Am I a cf or is my aunt? Is £500 enough?

[Cantbloodyrememberthenameonthread]

My car broke down a couple of weeks ago. My aunt has a car that has sat on her driveway for a number of years, unused. It is nearly 30 years old, high mileage, aesthetically damaged (moss, dents, inside leathers damaged etc). Obviously no MOT etc but she said it would pass with flying colours.

my aunt offered me to use it until I sorted a new car. I asked how much she’d want for it and she just said “nothing just sort yourself out” I said I wasn’t going to use it permanently but would borrow for a couple of weeks (was happy to pay for a couple of weeks usage) and then return it.

It failed the mot. And I spent around £500 to get it through. I didn’t say, but I was a bit irked at having to pay £500 to repair a car I wasn’t keeping, but took it as a gesture of payment for letting me use the car. Around this time, my aunt said to my brother that she wanted me to pay £1000 for the car “as a favour”. When I checked the value the car was worth £1100 in mint condition on auto trader. This was never communicated to me at all and I was shocked. Shortly after, the car has broken down completely and had to be towed.

My aunt has expressed that she’s very much put out by the fact it’s broken down and has expressed she still wants the money for it, again this isn’t to me. I’m really annoyed. I feel the £500 I paid on the mot is more than fair, and if I’d have known she wanted 1k for it I’d have declined. Not least because it’s not worth that, but because I’d have bought another run around for that amount. My aunt is now sort of talking to other family saying it’s the last time she’ll do a favour for family.

I have sent her a message about all this but she never replied

AIBU here or is she?

I'm still confused as to why you've not been back to the garage. It clearly wasn't in a fit state to pass it's MoT regardless of the drama with your aunt.

I just cannot fathom why you would offer so much (take car for a mot, pay for all the required works etc) all for the use of a car for a couple of weeks. And as for now somehow being required to buy it - ridiculous. You never agreed to buy it, you agreed to borrow it. Your aunt saw you coming is all I can say.

You greed (desire to get a baaargain) got you trapped. You should have rented a car from a reputable car dealer for these couple of weeks. But you thought you would get a better deal (or a freebie) using your aunt's car.

I never get involved with relatives/friends/colleagues if I need anything. I found it is cheaper, always, to use independent services.

Take it back to the garage who charged you £500 to get it through the MOT.if you no longer have the car then just ignore your aunt's calls for money-it's a scam and almost certainly she knows it.

I've seen a few people say this but MOT's don't check everything - even basic things like gearbox, clutch and oil levels. If you want all that looked at, you need a service, not an MOT.

Id tell her and the rest of the family that she told you at the time you borrowed it that she didn't want any money and she cant decide now that she does. Quote her words to them all.

Maintain that.

You say you want to scrap it, but it's her car so that is not your choice to make.

You made a bad choice to pay out a lot of money on a 30 year old car, but that money is gone now. Pay for it to be towed back to her then you can forget about it.

Why should she? MOT's only check the very basics - they don't look at gearboxes or engines or even oil levels.

She’s saying that what she meant by was “sort myself out” was, no rush for payment just when you’ve sorted another car pay me then. Obviously this wasn’t discussed nor does it make sense

But they obviously did work to it based on the fact she paid so much to get it through the MOT. It doesn't sound like the car was road worthy upon leaving the garage.

No it does not. Particularly when you say she said nothing, just sort yourself out.

If i were you, id be stressing she said nothing, just sort yourself out not just sort yourself out.

This isn’t about a car, it’s about your aunt rewriting the terms after the fact and trying to save face by painting herself as the wronged party.

She offered you the car for free. Her words were clear: “Nothing, just sort yourself out.” That’s a gift or a loan, not a sale.

You paid £500 to make her unused, deteriorating car roadworthy. That’s more than fair. In fact, it’s generous. Had the car not broken down, it would have been a win/win for you both. You got to use the car and she got the MOT paid for which she clearly had no intention of doing herself.

She then told other people she wanted £1,000 but never told you. That’s the key point. She didn’t communicate it to you because she knew it wouldn’t fly.

The car then broke down anyway so the £500 you spent didn’t even buy you reliability, it bought her a repaired car she hadn’t touched in years.

She’s now telling the family she’s “done a favour” and you’ve wronged her. This is classic reputation‑management: She’s embarrassed the car was a wreck and is trying to reframe the story so she’s the victim.

Are you being unreasonable? No. Not even slightly. You:

• asked upfront what she wanted
• were told “nothing”
• paid for repairs
• used it briefly
• dealt with it breaking down
• communicated directly
• got ignored

She:

• offered it for free
• didn’t disclose she wanted money
• inflated the value
• complained to others instead of you
• ignored your message
• is now rewriting history

This is not on you. The £500 is more than enough in fact, it’s too much

A 30‑year‑old, moss‑covered, dented, unused car with no MOT and damaged interior is not worth £1,000. It’s barely worth the scrap value.
You effectively:

• paid for her MOT
• paid for her repairs
• paid to resurrect a car she abandoned
• and then it still died

If anything, she owes you, not the other way around.

This is the part you’ll recognise from your own family patterns:

• She offered generosity impulsively
• Regretted it
• Felt foolish when the car failed
• Didn’t want to admit she’d given you a dud
• So she reframed it as “I did a favour and they didn’t appreciate it”

It’s a face‑saving manoeuvre, not a moral stance.

