Sold a car and 3 months later they're complaining

You are under no obligation to offer them a refund, and they have no recourse.

It was a private sale, the onus is on the buyer to carry out their own checks before purchase, and as long as you didn't mislead them in any way and sold the car in good conscience, then they have absolutely no comeback.

I would suggest you simply stop communicating with them.

Not your problem. Sold as seen. Tell um to go seek legal help. They wont. If they do, they'll be laughed out the door.

"sold as seen" - they don't have a leg to stand on. Ignore.

This is why when I sell a car privately, I’ll make 2 copies of this document: AA Car Seller’s Contract

The important words on that are “Sold as Seen”.

Tell them to do one, a solicitor would laugh them out the office.

Private sales have no recourse unless you explicitly lied to them about the car (I.E you sold a CAT car without disclosing it's been written off before)

Probably stripped the car for bit, put the shit ones on and are chancing their luck that you are a mug

Private sale, tell them to ram it.

Chancers… I always thought Sold as Seen means no comeback! Tell them to contact a solicitor :-)

This is a common scam if you search on this subreddit for similar stories, you can safely block them and get on with your life.

Tell them you look forward to them wasting their money on a solicitor 🤣

They’ve had it 3 months, it’s their problem now

Just block him. Sold as seen.

Going through the same shit with the person I sold my car to. Ask them to stop contacting you. If they persist report them for harassment. You only need to respond in the unlikely event it gets to court.

Tail light warranty, now kindly fuck off.

Say you'll happily take it back but they need to pay the £150 per day rental fee.

The thing about needing a refund and taking the car back as it’s not fit for purpose only applies to dealers, private sales you owe them nothing. Sold as seen

Super comon scam. They have taken good bits from your car and swapped with bad bits from another. Now they are chancing their luck. Happens in the UK and USA. Block their number and report to the police as harassment. 

No solicitor would be successful in recovering the money from you. Buying a used car privately means the responsibility is on the buyer to assess the car before the sale is finalized. You need to relay to them that the car was sold as seen and that they should resell the car if they’re not happy with it. Also it’s likely that they swapped out parts, damaged the car etc so you shouldn’t take it back under any circumstances

Either ignore them or advise them that one of their insurance policies likely comes with legal advice, as does yours, and then direct them to "Arkell v. Pressdram" for reference.

Just block and move on with your life.

Call Citizens Advice 0808 223 1133 free, accurate, impartial legal advice.

For all you know, they’ve took it to have the DPF gutted and it’s gone wrong, and they’ve swapped the gearbox out for a shit one and put the one from the car you sold them in another vehicle.

You have no obligation legally or morally, tell them to jog on.

As you are a private seller its sold as seen, as soon as they have paid you and driven away it's there problem and you're not responsible for anything.

This is why when I have sold my car privately in the past I've drawn up a recept to the seller saying Mr/Mrs X has agreed to pay xxx for car, blah blah blah, sold as seen and they've then signed it to acknowledged this..

Caveat emptor

My tv stopped working after 9 years. Maybe I should have taken it back to the shop for a refund.

Don't give them anything. If they want to waste a solicitors time, let them.

Buyer beware. there is no recourse on private sales, doesn't matter how broken a car turns out to be, it's irrelevant. block them and forget about it. if they come to your house and are aggressive then call the police.

Block

Stop all communication, the deal's concluded. The onus is on the buyer, it's his property,his problem,ignore and move on. If they don't stop then file an harassment claim on them and watch their reaction.

Absent misrepresentation or situations where a private seller is actually in the business of buying and selling cars (I.e. a trader) private sales are “caveat emptor” aka “buyer beware”.

Based on what you’ve said you’ve got nothing to worry about, even if they open a money claim against you.

Whatever happens don’t panic or feel like you’re obliged to do anything. 3 months is a decent amount of time for basically anything to happen to a car, in any event.

This buyer seems to have confused buying from a dealer and buying privately, they seem to have wanted the protections that come with the former, but only paying the price of the latter. It doesn’t work like that.

As others have already said; they've no recourse UNLESS you stated the car to be something it's not.

