# eBay purchase turns sour



## Matty_L (Nov 19, 2006)

After a little bit of advice here guys, to cut a long story short, a friend of mine has brought a car off of eBay that is no better than scrap.

The vehicle was listed as mechanically sound, no knocks, bangs or rattles on the car, only a slight problem with the emissions.

The car then went through an MOT and has failed on several dangerous items including both rear springs being broken and had become dislodged and pierced the bodywork (inner wheel housing shell). The seller said he had taken this car for an MOT prior to the sale hence why he found that the emissions were out, and unless Stevie Wonder had MOT'd the vehicle he would have noticed the broken springs and damaged bodywork.

The seller then let my friend drive the car back home 120 miles without telling him that the car was in a dangerous state, even though he said he would be taking his young daughter in the vehicle, aswell as buying the car as it was something bigger ready for when baby #2 arrives.

Where does he stand legally, and what advise would you give as he is now out of pocket with the car.

He has tried to contact the seller. He put the phone down on the first call, and has sent 3 messages via eBay to which the seller has not responded to. The car was paid for by cash and was sold without a receipt, therefore nothing to say "sold as seen" or "no warranties given or implied"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

If it was a private sale he hasn't got a leg to stand on really CAVEAT EMPTOR as they say. How did your friend not notice the broken springs/holes in bodywork? Is he/she Stevie Wonder?


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## *Das* (Aug 9, 2010)

Sold as seen as they say, however if he paid a deposit via paypal he may be able to get that back as it was in a condition other than that advertised. Paypal refund money regardless of excuse or proof of delivery/postage etc.....
has he contacted the seller to complain?


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## Matty_L (Nov 19, 2006)

Yeah the buyer isn't really mechanically minded, but had a bit of a shock when he had it MOT'd today.

He had contacted the seller, the seller cut the call when he said it had failed and was currently in a dangerous state, and also sent 3 messages via eBay but as of yet has received no response.

He was wondering if there was anyway he can get his money back or is the only way to go to court which is obviously going to be a long term solution, but in the meantime, he's stuck with little money for him and his family and now a car thats worth no more than scrap value.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

No real way besides small claims court, it's long and drawn out and potentially costly, the seller sounds like a bit of a shyster too though.


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## BOB.T (Jun 5, 2007)

My advice is don't buy cars off ebay! 

Or if you insist, expect to find faults, expect it to cost more money


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## BOB.T (Jun 5, 2007)

What car is it that can be written off for the sake of two springs?


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

BOB.T said:


> My advice is don't buy cars off ebay!
> 
> Or if you insist, expect to find faults, expect it to cost more money


Why not? I've bought a few from ebay without any hassle.


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## Matty_L (Nov 19, 2006)

The springs have become dislodged and has damaged and also pierced the bodywork on the inside of the wheel arch housing.

I know I have brought a few cars from eBay, some have been absolutely perfect, come with a wad of receipts and never gave an ounce of trouble, others have been temperamental, but thats always been weeks down the line, not 2 days like my friends purchase.


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

bigmc said:


> Why not? I've bought a few from ebay without any hassle.


i also sell cars on ebay with no problems at all.


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

If he's not mechanically minded why didn't he get someone who was to look over it or an RAC/AA check? The seller will always argue that the buyer has checked the vehicle and was happy with it hence buying it. He should phone Citizens Advice and see what they recommend.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

DMH-01 said:


> If he's not mechanically minded why didn't he get someone who was to look over it or an RAC/AA check? *The seller will always argue that the buyer has checked the vehicle and was happy with it hence buying it.* He should phone Citizens Advice and see what they recommend.


And rightly so, the seller has given the opportunity to inspect the vehicle.


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## catch the pigeo (May 17, 2008)

Matty_L said:


> After a little bit of advice here guys, to cut a long story short, a friend of mine has brought a car off of eBay that is no better than scrap.
> 
> The vehicle was listed as mechanically sound, no knocks, bangs or rattles on the car, only a slight problem with the emissions.
> 
> ...


Did the car have a valid mot when your friend bought the car
do you know what it faled on?


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## Mick (Jan 23, 2010)

He can hardly argue about driving it when he thought it was roadworthy either tbh, as it had already failed an MOT or pre MOT inspection. If he knew it was not roadworthy it should really have been trailered anyway.

Legally hes not got a leg to stand on and is realistically unlikely to get his cash back. Hard news but sadly the truth.

