Dodgy car dealer help!

[ChicScroller]

My friend brought a car from a dodgy dealer off auto trader she paid £8,000 for it and £1,000 in repairs and it cannot be driven now.

she sent the money via bank transfer and 10 mins after driving off the car had issues the guy was messaged and he said it was all good before and then ignored her.

she met him at the corner of a housing estate so wasn’t sure where he lived so had to drive the car home

messaged guy again he ignored her and had disappearing messages on WhatsApp

she took to 3 garages and a specialist so has spent about £1,200 and they said is another £4/5k to fix

what can she do? Car was £8k and now the fix costs. guy is ignoring all calls and messages she has said she will take action

is small claims the way to go?
he is registered on companies house but sold car as a private dealer on auto trader and paid his bank account

Is he an actual dealer? first of all she would have to establish that somehow.

Even if she can assert rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, because he is a dealer, she would need to locate his address to write to him to assert her rights.

I think your friend was very foolish in purchasing this car given the red flags, such as meeting elsewhere, no proper address, and paying by bank transfer.

I cannot see how she will get her money back.