Q. I recently bought a second-hand car. I found it on an online marketplace. It was classed as being a private sale, but I picked it up from a small garage and the lad who sold it appeared to work there. The ad said that there was no guarantee or anything along those lines, but the lad who sold it to me said that all was grand, and if there were any small issues he would sort me out. Now, three weeks later, there are major issues with oil leaks and other problems and the seller has gone to ground completely. What can I do?
Dear Reader,
If you are buying from a private person, generally speaking you are deemed to have bough the car ‘as is’, and it would have been a matter for you to inspect the vehicle to make sure that all was in order prior to purchase.
However, if the seller gave you oral confirmation that “all was in order” and that they would service “minor issues” then they would be bound to the terms of that promise. They would not be liable for any major faults which occurred after your purchase of the vehicle.
Given the length of time between your purchase and the issues, it is possible or likely that they knew about the issues before the vehicle was sold to you.
Your solicitor should engage with the vendor/garage to try and ascertain whether the vehicle can now be returned. If there is no positive reply, your only option would be to issue proceedings in the District Court.
You should check any receipt you were given. If the receipt confirms the oral guarantee, that would be helpful, but it is likely that it does not. You are then left in a ‘he said/she said’ situation, where you would have to convince a judge that these oral assurances were given.
It may also be possible for you to do a ‘chargeback’ if you paid for the vehicle via card or via PayPal. Your bank would be able to guide you through this process. If you paid via bank transfer or cash this option would obviously not be available to you.
It would be important that the matter should not be left idle for too long. The older your car gets, the lesser its value. You would be strongly advised to speak to your solicitor.