Who is at fault here & who should pay?

[mumontherun14]

Hi. I had a horsevan for sale recently it was my daughters & she had given up riding for a bit.

Van was bought from a local dealer 18months ago for 9k. I got a full mechanic inspection from independent mechanic & got all recommended work completed before we bought it. Then lightly used for a year maybe around 6-8times local trips. Had no problems at all with it.

We decided to sell it in June & took it back to same dealer. He had it advertised for 4 months with no luck.

So I took it back to try & sell it myself as I wanted to get a car for my son who has recently passed his test.

I called a different dealer in England & he said he was interested & would come up to us in Scotland to collect it. I sent him photos & videos & the mechanic report & MOT certificate which was passed in June.

He offered us a knockdown price of 6k & I decided after a few days to take it as no other interest & meant we could get the car for my son.

Today the driver an elderly gentleman came up by train from derby to collect the van. He inspected it and we took it a test drive together. My father in law was here with me.

He called the boss of the company & went through various checks & they were happy to take it & transferred me the money.

Then ar 5pm I had a call to say the van had broken down in the M6 & did I have breakdown cover. I said I didn’t as I’d cancelled my policy.

I’ve now had a message to say they have had road rescue out & there is a £1300 charge to recover the van down to the yard in derby & it’s an unacceptable breakdown as his driver is an elderly man.

Ive replied saying I’m sorry this has happened & it was completely unexpected as we’d both done a test drive & van was fine & we sold it in good faith. I’ve said we’ll contribute to repairs but not the recovery as I’d expect the company to have breakdown cover in place.

Where do I stand here? Thanks for any advice

You don't have to pay anything at all. You're not a dealer & didn't offer a warranty, it's sold as seen. Very annoying for the new owner but that's the chance we take when buying vehicles 2nd hand. It's totally down to them.

I'd have not even offered the repairs.

Second hand, private sale. I'd have thought that unless you knew there was a defect there's no liability whatsoever...

Which guide on used vehicle sales

It was sold; as soon as the money transferred it was no longer your responsibility. Can't see how the age of the driver is in question, would they have complained if the driver had been a younger person?

Are you sure they're not trying it on?

Why did you offer money for repairs? They bought it sold as seen, you are not a commercial dealer, you dont offer a warranty.

Sold as seen

It’s sold. Not your responsibility.
don’t pay anything.
caveat emptor

Why did HE not have breakdown cover put in place after purchase??? Why on earth would they expect to still use yours?

Also- WHY would you offer to pay/contribute to repairs? They could come up with any made-up receipt/claim and expect YOU to pay now.

Was it a private sale or via ebay/market place etc? If that latter- they should have guidance and advice. If the former- its sold as seen. They tried beforehand- and then sold. Their responsibility now.

I'd check for any legal wording/advice and reply that having looked at trading standards/private sales rules/whatever- you are not responsible to contribute to any of the repairs!

You have absolutely no responsibility for what happened after it was sold.

Had you hidden a known fault and / or lied about the condition then things might be different, but you’ve done everything right.

I understand feeling bad that it happened, but the buyer is a business, they inspected the goods, and that’s that.

Please don’t enter into a discussion with them.

Sold as seen. Not your problem.

Thanks so much. I did feel so bad about it & he sent me a really cheeky text. He was asking to bring it back for full refund or if I’d contribute to the repairs . I will just say to him that I’ve looked into it & it was sold as seen & they had the chance to fully inspect it so I don’t have to contribute anything. Also they are responsible for their own breakdown cover.

It's not your responsibility. I do feel your pain though. I once sold my car to a bonkers woman who called me as she was driving him home (after turning up unannounced and having a long test drive) to complain about a rattling sound!!

I'd tell them it's a private sale so sold as seen.

It was a private sale. Not eBay or anything. I called his company to ask if he’d be interested & he said he was so I sent him all the details directly.

The fact that it was sold to a dealer makes a big difference in terms of expectations. In short, they are supposed to know what they are doing, and they lose the consumer protections that a private buyer could get (although in this case even a private buyer would have no grounds to complain.)

I’d send them a single text stating that it is not your fault or responsibility to pay for repairs to someone else’s van, then block their number. They know full-well that they haven’t a leg to stand on.

Frankly they are being so out of order even asking that I suspect they haven’t had a breakdown at all and are just trying to scam you.

Not your responsibility at all, he should have had breakdown cover, you can get it for the driver/person regardless of what vehicle you're in, he could have had that even before buying. You pay extra to buy from a dealer with possible warranty etc, why should he have that from you as a private seller? You sold it in good faith, it's his issue now.

Buying beware!!
Totally nothing to do with you. And they got it at a knockdown price. As they are dealers they will have all the contacts for mechanics etc. Hope they get off your back once they know they are at nothing. Can they cancel a cheque or do you have actual money.

If he’s a dealer then one would think that he should have his own breakdown cover!

you owe nothing. Sold as seen. They already got a bargain. Cheeky fuckers!

Make sure they can't do a charge back on the money

It’s a bank transfer - as good as cash.

It’s a bank transfer I’ve put it in a different account

It's a common scam, claim you've broke down after the sale and ask for some money back.

Even if he did break down, it's HIS truck that broke down NOT YOURS, therefore not your problem. Sold as seen I'm afraid. Don't give him a penny

I wish people wouldn't keep peddling the myth that a second-hand vehicle is sold as seen. That simply isn't true. Even in a private sale, the vehicle must be fit for purpose and must match any description that was given. So, for example, if the car is described as having air conditioning, it must be fitted with air conditioning which must work. If these conditions are not met, the buyer can reject the vehicle and get a refund or claim damages for any loss caused by the breach of contract. This applies even if the buyer is a business.

In this case, if the van was roadworthy and OP didn't say anything to imply that it was free of faults (e.g. describing it as a "good runner"), she doesn't owe the buyer anything. But that is nothing to do with "sold as seen". The law does not accept that concept. You can write "sold as seen" in big letters on a contract and get the buyer to sign it, but it still isn't true.

We had this recently.

Sold an older car which was MOT’d and running great. Buyer messaged the next day to say it had broken down and was going to cost over £2K to fix, would we pay half? DH offered to have his mechanic look it over. Funnily enough they didn’t take us up on that offer and we never heard from them again.

Well known scam.