We bought a car from eBay that turned out to have previously been salvaged - what can we do?

My mum recently bought a car from eBay from a private seller. He sells a lot of cars on eBay but I don't think this is classed as a trader. She bought the car four months ago and only received the V5C about six weeks ago so she filled it away. She has just discovered that the V5C states that the car had been previously salvaged. The advert on eBay had no mention of the car being salvaged. My mum does not want this car any more because she doesn't know the reason for it being salvaged and the car is now worth a lot less than otherwise known. I am trying to find out some info on where she stands with it all before contacting the seller. Has the seller committed an offence? Is she entitled to her money back?
Thank You

Asked on 4 June 2019 by tom durrant

Answered by Honest John
First collect about ten screen grabs of the person's advertisements on eBay. That proves they are a trader, not a private individual and that the law concerning 'suppliers' covers him. That law is here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/ He has committed an offence under the CONSUMER PROTECTION FROM UNFAIR TRADING REGULATIONS MAY 2008. The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002, is derived from EU Directive 1999/44/EU which became Clauses 48A to 48F inclusive of the Sale of Goods Act in April 2003. This reverses the burden of proof so that if goods go faulty within six months after purchase it is deemed they were faulty at the time of purchase and the trader has the onus of proving that the item is not defective due to a manufacturing defect. See: www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023045.htm/ This gives more teeth to the judgement in Bowes v J Richardson & Son. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations May 2008 (CPRs) incorporate The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 and contain a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and, in particular, prohibitions against misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive commercial practices. The Regulations are enforceable through the civil and criminal courts and create a criminal offence of misleading omissions that would not previously have been an offence if the consumer had not asked the right questions. So, if a salesman knows a car has, for example, been badly damaged and repaired and does not tell the customer, he could later be held liable if the customer subsequently discovered that the car had been damaged and repaired.

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