Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car!

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 10:38
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - violetnat
I bought a fiat punto two days ago from a man who claimed it was a private sale.
It has now started leaking water and my garage said it needs a new head gasket.
I feel scammed.
The seller is a mechanic and told me he had bought the car from a friend who did not want to spend money on the MOT. He said he bought if from his friend and put it through its MOT to sell on. I met him at the garage he works at to buy the car.
I know if it is a private sale that I have no protection but I want to know if he was in fact a trader seeing as he was selling the car on to make a profit. Also his name was not on the v5 form and the yellow slip was missing.
My parents said I should ring him and demand he refund me or pay for the repairs but I'm not sure where I stand.

I know people will think it was silly that I bought the car in the first place but I don't have much experience and it wasn't until I got home that I realised it all seemed strange.

Edited by violetnat on 05/09/2014 at 10:40

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 13:58
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - brighteyes
Yet another sad case of an expensive lesson learned. However it may be worth trawling through the local cars for sale mags and internet sites to see if this guys telephone number turns up. If it does, especially if it is on several occasions I think you have a case to show that he was in fact a "motor trader", you can then go to the garage and confront the him with your findings and threaten to report him to the trading standard office and also the Inland Revenue cos as sure as god made little green apples he won't have declared the profits on his sideline to them.
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Fri 5 Sep 2014 14:01
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - Manatee

If you are looking for evidence that he was in fact a motor trader then you could try contacting the person named on the V5.

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 14:04
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - skidpan

Try the old telephone trick. Using a call box (if you can find one) ring his number and ask for details of the car that he has advertised for sale. If he says "which car" he is a trader. If he says "sorry, don't have a car for sale" he may well have just been selling the Punto as a one off.

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 14:09
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - dsavvy_2013

this link will be of interest to you:

www.consumerline.org/search/?cat=Buying+Goods+%26+...s

If it was sold as not described, you can take him to the small claims?

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 14:33
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - Gibbo_Wirral

Since the rise of regional car sale pages and groups on Facebook I've seen loads of people setting themselves up as "traders". I'd avoid like the plaque, especially as one was trying to sell a car I'd looked at a month earlier when it was up for sale by the genuine owner on Autotrader.

It was a real pile of rubbish, but the "trader" just ran it through the car wash and stuck on some seat covers to hide the ripped and torn seats. He'd not even fixed the oil leaks on the gearbox or sump.

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 16:11
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - Chris M

Also worth Googling his phone number to see if it crops up in other ads.

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Fri 5 Sep 2014 18:56
Fiat punto - Private Sale, suspected trader, Duff car! - Hamsafar

"I know if it is a private sale that I have no protection"

Not true, it has to be "as described" e.g. If it says things like : excellent runner, no faults, as new condition - then the seller would find it difficult to counter a claim that it is not.

If it says running order but needs attention, spares or repairs then forget it.

In the eyes of HMC&R, whether someone is a trader is based on quantity sold within a period but is somewhat subjective.

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