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Good post Mark, these and the Citizens Advice Bureau can help you resolve a whole weath of problems.

Good starting point is Consumer Direct, who take all calls for Trading Standards across the UK, and provide consumer advice.

www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
08454 04 05 06

Welcome to the machine bushnut.

Hi guys I'd like to get a few opinions on a dilemma I'm currently facing. I've been in touch with trading standards & their advise was to take this individual to court.

Here are a couple of the adverts this user used to sell the car:




Now the story with this car, on the day I purchased it I specifically asked about the head gasket & overheating and was assured their was no problems with the car, the person actually made a point of pointing out how well the car runs bla bla bla. Anyhow after getting the car home & checking the usual's the next day I noticed the water had disappeared from the water bottle, taking this to a garage and they concluded I may have a problem with the head... Off to call the person from whom I got it, no surprise he is not answering the phone, a quick text to him and again no surprise I got an answer sold as seen which I got to admit he did right on the receipt but I bought it as advertised.

Oh btw I paid a garage to take a look at this car and they confirmed the head gasket had gone but their was other problems lurking within the engine too.

Have I been duped and how would you handle this?

This advert rings a bell :S

Is it Y reg and blue?

He specifically states "everything on the car works as it should" and "good runner", although a court would take into account the age, price and mileage of the car in assessing how well things should be, a headgasket problem would probably be assessed as non-compliant with his statement.

A small claims procedure is relatively cheap and easy to issue against him but you would need a proper statement/assessment from the garage.

It is not uncommon for people to back down straight away when they receive the small court summons.

I would speak to citizens advice first because the general rule is "buyer beware" especially on car sales.

Something else worth looking into is how many other cars he has sold, is he private or is he acting as a dealer which could change the legal position.

The above is my personal opinion and not advice.

Yep, I'm hoping he will see this post and do what's right before I issue court proceedings. I cannot even drive this car, the garage who looked at it advised me to get it home quick before it dies.

the H/G on these are buggers, i did one a while back after a load of garages refused to do it, i did it skimmed the head and the H/G blew straight away had to change it twice. if you take it to a garage who know these engines be prepared for a nice bill or to be rufused

If he is private I dont really think you have a leg to stand on bud unless your mechanic can really prove that the damaged HG went well before you bought it, which again im no expert on but I could imagine that its not easy to do so.

tbh i doubt it can be proved when it went.

and as for private sales you have no come back what so ever

just one of those things live and learn

That made that clear to me chris Soz bungle but I think its a lost cause and you'll just be chasing your tail. Unfortunately the car game is ruthless and goes on everyday. As private sellers are not obliged to follow tough rules and regs, like traders do they can pretty much advertise and sell it (with in reason) how ever they like. You must proove that the seller was deceitful in order to make any form of claim and thats not easy. If he prooves you wrong then that leaves you open to slander charges .

Just take it as a learning curve mate, it wont be the first or the last time it happens.

I don't think that's strictly true, if it can be shown a seller makes statements that are false then you do have a comeback unless you agree to buy "as seen" or similar.

"When you buy goods from a private individual, you don't have the same rights as when buying from a trader. The legal principle of caveat emptor, or 'buyer beware', operates. You have no rights to expect that goods be of satisfactory quality or fit for their purpose, but there is a requirement that they should be 'as described'. You should check goods thoroughly before you buy them."

as he said on the reciept it says sold as seen. therefor it was agreed as the car was taken away.

Fair points diggin but as chris says, sold as seen...taken away.

Can't see any mention of this, perhaps me just being blind?

Not too sure if even "sold as seen" overrides a "should be as described", but that would most probably be a long winded and unpredictable battle.

Link

hope the above link helps

Key point from the link copied below but you would have to prove that the seller was aware of the problems when it was sold

You have fewer legal rights if you buy privately. For example, there is no legal requirement for the car to be of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose. However, the following rights do apply:

- the car must be as described and must be roadworthy so if a private seller misleads you about the condition of a car, you can sue for your losses

I think one main point is, Is the seller a dealer ?
If it can be argued that the seller was for all intense and purposes doing this as a trade then he is bound by the same rules as any other trader.
Having done a little digging myself I recon I could succesfully argue that on the weight of probability he is a trader having found a number of adverts on the internet (some very recent ones).
Once listed in court the oppertunity of discovery is then available in order to re enforce that view, For instance, Who does he work for and, has that company given him a company car recently. (one of the oldest excuses ever used to explain the need to sell a car)

On the question of was the seller aware of the fault and therfore mislead the buyer. The seller has provided the evidence of that in his own pictures lol

Take him to small claims bungle m8, I would
oh and dont forget the to add 8% interest plus out of pocket expenses

The car may have been running all well and good, and the HG went on the way home.

As already mentioned, when the failure occured, and if the seller knew about it will be very hard indeed to prove.

On Private sales its always a good idea to take the car for a good long test drive, with mixed driving and roads - Id say 30-60mins, that way if there is an issue with the car, you can just walk away. You dont need quite as much caution with a trader as you have more rights and comeback should something go wrong.

Sounds like you just got unlucky with buying a car - your not the first, and Im sure you wont be the last

The "as described" statement probably overrides the awareness in respect that if the seller makes a voluntary statement of condition then it is up to the seller to ensure to make sure his statement is true, the seller couldn't make a statement and then plead ignorance of the validity of that statement.

Thank you all for giving us your thoughts, I honestly believe I was knowingly ripped off and now intend on pursuing this person to the full.

Citizen's advice then 1st.

Nope I've been advised & shown what direction I should go along, I don't want to show my hand just yet but was hoping a certain member would do the right thing.

i notice the advert has now been edited so it no longer says everything works as it should

Sounds dodgy to me,

If anything has been removed from the original advert perhaps whoever removed it should explain why, it would at least stop any accusations that may come about, like closing ranks.
If we put aside whether the seller knew there was a problem with the car or not, the decent thing to be done here is to refund the buyer in full, selling a car that develops a problem overnight and then wiping ones hands of the problem is only the actions of a conman and not the actions of a fair minded person. Hiding behind bought as seen would only confirm to most as a dodgy deal or dealer, no decent or fair minded person would indulge in such activity. A decent person who thought they were carrying out a fair and honest transaction would apologize and return the money.

Just been on to them.
Yesterday I was in Morrison's and saw a little jar of Ham and Beef spread which I thought I'd try. It's actually not very good, but the point is, I think it contravenes the Sale of Goods Act. Attached are pictures of the main label and the "small print".
My complaint, with which the chap at Consumerdirect agreed, is that there's no mention on the front of the label of "chicken" but in the list of ingredients there's more chicken (17%) than beef (14%).
I think this is deception, and I've told Morrison's head office so.

Baxters Chicken Broth: Ingrediants- water carrots potatoes 7% rice onions chicken 3%

Have you ever looked at the ingredients of a tin of hot dogs? Lots of mechanically reclaimed chicken, if you compare the low cost tins of hot dogs to the high cost tins, there is very little difference in the content of mechanically reclaimed chicken.

What about "the Misrepresentation Act" it applies to any form fo contract based on misrepresentation,private sale or not.