Sold car in autotrader and it has gone wrong!

[Frankieola]

I've just sold my car and its broken down after 10 miles! Had no idea that it would go wrong, I've been using it for the past 6 months and its been excellent. The chap says I should take it back or pay for repair, Do I have to do anything? Its a 98 S reg and I sold it for £530, The repair could end up costing £250. Thanks

[ChuckFickens]

caveat emptor, or, let the buyer beware.

[razza]

Usually bought as seen.

[NazNomad]

Chit happens, as they say. it's down to the buyer to arrange a full AA check if they want to.

[hc4361]

Your only obligation as a private seller is that the vehicle is as described and belonged to you when you sold it.
If he wanted a warranty he should have bought from a dealer.
It's just his bad luck.

[jno]

nope, it's his car now. It was presumably fine for nine and a half miles, so no suggestion that it had actually broken down at the time of sale. He's unlucky but it's not your fault..

[NazNomad]

... but he knows where you live, and he's only 10 miles away. :-))

[Frankieola]

I am keen to do the right thing however he bartered me down £120 from the original price so I dont think I should offer to pay for the repair. I had a feeling that it would be a case of buyer beware but I do feel bad about it, I had no idea it would go wrong. Should I offer a goodwill gesture or is that an admission of any fault?

[joko]

it depends whats wrong with it...if you have bodge repaired something in order to temporarily conceal a serious fault (such as sealing a serious hole with blutac, lol) that you knew would last a short while then i think you shoud pay

but if its just a case of bad luck and you didnt know anything was wrong then no...he should have had a mechanic check it over

whats wrong with the car?

[joko]

having said that id probably be convinced you had done it deliberately to get rid of dud and probably hound you til you paid me back...

[Halifaxmum]

This exact thing happened to me years ago - but it was from a very dodgy car dealer (I didn't know that at the time).
Bought the Fiesta from the garage, drove it 1/4 of a mile down the road n it konked out. When we walked back to the seller, he told us to eff off! Got it towed, but it was beyond hope.
We just put it down to experience.

[jackthehat]

Tell him as a goodwill gesture, you'll knock off £ 120 from your original asking price...............

[snags]

Anyone who buys a car privately without either an AA check (or similar) or without taking someone along who is knowledgeable about cars who can at least give it a good look over prior to purchase is an idiot...

[Frankieola]

The belt that runs the power steering has snapped and needs replacing.Bearing in mind that the car is 13 years old and has done 165000 miles I think he should have expected it not to be pristine! He is a very fussy fellow and not the sort of bloke to leave things so I dont know what to do fr the best!

[oldhamfan]

If it's going to cost £250 to repair, I'd offer him a goodwill £125. He should snatch your hand off. You've still got £405, if it'd gone before you sold it you'd probably have scrapped it, or at least sold it for pennies.

If he rejects it, tough.

You are not obliged to give him anything.

[AlBags]

A power steering belt does NOT cost anywhere near that money to replace.
Get him a new belt and send to him ..
Or bring it and the car to me and I'll do it for £50.

[SlackAlice]

AlBags
Your thinking was the same as mine, couldn't see how a steering pump belt was going to cost £250. Could not find any figures to quote so I didn't post

[society]

If I was the seller I'd take it back and have it repaired, and raise the selling price.

[jno]

if you sold the cra in good faith, not knowing it would break down, you don't have to do anything at all. It's his car, not yours.

The same thing happened to me once - I was the buyer. The car came with full service history (and I knew the mechanic), so I was satisfied the breakdown was just one of those things. Cars do break down. Not your fault. My advice would be to tell him he got an old car cheap; if he wanted a new one with a warranty he should have bought one from a dealer.

[R1Geezer]

caveat emptor, For Funks Sake. it's 12 year old clunker, stirrus accidda! do you seriously think you'd get you dosh back if the boot was on the other foot? If you sold it in good faith your concience is clear, if not then it isn't and you should compensate.