You’ve already messaged her. She ignored it. That’s your answer. Your position is: “I paid £500 to get the car through its MOT and used it briefly before it broke down. I was told it was free to borrow. I’m not paying £1,000 for a car that’s now undriveable.”

If I was feeling exceptionally generous, I might ask if she wants it scrapping or towed on to her drive. And then you step back. No arguing. No defending. No JADE (justify, argue, defend, explain). Let her tell whatever story she needs to tell. You know the truth. Anyone sensible will see the truth.

Yes - and you can easily spend £500 on MOT advisories without even touching the serious stuff - new tyres alone would be nearly £200. Then when you add in things like brakes (pads and discs), spark plugs, an aux belt etc. the money soon adds up.

None of that takes into account anything like batteries, gears or the engine istelf.

If thats the kind of 'favour' she does be grateful she is keeping them to herself from now on. Its completely irresponsible to lend a car to anyone that cant pass an MOT. That means its dangerous, let alone roadworthy. Id be asking for my £500 back given her promise it would pass and it didnt. And tell her to remove her rubbish from your property as a matter of urgency or you will have to have it towed to the scrap yard.

your aunt thought the car was in the same nic as when she last used it.
no.
Cars sit and rust. rubber starts to perish. things start to weaken.

Then you get some bits replaced by perfectly working new parts and this can cause the parts next to them to subsequently fail as they aren't used to it.

id suggest an un-mot’d car is worth very little. She was incredibly lucky that you paid for a mot and repairs. after it lying so long unloved.

if anything i’d suggest your aunt should be paying YOU money and be mortified her car she thinks is in good condition clearly is not. the fact it’s died proves that.

id give her it back wirh the receipts proving how much i’d spent should she wish to reimburse you. and leave it at that.

it’s got an mot now. it’s worth more than before. youve done her a solid.

family can be weird about money. that’s why i’d walk. it’s not worth falling out over. join a local car club cooperative and hire theirs wjem you need one. ours hires by the hour. they send a code to let you open the door. it’s my plan next time i need one!

Just say no. That she said she didn’t want anything and you wouldn’t have taken it if she said she wanted money. That you’ve already spent £500 and it’s still broken so it’s worthless.

If she kicks off just ask her why she’s acting like an entitled snowflake over a lemon. Tell the rest of the family she offered it for free but then wanted £1000 after it broke. Spread shit right back.

Your aunt’s living in cloud cuckoo land.

An old car that hasn’t been driven on the road in a few years won’t be remotely roadworthy as the brakes will need work for a start!

It sounds like no one in your family has much of an understanding about cars if they actually think an old jalopy would fetch £1k.

Honestly, you’ve had to waste £500 to learn a valuable lesson about family here!

Why didn't you just hire a car? It's pretty obvious and old cat that's not been used for a few years isn't going to pass it's MOT. What a waste of money.

Well this is the thing, most of my family don’t drive so no one has any clue about cars. Tbh nor does my aunt as her husband had always dealt with the cars. He’s passed so she hasn’t bought or sold a car since. I’ve tried explaining its value and she still seems to think it’s a good run around. This was before it even broke down, wouldn’t get past 60, overheating every 20 mins. The more I think about it the more I’m annoyed tbh

A loan with an obligation to buy wasn’t what she offered. She’s seemingly under the impression that she’s sold the car to you through nothing but the power of her own will. You haven’t agreed to this at all so ask her where she got this idea which your brother has related to you that a £1000 sale is expected. Tell her you did her a favour more than equal to the loan by paying £500 to get her car roadworthy and you won’t be paying any more towards the car - you’d have have been better off getting taxis! The whole thing is bloody batshit. She’s effectively getting an unused heap of shit off her drive and trying to charge you for the experiment of whether it’s possible to get it into some sort of saleable condition. With you as the buyer.

Send her an invoice for the MOT, plus storage fees for the vehicle and whatever else until it adds up to around 2k.
(your aunt is trying to rip you off obvs!)

You haven't said what make and model of car it is. At 30 years old, I would suggest you are heading into classic car territory and it could possibly be more valuable than you realise.

But you chose to take it and spend money on it if you're going to be annoyed at anyone, be annoyed at yourself.

This is going to sound very harsh but what the hell were you thinking? This was very stupid.

You thought you could take a 30 year old car that’s been off the road for a long long time, and just get an MOT and all would be fine and dandy? That is stupid. It was obviously going to cost a fortune at the MOT, why did you even do that?

You should have sorted yourself another bag or managed without a car. My car has been in the garage for repairs for 2 weeks now, and I’ve just managed without. I live rurally, my house is on a 40mph road with no pavement and I’m a single parent. I have still managed without a car. If someone said, “you can borrow my car that’s ancient and been off the road for a decade, just needs an MOT” then I’d laugh and say no thanks! What were you thinking?

And when it came back saying it needed £500 of work… why don’t you say no?

You’re a mug. When you let people treat you like a mug, you sort of deserve what you get.

my dad had a car like that - we had to pay to get it taken to the tip. It would have cost far more than £500 to get it back on the road. Also you do not need a heafty deposit to hire a car. I cannot see why you would say - thanks aunty a battered, moss covered car is just what I need.