If you just said "sold as seen" and gave all information you believe to be true, then you're good. If you stated the car was fine, when in reality you just fitted a part dodgy or said it had a feature that it didn't, then that would be a misrepresentation of the goods, in which case they would have recourse.

You'll be fine. However, be careful with communication. You don't want to get them riled up or have them come around your house, causing trouble. I hope all goes okay for you!

Let them get a solicitor. The solicitor will tell them they dont have a leg to stand on. Or he might charge them some cash to write to you, and you reply that it was a private sale....end of the situation and they've paid for a letter.

There is absolutely nothing, whatsoever that can come back on you if you've sold it in good faith. You're not a business.

Let them waste their time and potentially their money just for a solicitor to tell them they have no case. It's an empty threat. Block their number/email/facebook and forget about them.

Block

Don’t give them a penny. Car sold as seen. Private sale. Buyer beware.

As is, as shown. Onus on them to have done their homework before buying

The risk of buying privately. Sometimes people do sell deceitfully which may not be provable and sometimes care just happen to break after you buy through no fault of anyone. It’s shit but it is what it is.

If you DO decide to tell them where to go (and I would) make sure you include that if they would like to take you to court, then you will be seeking full recompense as a counter-complaint for any legal fees as well as a loss of earnings on any day you are made to attend court.

As long as you’ve got the money safely in your bank account, don’t worry about it.

As it’s a private sale they are entitled to absolutely piss all. This is why dealers exist. If they wanted security from consumer rights that should have been the route they took. But they paid less for private and are now having to deal with that decision. Don’t see how that’s your issue unless you blatantly lied about something. Given your actions before the sale I doubt that you’re a bad person and did everything you could. So they’re on their own ultimately. Don’t feel bad. Cars go wrong.

Tell them to jog on, you owe them nothing, it was sold as seen

Two hopes. Bob

And

NO hope.

Tell them to jog on and stop being chancers. Unless they can prove you lied about the condition of the car from let's say a copy of the advert where it specifically states something untrue then they would get laughed out of court.

Even mods. There are tons of people driving around out there with cars with modifications they know absolutely nothing about because they were not told when they bought the car which also means when they sell the car they wouldn't tell the next owner.

Tell them to knob off then block them. Not your problem, as a private sale your involvement with that car ended as soon as you took payment and sent off the V5.

ahaahahahaahahahahaahahahaha tell them that you’re not a dealer or a finance house and fit for purpose doesn’t apply to sold as seen. Tell them via email or text . Tell them it was fine when you sold it and whatever they have done to it in the last 3mo is not your responsibility. Tell them they could have changed the parts and you’ve no way of knowing . If they persist tell them you will report them to the police for harassment and you have already logged their behaviour with 101

The ask me anything has now ended but here's details from citizens advice on the buyer's rights https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/4wCg9quXSo

No. Continue with your life.

Private car sales guide https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/buying-and-selling-guides/how-to-sell-a-car/

It's not your problem

A court would require them to prove that the car had those issues at the time of sale. Good luck to them.

I sold a car 3 months ago, I'm a private individual

Ignore. Sold as seen. Unless you falsely advertised in a very obvious way (i.e you sold a category write off as not being written off), there is no buyer protection. The issues you're saying they said they have does not fall under that category of falsely advertised in a very obvious way. Especially nearly 4 months after they bought it. This is why privately sold cars are cheaper than buying from a dealer.

Let them waste money on a solicitor. Best they could do would be small claims court but they would have to pay upfront and you just say it was sold as seen.

Lol tell them to get fucked, it was a private sale snd sold as seen.

Let them waste time.and money on a solicitor . And block them and stop communicating with them.

Nó comeback when sold privately it's up to buyer to check car out there's nothing they can do

Tell them them to fuck off tbh.

Not your problem

It is always best to draft up a bill of sale, RAC have a great template, it’s not necessity but it helps

Block them

lol block their communications.

Fucking morons.

You sold it second hand right? Caveat emptor. Tell them to fuck off

Advice is to tell them to bugger off.

