At 98,000 I would guess the likeliest cause is a bit of oil leaking through the valve lifters. If it's running OK the I don't think the seller can be held at fault. If it gets too bad you will have clouds of smoke from the exhaust on start-up & hard acceleration. If it's bad (like my old Merc!) it would be an MoT fail.
Keep an eye on the oil level & top up if needed.