Private Purchase - My Rights

[Guest Andy_79]

Hi everyone, idiot here !!! i've been a fool and bought a dodgy car. Turns out the clutch is slipping and i'm wondering if theres any way i can get my money back ?

 

i'm hoping that as the seller told me,"there are no mechanical faults" and has withheld ("lost") the MOT advisory dosument that i may be able to have some come back ??

 

heres hoping,

Andy.

[techbod]

very difficult one there mate but if you have it in writing the car is mechanically sound then you could take it to trading standards for giving false information, they will tell you if you have a comeback and a case

[Guest Andy_79]

I have a few text messages, no more than that..

 

thanks for your response (again)

[techbod]

text messages are admissible in small claims court and can be used as evidence

[Guest Andy_79]

Thats handy to know.

 

He is denying all knowledge of the problem, saying prehaps its only just started happening yesterday. It wasnt noted during the MOT either, though thats quite possible as its not as noticeable in low gear.

 

Taking into a garage tonight for a quote so will get their opinion.

[techbod]

true you wouldn't notice at low speeds but when you say MOT are you talking about a test drive who drove it? if he did its easy to hide the problem if the clutch was on its way out ( most people don't know how to test drive cars ) so its always better to take and experienced person with you I help people all the time and saved people from buying a lemon, new 3 piece clutch should be around £200 or less if you know some one who can do it and good luck with it ;)

[Guest Andy_79]

I did drive the car but only locally so didnt get up much speed, thought something didnt feel right but put it down to the fact that i wasnt used to driving that car. (clutch was very high, so that didnt help, i thought i wasnt lifting off enough, hence the high revs !)

[TurboSlag]

It's not an MOT testable item, so it won't be commented on (unless it was so bad that the test couldn't be conducted, in which case it wouldn't have got the ticket anyway).

 

You can never be certain how it'll go in a small claims court, but unless you can demonstrate that the chap had a] knowledge of the fault and and thus misled you, and, b] that, on the balance of probabilities, the fault was present at the moment of sale, then I don't think you'll get very far.