Moving forward however, springs are generslly not expensive and any damage to the bodywork incurred by this fault should weld up ok, as long as rust is not a big problem, and not be too expensive if done alongside the spring fitting, as access will be easier. Right now your friend is better weighing up the total cost of repairs versus weighing the car in for scrap and adding the repair money to that to get something else.

Having bought and sold cars on ebay I can say its no different than buying private, theres still no comeback and cars should still be thoroughly checked over, its just a shame it never worked out for your mate :thumb:


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## SarahAnn (Apr 6, 2011)

I saw that baldy Dominic Littlewood talking about private sales the other day on tv and he more or less said that it is 'buyer beware' and you are stuffed when it's a private sale.


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## Raife (Jul 14, 2009)

Agreed, I cannot see ebay as being any different to any private sale, if people buy without inspecting the vehicle first they want their heads checked!


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## kh904 (Dec 18, 2006)

Was the car won on an auction or buy it now? Isn't there a legal right for a customer to return items if bought at a 'buy it now' (distance selling rules) iirc, but i could be wrong.

Other than that not much really you can do without the expense of going to a small claims court. Even then there's no guaruntee you will win.


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

kh904 said:


> Was the car won on an auction or buy it now? Isn't there a legal right for a customer to return items if bought at a 'buy it now' (distance selling rules) iirc, but i could be wrong.
> 
> Other than that not much really you can do without the expense of going to a small claims court. Even then there's no guaruntee you will win.


The DSR's dont cover private sales or auctions such as ebay.

When brewer on wheelie dealies buys cars from ebay, he always goes and inspects them first before bidding. He also say if the car isnt as described, the buyer can refuse the purchase if its via ebay.

Im not sure whether that is the case but as the op's friend has driven the car away, I think he's in a very poor position.

The only recourse I could see is to raise a dispute via ebay \ paypal and take it from there. Depends what ebay T&C's are for car purchases though.


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## nicks500 (May 12, 2011)

*a story*



DasArab said:


> Sold as seen as they say, however if he paid a deposit via paypal he may be able to get that back as it was in a condition other than that advertised. Paypal refund money regardless of excuse or proof of delivery/postage etc.....
> has he contacted the seller to complain?


Some of this is true, going by the Paypal complaints route might be worth a try but if the deposit was by paypal then you would only get the deposit back.

On a lighter note if you want a true story to cheer up your friend I have this story to tell....

It was about eleven years ago I was importing a car from Holland, I had a few friends who had done it and thought I would save myself £10,000 by ordering an Audi S3 for only £20,000. The importer I was dealing with was having problems getting the car through his usual dealers so he went via a third party he had never dealt with before. Now I had a had a problem with my bank at the time and they wouldnt do a Chaps transfer (which would clear same day) so I had to give my £20,000 to my importer, but unbeknownst to me he had already passed this money onto the unknown third party. This third party disappeared leaving me, the importer and quite a few others (including some people from EVO magazine I had heard later in the courts) without any cars or cash. The importer who made the mistake of handing the money over couldnt cover the losses and his limited company went into receivership and the government and banks got the lot and none of us saw one penny. So I lost £20,000 of savings and the court case dragged on for a year or so to rub it in

So the moral of the story is we all learn from our mistakes and hopefully we can learn from others. This wont really help your friend but at least he can say it wasnt as bad as that guy importing a car from Holland


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## AliBailey88 (Oct 13, 2009)

lol at trying to get his money back, he paid for it, sold as seen. I would tell him to **** off if i had sold the car. Its not the sellers problem anymore.


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Afraid a lot of things can be hidden, i got my money back years ago and trading standards used it as there road show bodge job.
I never buy without a valid MOT. 
Oh the above one did have an MOT on.

Springs a broken spring is not such a problem the thing im concerned about is its a loose spring not a broken spring.

Yes you can refuse an ebay sale if not as described but thats there and then not after paying.

Really feel for the mate, in this day and age emissions could be so many things worn rings the fuel management ecu.

When all said and done anyone can tell you a pack of lies.


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## Matty_L (Nov 19, 2006)

Its a shame but now he's in the dilemmma of being left with a car he can't use. Although he has been stung like this, he doesn't want to list the car on eBay like the prevous owner with similar type of listing due to it coming back and biting him on the behind.
The only option really viable open to him is to sell it as spares/repairs and just be vague with the listing and if the new buyer requests the information on what it failed on he would let them know, but would he be opening a can of worms selling it in the state as it is, if he knows that the car is dangerous to use on public roads?


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

1. pre purchase £90 odd quid RAC inspection, piece of mind

2. Repair the car swallow the cost and be done

3. Sell it as it with all know faults declared

Either way he is going to lose some money, bit of a crapper really. Not good, there are some real con artists out there.


