Sold a car privately, new owner now has issues

[s-x-i]

Looking for a bit of advise on this one.

Back on October 2023, I sold a car privately on behalf of my mother-in-law as she had bought a new car.

A few months prior to the sale the gears had been a bit sticky so we had the gearbox cables replaced and this solved the problem. The car was put up for sale with 12 months MOT and a folder containing receipts for the service history and all previous work carried out.

The car sold pretty quickly, however, a few weeks after the sale the new owner came back to advise that the gears were again sticking. The new owner liked the car so wanted to see if it would be an easy fix and asked if he could take it to his local garage to be looked at.

We were pretty mortified by this as we genuinely thought we had fixed the issues, after a bit of back and forth we offered to take the car back and offer the new owner a full refund, or contribute £1000.00 towards any repair costs (this would have been the difference between the private sales and selling through WBAC). This was at the start of November 2023.

The new owner wanted to get the car fixed and had booked it into a gearbox specialist. Since then updates have been few and far between, the garage suggested a replacement gearbox was needed then struggled to find a reconditioned unit.

The last message from the new owner was April 2024 advising that he was still waiting on the final bill from the garage so that he could settle it. I replied to this advising him to forward me the bill once paid.

Fast forward to yesterday where out of the blue the new owner sends me a message saying that the car at times is still having gearbox/clutch issues and they now have warning light showing up on the dashboard which they needed to get fixed prior to its MOT.

I have not replied to this message yet and I am looking for a bit of advise on how we proceed.

In my opinion, we offered two reasonable solutions and have given the new owner plenty of time to get this resolved.

[mark-3bw80]

I think you have been more than accommodating and fair but should not reply again or they will think you are their warranty forever.

[randlemarcus]

Was the buyer aware of the issues when he bought, and you both thought the work had solved them?
Did you end up contributing to the repair?

If yes to both, its fairly clearly a Caveat Emptor situation, and you should respectfully say that. If no to either, stickier wicket, perhaps offer to repurchase minus 45p for every mile put on since then.

[s-x-i]

randlemarcus said:

Was the buyer aware of the issues when he bought, and you both thought the work had solved them?
Did you end up contributing to the repair?

We never mentioned the previous gearbox issues as we thought it had been resolved. The receipt of the work was included in the history folder.

The new owner has never sent over an invoice for any work carried out so no contribution has ever been made.

[Shooter McGavin]

As is discussed to death on this forum, private sales are 'sold as seen' unless you have deliberately misrepresented the condition in an advertisement.

Tell the buyer politely to go away.

[PoorCarCollector]

Ignore and block number

Or reply simply, I'm sorry you're having problems with YOUR car, I hope you get it sorted.

It's really not your problem, do not engage with them. Seemingly something is always someone else's fault, they need to realise it's their issue to sort..... take ownership of their lives

[Wills2]

Tell them to go away.

[Countdown]

s-x-i said:

The last message from the new owner was April 2024 advising that he was still waiting on the final bill from the garage so that he could settle it. I replied to this advising him to forward me the bill once paid.

That suggests he's had it looked at / had some work done.

s-x-i said:

Fast forward to yesterday where out of the blue the new owner sends me a message saying that the car at times is still having gearbox/clutch issues and they now have warning light showing up on the dashboard which they needed to get fixed prior to its MOT.

If he's had a garage look at it and try to repair it surely his first port of call should be the garage? Also what's the warning light for? It could be anything from low tyre pressure to no engine oil pressure?

But regardless of all the above it really isnt your problem.

[Boringvolvodriver]

Shooter McGavin said:

As is discussed to death on this forum, private sales are 'sold as seen' unless you have deliberately misrepresented the condition in an advertisement.

Tell the buyer politely to go away.

This - even more so since it is 12 months since the car was sold and you already did more than expected in the first instance with the £1000 offer.

[AlexGSi2000]

If you buy a used car privately, you are then responsible for it. Not the previous owner. Period.

Its down to the buyer to do their due-diligence and take on the risk of buying a used vehicle.

[Panamax]

Boringvolvodriver said:

Shooter McGavin said:

As is discussed to death on this forum, private sales are 'sold as seen' unless you have deliberately misrepresented the condition in an advertisement. Tell the buyer politely to go away.

This - even more so since it is 12 months since the car was sold and you already did more than expected in the first instance with the £1000 offer.

Absolutely this.

[vikingaero]

Panamax said:

Boringvolvodriver said:

Shooter McGavin said:

As is discussed to death on this forum, private sales are 'sold as seen' unless you have deliberately misrepresented the condition in an advertisement. Tell the buyer politely to go away.

This - even more so since it is 12 months since the car was sold and you already did more than expected in the first instance with the £1000 offer.

Absolutely this.

S-X-I,

What are you going to do in Oct 2025 when the exhaust has corroded with an additional 2 years of driving on the vehicle.

The buyer is seeing you as a soft warranty company.

[Muzzer79]

s-x-i said:

Fast forward to yesterday where out of the blue the new owner sends me a message saying that the car at times is still having gearbox/clutch issues and they now have warning light showing up on the dashboard which they needed to get fixed prior to its MOT.

I have not replied to this message yet and I am looking for a bit of advise on how we proceed.

Seriously?

I'd just block their number. They've had their chance to take your (hugely generous) offer. You are not a warranty company

[Jakg]

I think £1,000 was more than generous, but a year after purchase, who knows what could've happened.

[Hugo Stiglitz v2]

Shooter McGavin said:

As is discussed to death on this forum, private sales are 'sold as seen' unless you have deliberately misrepresented the condition in an advertisement.

Tell the buyer politely to go away.

The car has an existing acknowledged problem.

[RazerSauber]

You're not providing a warranty. You've been incredibly generous already. Either tell them good luck or block them. You've been taken for a ride already as far as I'm concerned.

[C5_Steve]

Hugo Stiglitz v2 said:

Shooter McGavin said:

As is discussed to death on this forum, private sales are 'sold as seen' unless you have deliberately misrepresented the condition in an advertisement.

Tell the buyer politely to go away.

The car has an existing acknowledged problem.

I thought the OP said it HAD a problem which was addressed and fixed. The fact it appears to have come back later on isn't the OPs responsibility, it clearly wasn't sold with the issue present and the problem now one year down the line could be anything.

[Chris Peacock]

I honestly wouldn't bother engaging with them, certainly not this long after the sale. I'd block their number and forget about it.

Edited by Chris Peacock on Thursday 17th October 15:10

[Vasco]

Not at all sure why you've been so helpful and generous to date, you've rather made a rod for yourself.
Just ignore him, you aren't responsible.

[s-x-i]

Countdown said:

That suggests he's had it looked at / had some work done.

If he's had a garage look at it and try to repair it surely his first port of call should be the garage? Also what's the warning light for? It could be anything from low tyre pressure to no engine oil pressure?

From what I can gather from the message a re-conditioned gearbox has been fitted and they have had the car back since around March/April this year.

They have said its the airbag light, seatbelt light and the mileage is flash which to me points towards a new battery needed to be fitted.