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Good post Mark, these and the Citizens Advice Bureau can help you resolve a whole weath of problems.

Good starting point is Consumer Direct, who take all calls for Trading Standards across the UK, and provide consumer advice.

www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
08454 04 05 06

Welcome to the machine bushnut.

Hi guys I'd like to get a few opinions on a dilemma I'm currently facing. I've been in touch with trading standards & their advise was to take this individual to court.

Here are a couple of the adverts this user used to sell the car:




Now the story with this car, on the day I purchased it I specifically asked about the head gasket & overheating and was assured their was no problems with the car, the person actually made a point of pointing out how well the car runs bla bla bla. Anyhow after getting the car home & checking the usual's the next day I noticed the water had disappeared from the water bottle, taking this to a garage and they concluded I may have a problem with the head... Off to call the person from whom I got it, no surprise he is not answering the phone, a quick text to him and again no surprise I got an answer sold as seen which I got to admit he did right on the receipt but I bought it as advertised.

Oh btw I paid a garage to take a look at this car and they confirmed the head gasket had gone but their was other problems lurking within the engine too.

Have I been duped and how would you handle this?

This advert rings a bell :S

Is it Y reg and blue?

He specifically states "everything on the car works as it should" and "good runner", although a court would take into account the age, price and mileage of the car in assessing how well things should be, a headgasket problem would probably be assessed as non-compliant with his statement.

A small claims procedure is relatively cheap and easy to issue against him but you would need a proper statement/assessment from the garage.

It is not uncommon for people to back down straight away when they receive the small court summons.

I would speak to citizens advice first because the general rule is "buyer beware" especially on car sales.

Something else worth looking into is how many other cars he has sold, is he private or is he acting as a dealer which could change the legal position.

The above is my personal opinion and not advice.

Yep, I'm hoping he will see this post and do what's right before I issue court proceedings. I cannot even drive this car, the garage who looked at it advised me to get it home quick before it dies.

the H/G on these are buggers, i did one a while back after a load of garages refused to do it, i did it skimmed the head and the H/G blew straight away had to change it twice. if you take it to a garage who know these engines be prepared for a nice bill or to be rufused

If he is private I dont really think you have a leg to stand on bud unless your mechanic can really prove that the damaged HG went well before you bought it, which again im no expert on but I could imagine that its not easy to do so.

tbh i doubt it can be proved when it went.

and as for private sales you have no come back what so ever

just one of those things live and learn

That made that clear to me chris Soz bungle but I think its a lost cause and you'll just be chasing your tail. Unfortunately the car game is ruthless and goes on everyday. As private sellers are not obliged to follow tough rules and regs, like traders do they can pretty much advertise and sell it (with in reason) how ever they like. You must proove that the seller was deceitful in order to make any form of claim and thats not easy. If he prooves you wrong then that leaves you open to slander charges .

Just take it as a learning curve mate, it wont be the first or the last time it happens.

I don't think that's strictly true, if it can be shown a seller makes statements that are false then you do have a comeback unless you agree to buy "as seen" or similar.

"When you buy goods from a private individual, you don't have the same rights as when buying from a trader. The legal principle of caveat emptor, or 'buyer beware', operates. You have no rights to expect that goods be of satisfactory quality or fit for their purpose, but there is a requirement that they should be 'as described'. You should check goods thoroughly before you buy them."

as he said on the reciept it says sold as seen. therefor it was agreed as the car was taken away.

Fair points diggin but as chris says, sold as seen...taken away.