Ask an expert

I recently bought a car for my daughter. After asking the seller about any problems with the car they said the car had been serviced and there were no problems.

The car was only driven a few times before taking it to my mechanic for a Warrant of Fitness check. I have been told there are some major suspension problems which has also resulted in the two front tyres needing to be replaced.

The rear wheel bearing and handbrake operation were also rejected. The repairer is starting the repairs which are going to cost quite a bit.

Have I just been naive and totally ripped off or do I have any legal rights?

The seller wrote on a piece of paper the date, car make, registration number and price which we both signed.

The paper definitely did not state that I was buying 'as-is' 'where-is'.

Sue

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 12 August 2009

Legally the seller must tell you (the buyer) that the vehicle is being sold without a new warrant of fitness. In other words the current WoF is more than one month old.

Some sellers use the expression 'as-is' 'where-is' to describe this condition and ask the buyer to acknowledge that situation by signing a prepared statement to that effect. By doing this the buyer has limited or no comeback on the seller.

This can be taken a step further by using words like 'I accept that the current Warrant of Fitness fixed to the vehicle is more than one month old' rather than the 'as-is' 'where-is' wording. Clearly words like this cannot be misunderstood and confirm the car is being sold and purchased without a new WoF.

So you have grounds to take legal action if you firmly believe the WoF issue was not brought to your attention. While the seller can argue that as a buyer it was in your interests to follow this up, the bottom line is they have not met their legal obligations when selling the car in my opinion.

Where it can get messy is if the seller simply says they told you about the WoF verbally and didn't feel they needed to write it down. How do you prove they didn't tell you?

The cost of taking this action is also something you have to consider and weigh up.

The best first step in my opinion is to make contact with the previous owner and try and work out some sort of compromise. They may happily agree to contribute something towards the repair as a gesture of goodwill. They may well tell you it's all your problem as well and they accept no responsibility at all.

Sue, buying a car from any source is always a risk, but buying privately without some sort of pre purchase inspection and without knowing what to look for and do, to help stop your current predicament happening, takes the risk factor to the highest level.