selling car on Ebay

shahinnotts

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
2
0
0
Nottingham
I sold a car on Ebay via an ebay auction, the winning bidder came to collect the car, inspected it and all the paperwork, I gave him a receipt stating it's a private sale and there are no guarantees given or implied but he decided to cross this bit out. He looked at the last MOT cert which had been done 2 days before auction end, it listed as advisories the front tyres. He took it home and a couple of days later wrote to say I had mis described the car and that he is going to take me to court under the misrepresentation law as there was a large scratch on the car.
I advised as he had inspected the car, if there was such a scratch he should have noticed it and that he had not relied solely on my description but given he had inspected the car before handing over the money, that inspection will form part of the description, he should thus have noticed such as scratch if indeed it was as big as he was now claiming it to be. He is now trying to intimidate me into giving him back over £400 because of the scratch, he is a solicitor, I am just a lay person and a private seller. Can anyone please advise on this misrepresentation law and also given I am certain I will end up in court, will this be a court in my local area or in his local area, will I be able to defend myself at court or will I need a solicitor to do this, I am uncertain of the court process, thanks
 

Witch consumer

Moderator
Sep 8, 2008
1,593
3
0
Debtors retreat
If he really is a solicitor he should know he is on a road to nowhere, I assume you took some photos of the car prior to advertising it? Keep them they will come in handy, you don't mention the age or price of the car but £400 will buy a new panel for most cars!

Stand firm, if he takes you to court, you can have it changed to your local district and you will get ample chance to defend yourself both in the paperwork and at any hearing that may take place, you will be asked to negotiate a settlement before it gets into court so nothing to be scared of.

TBH I think he's trying it on.
 

shahinnotts

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
2
0
0
Nottingham
Yes I think he is trying it on too, the car is 12 years old and sold for £1400 which was cheap, given average price on autotrader is £1900
 

alyraver

New Member
Jun 6, 2012
2
0
0
the bloke is talking utter sh!te. themis representation act only applys to traders! he cant do anything - and even if he could its a cheap £1500 car not £10k car. he is trying to scare you. i'll sort him out for you!
 

trickygj

Moderator
May 31, 2010
400
1
18
Cheshire
www.richardgjohnson.co.uk
The Misrepresentaion Act 1967 is not applicable to traders only it generally applies to anyone who misrepresents.

If the guy inspected the car you cannot have misreprented it. How can you misrepresent a scratch?

You could misrepresent it if you said it had only done 50k miles but had in fact been round the clock and done 150k and you knew.

He won't take you to court because as a solicitor he knows or should know he will lose!