/05/2022 12:22

You don't know much about buying and selling second hand cars.

Lol. I only buy and sell used cars. I’ve owned over a dozen cars. I just happen to be more ethical about it than what appears to be the majority. Which is truly depressing.

“This woman is trying it on.”
Why is it ok to assume the buyer is a scammer but not ok to ask the OP why they priced the car £500 over it’s market value and whether the brakes truly were not known when that seems unlikely given how MOTs are done?

Surely we need these questions answered to know whether the buyer has a valid reason to be unhappy?

Everyone knows you price a bit higher than you want so you can be haggled down.

If the car was overpriced it wouldn't have sold

Block

AchatAVendre · 09/05/2022 12:57

I should also add that I bought a 10 year old car from a private seller 2 months ago. Its a luxury make and model so cost around 6k. The cars great but its now developed a likely ERG fault. Possibly because I put a bad batch of supermarket diesel in it, possibly because the ERG valve is needing replaced anyway.

In no way am I going to go back to the seller and say "Please pay for me to take the car to a garage to get a new ERG valve put in because I think you're unethical".

I could have paid £3000 more for exactly the same car from a dealer, with a warranty, and have had exactly the same argument about the ERG valve, eventually coming to a settlement after a lot of wrangling for the dealer to give me perhaps half the cost of replacement ERG valve. If I was very lucky.

Of course, if I took my car to the Mercedes dealership and said "please give it a thorough examination and advise on anything needing done", they would come up with a bill for a couple of thousands. They would probably advise replacing things that don't really need replaced, because they would want to get it into as perfect condition as possible.

As it is, I bought a second hand car like this because I have someone who will fit a replacement ERG valve for me without it costing me a penny.

ReviewingTheSituation · 09/05/2022 12:58

I sold a car years ago. I'd just had it MOTd and serviced. Buyer test drove it with her dad. She was happy, he was happy. I knew of no issues with it. She bought it and drove away happy.

2 days later she texted me and said the head gasket had gone, and wanted me to go halves on the repair (£££ on an old car). I politely replied and declined. I felt bad for her that it had happened, but was just one of those things. I had no way of knowing it was going to happen. That's the risk you take when buying an old car privately.

WombatNo12 · 09/05/2022 13:00

I sold a van recently...

I was offered 29, 32, 33k from various dealers for the van. Sold it in the end privately for £34k.

None of these values are incorrect, it's how economics work.

The guy who paid 34k was happy to pay the 34k, as he knew (having been to the dealer who offered me 33k) as he knew that van would be retailed at 39k if it hit the forecourt of the dealer.

And yes, vans do cost that much, the market is bonkers due to lack of supply.

Caveat emptor for private sales. Sold as seen.

Crinklecuts · 09/05/2022 13:03

Discovereads · 09/05/2022 11:38

To take a car you just bought to a garage and find out you paid £900 over its value for a 13yr old car would be a shock. Most 13yr old cars are under £5k, so that’s a massive difference.

Why did you price the car at £500 over what a dealer offered you for it? How much % of an increase was this? You showed her the boot issue, and she could have seen the wipers, but why did you not mention the brakes?

Yes the law says caveat emptor (buyer beware) but part of me thinks you’ve been a bit greedy and taken advantage of a less well off person by deliberately charging them too high a price for your 13 yr old car and not disclosing expensive brake maintenance you knew was due.

@Discovereads

because a dealer needs to make a profit so ofc he will offer less than the car is worth the sell it on.

You have done nothing wrong, if it passed the last MOT then what more can you do. You aren’t a mechanic.

Dogscanteatonions · 09/05/2022 13:05

discovereads

Sure you do... sure.

How can you possibly not know that dealers offer under the market value for old cars? It wasn't priced £500 over the market value but £500 over what the dealer offered.

How can you not know that brakes might need replacing BETWEEN MOTs?

I've had way more than your dozen cars but mostly I only know what work needs doing when a light Congress on our my mechanic tells me.

Jog on.

Blaze1886 · 09/05/2022 13:11

I've sold two hundred cars since September last year. My stance on this is that she paid a price that she was happy with

The car is sold as seen and she declined a test drive (odd)

Ignore her

ImAvingOops · 09/05/2022 13:16

Pmsl at the notion OP is greedy or unethical for trying to get as much money as possible for her car! She can sell it for as much as she likes and it's worth what someone will pay for it.
She doesn't owe the buyer a cheap car Hmm
Anyone who buys a car and doesn't even look at it properly is a muppet. Not OPs problem

Leftbutcameback · 09/05/2022 13:18

Their “valuation” really isn’t relevant - for 13 year old cars it’s all about what the buyer is prepared to pay. It’s not like buying a 3 year old car where there’s a large market for second hand cars from dealers.