Hahaha tell them to do one 

private sales are as sold, you are not allowed to lie and so if they ask if there was any known problems and there were none that you knew of, all good. even a dealer's guarantee is a 3 month set. this might help:

https://www.daslaw.co.uk/blog/selling-a-car-rights-and-responsibilities

a solicitor would love to charge them for a letter, but can be ignored

Best bet is just not to engage with them at all.

If they wish to spend (waste) money on a solicitor then that’s up to them - but it would be a complete waste of time.

You’ve zero obligations to them.

Caveat Emptor.

100% ignore the buyer. They are trying to pull a fast one.

Sold as seen means sold as seen.

Sold as seen. End of.

Three months!? Tell them to stop contacting you unless it's through their lawyer. Nobody will take that case on.

Tell them to use the money budgeted for a solicitor to fix the issue on their new car.

What! Did they expect you to give them a year's warranty?

This is why you download, print off and both sign the free RAC contract - states very clearly that they understand sold as seen, no recourse. Absolutely no comeback

Sold as seen.

No warranty implied or given.

Block their number and forget about it.

Block and move on.

Assuming you are a private seller and didn't misrepresent anything, their threats are meaningless at best or attempts to scam you at worst. Don't communicate, it just gives them motivation to find something that can be misconstrued as an admission of fault.

Sold as seen. That is all.

Nearly 4 months later! Lol! They're full of it. Block and ignore. If they persist, it's harassment. They're trying to bully you. You don't owe them a penny. Sorry you're getting grief but some people aren't very pleasant.

I bought a car one evening and the very next morning and the guy who sold it to me ghosted me. If about 12 hours before catastrophic failure wasn't enough for a refund, then 3 months sure as hell isn't. I'm amazed they're even trying it, I expect they're trying to scam you.

Caveat Emptor - buyer beware...

Unless they can prove you hid issues; then it's tough titty and they cannot do anything about it.. Ignore all communication; stop communicating with them; forget about it and carry on with life

Tell them you will only talk woth thier solicitor as caveat emptor applies Spoiler: you won't ever talk to a solicitor as they would give the seller a reality check

Refer them to Arkell v Pressdram

Not your problem, don't engage and block all contact, if they turn up in person call the police.

Things change a bit if they a bit mental and know where you live.

You have clearly done nothing wrong, let them get a solicitor they will be wasting their money, 100% on your side

Sold as seen, move on dickhead 🫶🏻😂

How long after the gearbox was changed did you sell it? Do the job yourself or a garage? Not that it matters as it was sold as seen but if a garage then you would have paperwork.

Laugh in their face and tell them they're 3 months too late to change their mind about buying the car. Off er them £30 for it and say the balance is rental for those 3 months they've used it for.

If they wanted warranty they should have bought from a dealer.
They saw, they had the right to check, they accepted, the deal was closed.
They will have to prove that 'tampering' with a forensic mechanic.

Buyer beware basically

Private sale? Block their number

The answer to this query should really be pinned at the top of the sub. It must be the most common thing on here.

Just block them and enjoy your life :)

People take zero personal responsibility these days - who’s fault is it I made these poor choices? I blame the US litigation culture that began in the 80’s.

I'll laugh and tell them their problem now haha 

Let em complain, legally they don't have a leg to stand on.

Tell them to pound sand and you will report them for harassment.

Probably done 100,000 miles running drugs around the country and now want to get rid of any evidence!

Just tell them to get Fucked

Please send them a video of you laughing

If this is genuinely a consumer to consumer sale and you didn’t misrepresent the car (e.g. stating something in the advert that was not true), they have no recourse. The onus is on them to satisfy themselves as to the vehicle’s state. Caveat emptor. 

Some balls coming back after 12 weeks. Tell them to get lost

This is a well known scam, block and ignore them. You are not liable for anything.

One paragraph in and I know enough that they can do one. They have no legal ground to sue you due to sold as seen via private sale and it has over 30 days. Tell them to F*** off and if they proceed with litigation that you will counter sue them for the emotional damage costs and legal costs they caused. At minimum you will get your legal costs back. These cheap ass pricks want new product warranty service whilst buying second hand.

