Lending a car- who is right?

[Applescruffle]

Who is right in this scenario?

A has an automatic only driving licence and an automatic car. She is a single mother with an autistic son. A decides to emigrate to Australia. On leaving she sells the car to a friend of her mum's.
Two years and 4 months later, the mum's friend puts the car up for sale as he is getting on a bit and can no longer handle it. He's disabled, and getting a bit forgetful and confused. A's sister (B) decides to buy the car as she's been offered a good price for it and it's a good family car. B is married with two young kids. B has just passed her test and has a full license. Her husband also drives but only has a van with three seats.

A comes back from Australia 5 months after the sale to visit her family and will be here for a month. A is very upset to learn the family friend no longer has the car and it now belongs to B. Apparently A had an agreement that when she came back to visit, she could borrow the car and she was relying on it. She now has no car to use while she is there and can't afford to hire one, and it's harder to find automatic cars and more expensive. She demands that B lend her the car for the duration of her stay. B says no. It's her car and she needs it and relies on it for school runs and work. She was not aware of nor did she enter into any agreement with A.
A cannot believe she is being left stranded and that her family would do this to her.

Who is right - morally.

YABU - A

YANBU - B

B is right. She owns the car now.

it’s a bit cheeky for A to expect to have free use of the car three years on. She can always rent a car.

You say you aren't B, I doubt you are A because you would have realised after typing out the story that you were a cheeky fucker and not clicked post. Are you another sibling or friend just sitting back with popcorn and laughing at the cheek of A? The mother who wishes A would cop on or head back to OZ?

Lost track of A and B.

The person who originally sold the car and now wants to borrow from the new owner is off their head.

Even if the car had remained with the first person A sold it to, it is very unlikely that it would be possible to get insured to drive it as UK car insurance is for UK residents, most normal domestic policies are not going to allow somebody with a foreign driving license to be added. Her old UK driving licence became invalid when she became non resident in the UK.

I lived in Australia for five years and so looked into these things carefully, when we visited the UK, we hired a car, using our Australian licences and taking the hire car company’s specialist insurance.

Whatever agreement A had with the original purchaser isn't relevant. The car is now owned by someone else. A will need to figure it out.

Did she sell it cheap on that basis though?

Because I can imagine the situation where someone puts it on the market for say £5k, a friend asks if they'd take £2.5k and they say if they can borrow it when they come back once a year, or similar. Both gain from that arrangement. One gets only half the money, but then saves on hiring a car when coming back and it's easier for them, and the other gets a car for half price.

If I was B, I’d laugh in the face of the person demanding to borrow it.
It’s my car, I wasn’t part of any arrangement. Fuck off 😆

Cars sold, so sad but tough. You wouldn't track down a stranger and make demands if it has been sold to them.

Australia lady will just have to make other arrangements, she should have stored the car if she wanted to use it in the future.

A is wrong to demand, but as her sister, I would hope B would help her out with the odd lift for the short time A was visiting ....maybe ....

It’s pretty cheap to hire a car now. Back to normal pricing.

So…the mother of both girls remembers there was an agreement. But her elderly friend who bought the car can’t remember this. So I suspect that is why the daughter who bought the car from him doesn’t know anything about it.
Daughter B now legally owns the car, wasn’t made aware of any agreement with her sister, and needs the car for her family. I’m sure she would help her sister if she could, but really, there is no obligation on her part.

This point is very relevant.

A is being an arse. But she’s family. I would probably try and help her and let her drive it whenever I don’t need it.

I agree

If you are A - you are being utterly ridiculous.

If you are C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J or K - MYOB

There is no way the original buyer could have realistically committed to still
owning the car to lend out 2.5 years later, nor could they be expected to keep up the expense of a car once they could no longer drive.

If the original buyer had sold it on with the caveat that there was a longstanding loan agreement B would probably have refused to buy it. Who would buy a car with the agreement that you hand it over for unspecified lengths of time at potentially the moment you need it most?

Not B’s problem, A is holding an unreasonable expectation.

This whole scenario can't be true. Its ridiculous

Well what a shame the Mum did not raise this with B when B was buying it.

B is in the right. B bought a car in good faith and needs and uses it.

A had an agreement with someone who is forgetful and confused. That person has let A down, probably due to being forgetful and confused.

The only thing I'm wondering is whether B took advantage of someone forgetful and confused, by getting this "good price".

It’s now B’s car. Whatever arrangement A had with elderly friend is now irrelevant.

Sorry but if A can afford the flights back from Australia to visit family they can afford to rent a car FFS. Surely she wouldn't be insured on the car still and it's been years, cheeky cow.

The car belongs to B but maybe she'd have helped out if A had asked properly!

B is right. A wouldn't expect to use car if it was sold to C. Did she sell it on the condition that old man never sold it on? Either way, not B's problem. Also not B's fault A only has a license for automatics. That's A's problem.

Can the mum lend her car to B so the automatic car can be used by A? It would still be a kindness by B rather than what she should be doing.

B is right. Doesn't matter if the agreement in place with the old man. Did they also discuss that the old man could never sell the car?

A is a fucking idiot.