Car purchase question

JamesM

JamesM

JamesM

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Joined
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Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham
This isn't me but just wondered where my friend stands with this.

Friend went to view a 2nd hand car with her fella, private sale. Car in question is a Corsa so nothing too exotic.

Looked over the car and seemed fine. Test drove it and it drove well, no issues.

They paid the full amount and arranged to collect the car another day.

Collection day comes, they arrive but the car won't start. They call the AA who arrive and have a look. Chap says the head gasket looks to have gone, at which point I said don't touch the car as further damage could have been caused.

Car is still on sellers drive and the seller refuses to refund the cost of the car as it's sold as seen and they have 'spent the money'.

Where does my friend stand with this? I know generally speaking there is no come back on a private sale BUT the car never left the drive way. If the head gasket had blown on the drive home then then as frustrating as it would be that's just sods law but this seems daft.
 
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Yeah "sold as seen" e.g. they test drove it with no issues, if it now refuses to start on the day they collect it then it's not "as seen", it's now broken (not as seen).

I can see this turning into a almighty wrangle though ;)
 
It's a bit complicated isn't it =/

Like I said I fully understand if it had blown up down the road, that's just sods law.

But this seems a bit trick.

For example if I want to a well known TV shop and looked at a TV and said I wanted it, handed over the cash and went to collect it a few days later and it had a crack across the screen, i'd simply not touch it.
 
JamesM said:
For example if I want to a well known TV shop and looked at a TV and said I wanted it, handed over the cash and went to collect it a few days later and it had a crack across the screen, i'd simply not touch it.
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What relevance does buying from a retail establishment have when discussing a transaction with a private individual?

You'd have received the same ability to not touch it if you'd bought the Corsa from a Vauxhall dealer...
 
Mistake one:

Paying for a product and walking away empty handed. Why do people do this? If it's a crappy Corsa, it'll probably be worth a grand or two max. Why not say "Here's £100 deposit, i'll pay the rest when i pick it up ok? Great, thanks. See you next Tuesday then."?
 
Gaygle said:
Mistake one:

Paying for a product and walking away empty handed. Why do people do this? If it's a crappy Corsa, it'll probably be worth a grand or two max. Why not say "Here's £100 deposit, i'll pay the rest when i pick it up ok? Great, thanks. See you next Tuesday then."?
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This
 
Yes they were stupid to pay the full amount before actually collecting the car, I have informed them of this :p
 
I'd be asking how does a headgasket suddenly "go" if the car has supposedly just been sitting on a drive?

Sounds like the seller is trying to pull a fast one, but not sure what (legal) comeback you could have :(
 
There's nothing they can do. They have purchased the car. On handing over the money for the car, that is him buying it. Just because they left it parked on the driveway of the seller for a while before collecting it, doesn't mean that it is the seller's problem.

OP, give us some more detail of the sale.
What was the car?
What was it like on the test drive?
Does it have FSH? MOT? Tax?
How much was the purchase price?
Does the car completely refuse to start?
Has the seller been driving it around since or has it just stood on the driveway?
Does the car turn over?
How does the AA man know the HG has gone?

I get the feeling the AA man may have turned up, looked in the engine oil filler cap, seen some white residue, like you get on all cars that have been sat up for a while, and immediately said "HEAD GASKET!".
 
Gaygle said:
There's nothing they can do. They have purchased the car. On handing over the money for the car, that is him buying it. Just because they left it parked on the driveway of the seller for a while before collecting it, doesn't mean that it is the seller's problem.

OP, give us some more detail of the sale.
What was the car?
What was it like on the test drive?
Does it have FSH? MOT? Tax?
How much was the purchase price?
Does the car completely refuse to start?
Has the seller been driving it around since or has it just stood on the driveway?
Does the car turn over?
How does the AA man know the HG has gone?

I get the feeling the AA man may have turned up, looked in the engine oil filler cap, seen some white residue, like you get on all cars that have been sat up for a while, and immediately said "HEAD GASKET!".
Click to expand...

I don't really know much, i'm going from what ive been told by text message tbh.

OP, give us some more detail of the sale.
What was the car? - Oldish Corsa, gen before current
What was it like on the test drive? - Drove fine, no apparent issues
Does it have FSH? MOT? Tax? - Unknown
How much was the purchase price? - Unknown but would suggest a couple of grand, £2500 max
Does the car completely refuse to start? - Refused to start, not sure if ticked over, etc
Has the seller been driving it around since or has it just stood on the driveway? - They said no however on the test drive petrol light was on. When they went to collect petrol was at quarter of a tank. £5 was put in with a can according to seller
Does the car turn over? - Unknown
How does the AA man know the HG has gone? -Unknown but was 100% positive HG had failed as even he told them it was surprising and very odd that a HG would just fail on a car which hadn't moved.

This was more of a "can they do this" post even though I sort of knew they had lost the money really.

I believe they looked for some advice but basically were told no come back so it's on ebay now for spares/non runner to try and recoup some of the outlay.

Dopey sods.
 
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Seller or one of his friends probably ragged it around his hood, knowing full well it's been sold and paid for in full.

It's a tough one as it is sold as seen but now it is broken, so try your darnest to get that refunded fully.
 
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