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## Tim186 (Oct 18, 2009)

Bad luck really, how much did he pay for the car and what is it?


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## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

He bought a car off Ebay and didn't even ask for a receipt ????


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## Raife (Jul 14, 2009)

GSD said:


> He bought a car off Ebay and didn't even ask for a receipt ????


and surely on any receipt for a car being sold the seller would write "sold as seen" on it?


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## SarahAnn (Apr 6, 2011)

Ebay are no help whatsoever when things go wrong (in my experience and from the seller's side of things).

It's on a lot smaller scale but i sell hatching eggs (bear with me) and one buyer tried to scam me out of extras and threatened to leave negative feedback if i didnt give her more eggs for free. They can sell for over £30 for 6 so they are not cheap.

I got in touch with ebay and told them and there response was;

'we dont get involved with the transaction between buyer and seller'

I emailed ebay 3 times about it and each time, they just said that and left me to sort it. They are rubbish. It is really just a big advertising board in my opinion and they take their commission and that's it.


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## JenJen (Jun 30, 2010)

Give your local plod a call, honestly it is a civil matter but as I have just learnt after buying the A4 they are very helpful and I'm sure the heads up on this person selling doggy cars will be an interest to them.


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## MuZiZZle (Apr 18, 2011)

abz001 said:


> Give your local plod a call, honestly it is a civil matter but as I have just learnt after buying the A4 they are very helpful and I'm sure the heads up on this person selling *doggy* cars will be an interest to them.


Like this:










???


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## J1ODY A (Nov 28, 2008)

We're currently going through something similar although the seller seems rather more genuine & willing to stump up to cover the cost of repair.

Quite simply the car was described as 'excellent condition' so once price agreed through the eblag, we arranged collection - between this time it developed an immobiliser fault which the seller took to Vauxhall to sort, they found no problem.

Day of collection, everything was fine, with DW eyes we found the bodywork was not excellent & they knocked off £150 after me asking them too. From moment we drove away the issues started & the electrics on the car are hit & miss... main issue is that the keys do not open the doors/start the car, it's just dead BUT not all the time!

Day after purchase we get the car recovered & it's been there 6 days now, they have found that the passenger airbag is missing, someone has removed the bulb in the dash & the problems with cutting out is because someone has removed the wiring leaving it open to water then it cuts out.

The seller has tried to contact the garage he got the car from BUT they have shut up shop - only bought 6 months ago but Missus hates the car as too big (Vectra) & he's in RAF so leaving to do tour of duty soon so got her Fiesta.

We're just awaiting the cost of full repair now but it could get expensive so here's hoping the seller pays up!!


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## dew1911 (Jun 9, 2009)

MuZiZZle said:


> Like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, this car he bought sounds pretty ruff!

Taxi please!


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## OCDDetailer (May 17, 2011)

IMO private sale, on ebay or not, sold as seen.

I would nearly always buy a car with a MOT anyway, (or a failure sheet to state exactly what it failed on).

It's up to the buyer to inspect the car as much as possible, this is why taking someone who really knows their stuff is a good idea. When I bought my ZR, even though I know quite abit about cars, I took my brother along who is a trained mechanic whn inspected the car up, down left to right!

The truth is though, when buying private you are never going to truely know what state the car is in, until you have owned it for a few weeks.

IMO this is where ebay fails, as any small purchase you can get your money back if it goes wrong. Wheres with something like a car, where cash is normally given, you are not protected under their buyer protection policy. But then as I said, being a car private ebay or not, holds its risks.


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## JenJen (Jun 30, 2010)

dew1911 said:


> Well, this car he bought sounds pretty ruff!
> 
> Taxi please!


Haha dodgy iPhone fail!

Basically I'm struggling to get the v5 but the police are now involved, would be ok as I can get a replacement and change of ownership from dvla for £25quid but she has also failed to give me the receipt which she was going to produce (had nothing Barr a scrap bit of paper) and she wanted to put addresses etc on it, I trusted her after speaking for some weeks but I was stupid to do so!

She will get a shock next week thou when they knock on the door as she has avoided the policeofficers calls for past 14days! Silly woman honestly! All I know is that they in cooperation with dvla are looking to fine her for failure to advise dvla of new ownership as she failed to tell them in 2008 that she was the new keeper on the pnc system is says "void".

I have faith so I'm not bothered it will get sorted, thankfully I handed over cash in the bank infront of CCTV with teller as witness. So it's all good on my front.


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