Proving not a private seller.

[Geesmum1]

Good evening.

I am after some advice regarding a car that was sold to me. A advert was posted online and we contacted for further information on the car. The guy advertising the car was the mans grandson. I have since found out he has a business page for selling cars and loads of adverts on fb, gumtree and shpock.
The grandson was involved in the selling of the car, when we inspected it and dealing with the money and log book. He arranged for us to go view it. We have all texts to back this up.
It broke down 2 miles from the sellers house (Turbo). The log book was in the grandads name who is claiming he is not a trader. My argument is he trusted his grandson who is a trader to advertise and sell me the car? Am i in the right or will the court likely favour with him as a private seller?

Most of the adverts have the guys street/house in the back ground.

I have found over 30 adverts Of cars sold in the last year and still being sold after I bought my car. The adverts describe cars owned by a lady, owned by a old person? We were told the car was for sale due to the grandad not being able to drive anymore. I have taken it to small claims and he is still insisting his a private seller.

Do I have a claim?
Does this prove they are not private sellers and in fact trading from that address?

i don’t want to pay more court fees if I haven’t got a chance..

 

[AiiR]

If it was advertised as a private sale, and you paid the money to a non business account, then I'm not sure there's a lot that can be done. To be honest, the costs of court fees/legal advice may end up costing more than the turbo replacement.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

If he is selling that many cars "as a private seller" I expect HMRC might be interested in his dealings

That might be enough of a weapon to hold over him to make him a little more compliant.

*Edit* Take copies of as much evidence of him selling like a trader and keep it safe.

 

[Avalon]

If the V5 is in grandad's name, then grandad is the registered keeper, grandad is not a trader from what you've said, if he is as he states unable to drive and the car in question has been in his name for a while (eg it's obvious the grandson isn't using him to front ownership for a few weeks), then trying to claim it's the grandson's problem and it's a trade sale seems tenuous at best. DVLA/HMRC do routinely check car ownership stats for traders flying under the radar, I know someone who got done, but he was doing it excessively and 100% deserved it.

As above, you may be able to strengthen your claim based on showing a pattern of behaviour, but I suspect if grandad has owned the car a while and the grandson simply handled a private sale on his behalf, then what he does as a day job is largely irrelevant.

 

[SeatIbiza]

A turbo blew 2 miles after you'd bought it? IF that was the case, it would surely have been smoking when you tested it...?

What car is it?

 

[jigger]

If the V5 is in grandad's name, then grandad is the registered keeper, grandad is not a trader from what you've said, if he is as he states unable to drive and the car in question has been in his name for a while (eg it's obvious the grandson isn't using him to front ownership for a few weeks), then trying to claim it's the grandson's problem and it's a trade sale seems tenuous at best. DVLA/HMRC do routinely check car ownership stats for traders flying under the radar, I know someone who got done, but he was doing it excessively and 100% deserved it.

As above, you may be able to strengthen your claim based on showing a pattern of behaviour, but I suspect if grandad has owned the car a while and the grandson simply handled a private sale on his behalf, then what he does as a day job is largely irrelevant.

I would agree, however if grandad is regularly shifting cars with a sob story... It might be worth at least reporting the issue with trading standards as they might have similar complaints .

 

[blueboy2001]

How long was the Grandfather the registered keeper of the car for?

I think you'll struggle in your claim that the car was sold to you retail and as such you can draw on consumer rights legislation. You were clearly happy it was being sold on a private sale when you handed your money over, and presumably understood that private sales essentially have no comebacks and were happy to take the risk. I'm not sure the small claims court is the right place to argue this, but you should certainly raise your findings Trading Standards and HMRC.

Where you may be able to run a case in the small claims court is if you can prove the car was misrepresented. Did you ask if the car had any known issues? Did the advert make any reference to the running of the car? It is possible for a turbo to die spontaneously but there would usually be some advanced warning like blue smoke, oil consumption, noise, power loss etc. Did you notice anything on the test drive?

 

[muon]

Small claims court doesn't cost very much. So see how you get on.

The fact the transaction actually took place with the business seller may be compelling to a judge. You should also argue that the car was misadvertised if it says anything like "in good condition", "in working condition" etc. The turbo blowing after 2 miles means it wasn't.