Sold as seen. End of.

Did you not disclose these problems?

I would refer you to the reply given in the case of Arkell v. Pressdram

It could be an easy fix. Probably a DPF sensor. Cost $20 and fix it themselves. Mine failed and the gearbox wouldn't change gears properly.

Simple. Message saying that they bought a car several months ago which is no longer your responsibility. Then block them.

They are confusing trade rules with private sales. You have no obligation to them,

In your strongest Irish accent reply to them with "ya bought it how you saw it"

"sold as seen" they had the opportunity to get it checked out prior to buying but obviously didn't and it took 4 months for a problem to arrise (you've no idea what kind of abuse they've done to that car in 4 months).

It's Thier issue not yours. Any time I sell a car or bike privately I get them to sign a receipt stating it's "sold as seen" I sign it too and give them a copy.

Sold as seen is sold as seen. You have no reason to sort this out legally. If you knew the issue existed one might argue that you should repair it on a morals basis. However you didn't and they've enjoyed it for 3 months. Simple as that.

Hell no. Private sale. As is, where is...

If they blew the engine the day they picked it up, it's still on them...

Tell em to suck eggs

Stop communication with them and if they show up at your door let them know that you’ll get the police involved. Let them threaten to use a solicitor they’ll end up losing more money.

They can’t do anything

Sold as seen, private sale

Tell them to f*ck off

Laugh at them then either hang up or close the door in their face. They're just trying their luck.

This is often a scam they may have taken parts off the one they bought to fix theirs and then try to bully you I to taking it back. You sold it as seen, Oct sale it's Thiers now end of

Tell them it was sold as seen . You are totally not liable.

Doesn't sound like your problem. Just ignore them.

I would show them the digit I have between my ring and index finger

Fuck ‘em

Always issue a receipt with date, amount paid, and “SOLD AS SEEN” written on it, take a photo of the receipt and email it to yourself immediately, permanent record. No come backs possible.

Tell them to jog on

Tell them to eff off....

Caveat Emptor

Block and ignore…

You're not a business and didn't misrepresented the car in the sale, you owe the nothing more than a 'jog on'

If you gave them a receipt with SOLD AS SEEN. Then you have no further obligation to… tell them to stop contacting you and inform Police if required.

Charge them full whack for renting an equivalent sized car for 4 months, take that off the price and take the car back for the amended amount...

Feels like justice!

But really, it was a private sale, they have no recourse and may kindly be invited to micturate in an away direction

Even though they have zero grounds to demand anything - good practice is to, when you sell, just make up a contract that says that it is sold as seen. They sign. Zero problems. I’m surprised how not having a contract of sale is a common thing in the UK.

Just tell them to fuck off. Best way.

Tell them to pound sand and block.

Ignore them. That is all.

Probably just chancers or part swappers

Block and ignore. Done.

As a private individual they have no recourse, block them and move on.

Tell them to sling their hook. Stop communicating with them and let them take you to court if they feel inclined to do so. No court will entertain their bullshit.

Just call there bluff and reply back saying, I won’t be refunding you and will wait for the letter from the solicitor. Many thanks

I would block them and stop communicating with them. 

Many dealers only offer a 3 month warranty. 4 months is a long time. They could've caused a problem in that time.

Always get the buyer to sign a receipt saying they understand the car is sold as seen and comes with no warranty.

A prime case of NYP. Give them your solicitors contact information and tell them direct any further queries through them.

Common scam. Ignore

Tell them to come back, and then channel your inner Craig Fairbrass. Lots of shouting and swearing. Possibly grab them by the collar?

Closing words have to be "YOO GOT THAT, C**T!?"

what ethnicity/ nationality are they?

Tell them to get a solicitor. As private buyer you don’t have to offer refunds or warranties. Is their problem.

Even if it was a dealer, after 30 days you can’t claim anything.

Simply enough, not your problem

Tell em to do one. As you say you are not a dealer and dont follow the rules they have to.