Moral dilemma re part ex - big mal
This is actually relating to Bikes and trikes, but could just as easily be re cars, so I’ll post it here...

Having just retired, I’ve sourced my dream trike.... a factory built German jobby, costing £20k +.

The supplying dealer agreed to take my motorcycle in part ex, offering £4500, which I’m happy with. It’s an import, so in view of the paperwork, it should be delivered in 2-3 weeks.

In the meantime I saw on a Facebook bikers group, that someone was looking for a bike like mine, he viewed it this week, and agreed to buy it for over £5000. (No deposit paid though).

Today I called in the dealers to drop off a Satnav cradle fo4 them to wire in, and while we were chatting he said “by the way, I’ve sold your bike already”

I explained about the private offer, and he said “well you can’t do that really, as it was all part of the agreed deal”

He’s right... I paid a hefty deposit, and signed paperwork referring to the part ex. Also because it’s a small operation with the owner and a couple of staff, I don’t want to fall out with them, as I’ll be taking it there for servicing as it’s a very specialist vehicle.

I just feel awful letting down the private buyer, who travelled a way to view.



Thoughts please!
Moral dilemma re part ex - badbusdriver

Not really sure why you did what you did, you made a verbal agreement with the trike company to trade-in your old bike. So why did you then offer it to someone else?. Makes no sense to me at all. As far as i am concerned, you need to honour your verbal agreement with the trike company, especially sice they now have a buyer for the bike YOU AGREED TO TRADE-IN.

End of.

Moral dilemma re part ex - James phillips

Not really sure why you did what you did, you made a verbal agreement with the trike company to trade-in your old bike. So why did you then offer it to someone else?. Makes no sense to me at all. As far as i am concerned, you need to honour your verbal agreement with the trike company, especially sice they now have a buyer for the bike YOU AGREED TO TRADE-IN.

End of.

Completely agree. You might well get into a legal wrangle if you back out.

Moral dilemma re part ex - Andrew-T

Tricky. You have signed a document agreeing a deal, so it's a bit unpleasant trying to back out, especially as you stand to lose your deposit. However I don't see why it is much skin off the trader's nose if he still sells you the trike at a profit. I guess he sees making a good bit on your part-ex. Find out what his price is for a straight sale, it may be less than the amount on your document - that's normally the way it works. Traders need to make upwards of a grand on a sale, so you should be able to save some of that by selling privately.

Moral dilemma re part ex - badbusdriver

Didn't actually read the original post properly, but the fact that you have signed documents regarding the deal, including the trade-in surely means that you are tied to your agreement legally as well as morally. And that makes me even more baffled as to why you would then try to sell your bike to someone else?!

Regarding the private buyer, you certainly should feel bad about wasting their time and at the very least should offer to pay for the travel cost.

Edited by badbusdriver on 05/07/2018 at 23:15

Moral dilemma re part ex - galileo

Having signed up to trade it in, why in the world did you let the Facebook buyer even know about it?

Moral dilemma re part ex - nellyjak

As above...you should honour the original agreement..and should NEVER have "sold" it anywhere else privately.

I agree too, that you should reimburse the "facebook" viewer for his time and travel expenses.