If the wipers need doing buy them and do them yourself - not worth paying a garage to do that. She knew about the boot, so should have priced for that (the buyer), so the only real issue is the brakes. Are they unsafe? Was there an advisory on the last MOT? If no then there’s no way the OP could know about them.

whynotwhatknot · 09/05/2022 13:19

How can someone decline a test drive then moan when they think theyve found a problem-i bet the garage are just after some work when they released the owner wasnt very savvy

op says there was no advisements on brakes o the last mot and she already told her about the boot problem so she was upfront about everything

BackflandedCondiment · 09/05/2022 13:23

Bought a car at the weekend and still had time to get it to a garage this morning for a full check over and valuation then had time to message you, all before about 11am.

How efficient this buyer is!

Shame they were not so organised before buying. Also for not knowing that, if you privately buy a 2nd hand car, it's to be expected that the brakes and/or tyres need doing because few sellers would go to the hassle/expense ahead of a sale Grin

KangFang · 09/05/2022 13:24

Sold as seen.
She can jog on. Cheeky caa.

Keep all records though - in case she escalates it.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 09/05/2022 13:30

Aargh! Just lost my post which was basically:

Don't forget most buyers make an offer, so sellers put the price up a bit to cover that.

SofiaSoFar · 09/05/2022 13:32

Don't get into any further conversations with her. Nothing you can say will be of any benefit to you.

As long as you didn't lie in your advert - e.g. saying it had an MOT when it didn't, or anything like that, then it's tough shit for her.

If she wanted a new car she should have bought one, not a secondhand, privately sold one with zero warranty whatsoever.

MyrrAgain · 09/05/2022 13:41

Personally, if I was buying a 2nd hand car straight from a private seller with no protection or right to refund, and limited car knowledge.... I would ask for a mechanic to check it out first and give me the facts. If I was serious about the purchase I would do this first. So, I think the buyer should have checked this out beforehand if you didn't know about the issues already.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 09/05/2022 13:46

ImAvingOops · 09/05/2022 13:16

Pmsl at the notion OP is greedy or unethical for trying to get as much money as possible for her car! She can sell it for as much as she likes and it's worth what someone will pay for it.
She doesn't owe the buyer a cheap car Hmm
Anyone who buys a car and doesn't even look at it properly is a muppet. Not OPs problem

Me too - it's not greedy or unethical in the least. Some people have some very odd ideas.

Booboobibles · 09/05/2022 13:49

That must have been a heck of a lot of money for a 13 year old car. Not saying you’ve done anything wrong but it’s pretty bonkers to pay that much for a privately sold car with no warranty.

thedancingbear · 09/05/2022 13:51

SofiaSoFar · 09/05/2022 13:32

Don't get into any further conversations with her. Nothing you can say will be of any benefit to you.

As long as you didn't lie in your advert - e.g. saying it had an MOT when it didn't, or anything like that, then it's tough shit for her.

If she wanted a new car she should have bought one, not a secondhand, privately sold one with zero warranty whatsoever.

This isn't strictly true, and people need to be careful what they are advising the OP. Caveat emptor is rarely absolute.

Even for a private sale, there is a legal requirement for a car to be roadworthy, with the exception of faults the seller has disclosed. If it turns out, for example, that the car would've failed an MOT owing to dodgy brakes (and it's a big if) then the buyer could have a claim. So the OP just telling their buyer to 'fuck off' may not be the wisest thing.

MadameCholetsDirtySecret · 09/05/2022 13:52

Caveat emptor.

MasterBeth · 09/05/2022 13:53

Boo how. Caveat emptor.

MasterBeth · 09/05/2022 13:53

Hoo, not how!

ResentfulLemon · 09/05/2022 13:57

Booboobibles · 09/05/2022 13:49

That must have been a heck of a lot of money for a 13 year old car. Not saying you’ve done anything wrong but it’s pretty bonkers to pay that much for a privately sold car with no warranty.

You'd be surprised. A quick glance at autotrader has some pretty ordinary 13 year old cars above £5,000. The car market is bonkers because new cars are massively delayed. I agree though, I wouldn't hand thousands over to a private individual purely because of 'sold as seen'...but I'm pretty risk averse.

ilovebrie8 · 09/05/2022 14:00

Just ignore her OP. We had similar and just blocked he person as they turned nasty, the car is sold as seen it is not your problem. If she wants a waranty etc buy from a garage and pay garage prices. Totally irrelevant a garage telling her its worth £900 less, she paid you and was happy at that time or she wouldn't have paid you that amount...don't engage.

Viviennemary · 09/05/2022 14:05

It does sound likd the car was very overpriced. But she should have done her homework and brought along a knowledgeable person to advise her. Faults here on both sides.