Advice Plz...

[lfc]

Recently bought a car off some guy (private sale) had it for about 1 month and it has been feeling alot less powerful, so i took the car to get dyno and tune up at the same place he got it done at last time (3 months earlier) they told me that he came in and got it dynod and compression tests but compession was low and was runnning on 5 cylinders so it needs a rebuild.

They said the same thing to me.

Just wondering is there anything i can do since he knew about the problem?

I thought legally you cant sell something that has a major problem like that without telling the person who is buying it first, Got free legal advice today they said the same thing and i can go to small claims court... Any ideas ?

Spoke to him on friday first off he said the car had no problems when he sold it to me but then when i said that i took it to the same place he took it for the dyno he said "Oh yeah they did tell me it needed a rebuild" then he ended up saying ring me on monday with a quote so i did but he was just being a smart ass and said hes not paying for anything.

[RBFIRE]

visit fair trading office or consumer affair?

see if they can do anything?

but its a long shot,

cos its private sales, and really up to u to check,

is the price really cheaper? or just same as market price?

[RBFIRE]

i strongly advise to speak to fair trading office, or consumer affair,

where u find the car? advertise on trading post etc???

[lfc]

Yeah just in the trading post, picked it up for 13.5k

[scathing]

Caveat emptor.

I don't know how the Department of Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs are going to help you when the seller isn't a trader.

[RBFIRE]

no idea? give them a visit? see wat they have to say? nothing much u can do. really,

end of the day, its the seller who screwed u!

Edited February 21, 2006 by ZXFIRE

[DLuded]

if you bought it from a trader then you could definatly take them to court but i think its like scathing said...buyer beware

[race_snooze]

i got done with a dato 1600 the same way, took the head off to find oval boars. I ended up selling it again, but at least i told the guys who bought it.

basicly i found out taht its buyer beware, but anything over a certin amount has a cool of perioed, do ring the fair traders, but taking it to court is a long and expensive process, which would require you statements from the mechanics. Good luck.

[Beer Baron]

whatever you do, do it now. the longer you leave it the less chance you have of a favourable outcome.

[Wink]

This is why you should ALWAYS do a compression test before buying a vehicle, especially privately.

[someonestolecc]

Did he advertise it in good working condition? If you have the ad on paper somewhere that he did then use that in small claims court (or other legal avenue).

Otherwise if it was sold in as is condition then you're screwed.

[Abo Bob]

That's called misleading and deceptive conduct and is expressly outlawed by the Trade Practices Act.

You definitely have a case. Not saying that taking anything to court is easy but I think you would be right in this instance.

Are you in Sydney?

If so pm me some details if you like and I will look into it.

[siksII]

i feel sorry for you but my personal opinion is that as the buyer you must be aware and responsible to check the car, when selling a car owners will never tell you the 100% whole story about the car, even for minor things (unfortunately in your case, major)

this is why everyone usually gets the car checked out by an expert if you cant check it yourself, and revs check etc.

abo bob, from what you are saying there must be different circumstances in relation to money owing on the car, because as far as i understand it if you (unknowingly) buy a car with money owning on it its your problem?

[wrxhoon]

You dont have a leg to stand on unless you have it in writing . He can just say he told you it was running on 5 cil . Good luck with it though and learn from it !

[Atreyu]

I believe you are on your own, buyer beware Im afraid. You really cant prove anything that he knew it was on its way. I know you dont want to hear it but there isnt anything you can do unless he misrepresented the car when he was selling it, he said it was a GTR and it was a GTST etc.

Buy a second hand motor from importers with a warranty and learn from it and move on!

Dont stress mate!!

[Abo Bob]

i feel sorry for you but my personal opinion is that as the buyer you must be aware and responsible to check the car, when selling a car owners will never tell you the 100% whole story about the car, even for minor things (unfortunately in your case, major)

this is why everyone usually gets the car checked out by an expert if you cant check it yourself, and revs check etc.

abo bob, from what you are saying there must be different circumstances in relation to money owing on the car, because as far as i understand it if you (unknowingly) buy a car with money owning on it its your problem?

Yeah that's different because that involves the law of ownership and conversion. I guess you could still sue under the trade practices act the guy that sold it but that wouldn't change the fact that the bank or whatever owned the car.

As long as the workshop you went to will be a witness you have absolute proof of his deceptive conduct. If you bought the car for $8k or something it could be argued that you knew it was a substandard car because the price is so far off the pace.

[Driver]

hmm

i mean it is your responsibility to get it checked before you buy it.. but i duno if it helps even though he knew it had a problem before he sold it...

[wrxhoon]

Yeah that's different because that involves the law of ownership and conversion. I guess you could still sue under the trade practices act the guy that sold it but that wouldn't change the fact that the bank or whatever owned the car.

As long as the workshop you went to will be a witness you have absolute proof of his deceptive conduct. If you bought the car for $8k or something it could be argued that you knew it was a substandard car because the price is so far off the pace.

Adam in a perfect world that should be the case but we dont live in a perfect world mate .

The guy that sold it will just say i told you the donk wasn't 100% and told you to make your own tests ..

[LO_R33]

Rebuild the engine and move on. The seller shouldnt have to pay for something that you didnt spend the time and money getting tests conducted on in the first place. $100 could of saved you $1000's in this case. Maybe you'll remember that next time. I know if the owner of my old car which was purchased a month ago came and told me it would need a rebuild, i wouldnt pay jack all. Goodluck mate.

Dayne

[lfc]

All legal advice ive had so far has said i can take him to small claims court, because i have proof he was told it needed a rebuild and then he sold it to me saying it was in perfect working order. So you cant sell something and lie saying its in perfect working order if you know theres something wrong with it and you have proof its called misrepresenting the truth.