Sold car privately now they want their money back

[Raspberrysins]

I sold my car to a lady on Facebook. She test drove it on Monday. Picked it up on Friday. Meanwhile I also found a car and bought it with the proceeds. She turned up on my doorstep yesterday claiming the car is ‘no good’ and wants her money back. She said it smells of fumes and that the engine was smoking. She brought another lady who was pretty bolshy. I didn’t know what to do! She demanded that I go and pick it up from her house and so I did this and also I arranged for the garage who’d recently MOT’d it to take it for a check on Monday. I did this all as a gesture of goodwill. I felt sorry for her as honestly the car had been fine for me and just had some work done. I’m feeling so anxious now about what the outcome might be. What if the garage uncover a problem that I didn’t know about? What’s my responsibility? The car is legally hers and my understanding is that with a private sale it’s ‘sold as seen’. It’s up to her to check it properly. I never set out to scam anyone. I know officially I don’t have to do anything but I feel so very anxious. Her son lives in my village and I am worried they might cause trouble.

I wouldn't have gone to her house and picked it up or taken it to the garage. I am afraid she has no right to her money back. It was sold as seen. If you buy privately, that's the risk you take. I would have directed her to the garage you got MOT from. Presumably, she has seen the date of the MOT. I suspect there is nothing wrong with it.

If the car can’t be easily fixed and you don’t offer to fix it or refund her money I wouldn’t be surprised if she took you to the small claims court. I would

You would be wasting your time and money! Why would you pay for someone else’s car to be fixed? It’s unlucky. If you don’t want to take the risk you need to buy from somewhere with a warranty.

Caveat emptor applies here - in other works buyer beware. They need to do the appropriate checks - if she chose not to do that then that is her lookout. Give the car back - it isn't yours. Sounds like she is trying to get out of the deal. The law is firmly on your side.

How did it go with the car OP?

I've arranged repairs on second hand vehicles before. You do sometimes get people who insist there's something wrong with it, despite multiple diagnoses to the contrary.

If you've been driving it regularly prior to this, it's got a new MOT, no warning lights, and it passes whatever checks your garage is making, I say it was working fine when you gave it to her. Cars can develop faults at any time. Once she has the keys and has paid, any faults are happening on her watch to resolve.

So hopefully the garage will call you soon to say all is ok with the work they carried out. You can then call her to tell her to collect her car. If the garage find something that needs doing, unrelated to the work already done by them, you can call her, and tell her to call the garage and she can advise them whether or not to do the work.

Do not go any further than this. If they is an issue, it's tough, she should have had a mechanic look over it before she bought it. If she turns up like that on your doorstep, call the police.

I

Sold as seen. Tell her to bog off and if she doesn't leave you alone you will call the police

This is why I buy from Garages.
She paid the money and owns the car.
Tell her this, that she found the car acceptable when she paid for it.
Tell her that her own recourse is too go to court.
Ask your Garage to note down the Mileage.
That is important, as it will show she is still using the car, IF she ever tries anything.

Unfortunately for the buyer it’s sold as seen regardless of anything else, because it’s a private sale. Once the keys are in her hands, any faults are hers to remedy. That’s the chance you take buying a second hand car, privately. I’d say you’ve been more than fair trying to check the fault for her. Hope you managed to sort it today.

Any updates op?

Unfortunately for the buyer it’s sold as seen regardless of anything else, because it’s a private sale

It doesn't matter how often this is repeated on this thread, it simply is not true. Even though it is a private sale the car must be roadworthy and match any description that was given. The seller must not misrepresent the car.

In this case the OP advertised the car as being in "lovely condition". If it is faulty, it is clearly not in lovely condition.

Hopefully, you have returned the car to her before the garage checked, as others have advised. You should write up your memory of the exchange, specifically that you were intimidated with threats to call the police and that this is the only reason you took the car to the garage but now that you have a chance to reflect without the purchaser present you understand it was 'bought as seen'. I hope you don't need to use this info but it's not acceptable for someone to come to you and threaten you post-purchase.

As has been pointed out in relation to an Mot, if the car was in lovely condition when it was sold, that doesn’t mean it will still be in lovely condition when the buyer has picked it up and driven it home. Anything could go wrong in that time. I don’t see how this is the sellers fault.

So what happened at the garage?

I don't think you've done anything wrong. Next interaction needs to be quite blunt though, on the lines of 'there's nothing wrong with it, it's your car now'.

Most insurance allow you to drive any car not owned by you but I think it is only 3rd party cover and you generally have to be over a certain age, 21 or 25 something like that

You have to have fully comp insurance on a car of your own and the owner of the vehicle you're borrowing also has to have insurance on their vehicle. I may be wrong, but I'm not sure if you can use this for work purposes or when hiring a vehicle - I think it's primarily intended for when you borrow a friend/family member's car/van or test drive a car you're thinking of buying (the latter may have its own separate clause); BUT the vehicle you borrow usually cannot be registered as belonging to somebody who lives at the same address as you. They want to make sure (as much as they can) that it's an occasional borrowing rather than avoiding being insured on a car you regularly drive/own (or your household owns).

youve practically admitted theres a problem by taking it to a garage

I disagree; surely it's just to reassure your buyer of your integrity. The same principle as when you buy from a dealer and they get an HPI check to prove it's not been stolen or otherwise registered as dodgy and show you the report - it's for your peace of mind as their customer, not their admission that they think they might have stolen it!

www.bromley.gov.uk/leaflet/122489/16/687/d

Update: the garage found a seal that needed replacing but nothing major. It’s all been sorted. I told her to pick up the car and not to contact me again as I’d already done more than I should have. It’s been a steep learning curve for me that’s for sure. I know people have said I should have shut the door on her right from the start but that’s just not me. It doesn’t sit right and I couldn’t morally do that one day after selling something. Luckily it was only a small issue. The lady was very grateful and that’s the end of it. Thanks for all the advice it’s been an eye opener and made me reflect a lot on my assertiveness skills!

Great to hear OP!

That's really good to hear x

Glad you've had a good outcome

Good result OP.

Well done!

Glad it’s sorted.

This is why I wouldn’t privately sell a car, I’d rather take a lower price trade in as it saves on the hassle

@2pinkginsplease I certainly won’t be selling privately again 😅