We sold a car with a receipt saying 'sold as seen'. We now have been contacted by the buyer saying the car was not fully serviced as we mentioned in our advert. The car has gone up in flames and come to us saying it was as it was not serviced properly. Do we have a leg to stand on? Does sold as seen mean much? Thanks.
I think they would find that very difficult to prove. "Fully serviced" could mean that you did any work yourself so they would need to prove that a specific piece of work had not been done as specified in the service schedule, and then prove that this was the cause of it going up in flames. I think they are trying it on. Anyway the car should be insured against fire. Tell them to claim on their policy.
We used to sell off our Company cars at work & every invoice read "Sold As Seen" stamped on them.
It is down to the buyer to fully inspect the vehicle before signing the agreement reading "Sold As Seen" & once that is done, there shouldn't be any come back. (Ensuring the vehicle is roadworthy of course)!
It is possible to insure a car Third Party Only and therefore have no cover for fire.
"Sold as Seen" used for a private sale does not negate the legal requirement whereby the description of the goods must be honest. If it could be proven that the advertised description "fully serviced" was false then the buyer would be entitled to the refund. Of course, as has been already mentioned, any lack of servicing could be difficult to prove.