We bought a faulty van from a private seller - can we claim back the cost of repairs?
My daughter bought a 2011 Citroen Berlingo from a private seller this year. Being rather naive, she took the answers to question about any problems, anything not working, etc as the truth. The price asked was £3800, but a price of £3400 was agreed . Since then, the car has had to have almost £2000 worth of repairs on aspects that the seller said was fine. The suspension had been modified unproffessionally, as had some of the filter system. There were numourous other items that did not work correctly or at all. When I asked the seller to cover so of the cost he declined saying it was sold as seen, with a £400 discount. Do I have any chance of pursuing recompenses, or part of it, through the Small Claims Court?
Asked on 13 November 2024 by Ges
Answered by
Craig Cheetham
The likelihood of you getting any form of compensation here from the seller is close to nil, not least because the car has been used extensively during your ownership. It's a £3400 car that is 13 years old, so some form of wear and tear is expected. It's very much a case of buyer beware with an older model in a private sale and the only requirement of the vendor is that the car is fit for purpose - that is, that it works and can be driven for a reasonable period after sale. Failure of wear and tear items such as suspension components and filters is not covered by the Consumer Rights Act. If you want some peace of mind when buying an older car, the only real option is to acquire one through a dealer, but this will generally be a more expensive approach.
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consumer rights
vans
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