What's the current law on this?

[mthee]

The very nice, local guy who bought my VX works for Citizen's Advice. He looked at the receipt I offered, pointed to the "sold as seen" bit and very politely said it didn't apply if a purchaser could prove at a later date that something had failed which the vendor must have been aware of at the time of sale. I replied that my understanding was that this only applies to dealers. So who was right?

[timbo]

Sounds like a can of worms  Bit over the top. I havnt written or received receipts or bills of sale for years. I feel lucky, if there's even a V5 

[mthee]

Thing is, I was a bit surprised when my rear brake passed the MoT in Feb. It works and I like it "progressive" but he only got a test ride as pillion, so wouldn't know how it feels in action. If he goes to a mechanic who says it's pants, will I be liable for the caliper clean/reseal it possibly needs? Perhaps he's even entitled to a full refund?

[mthee]

Sounds like a can of worms  Bit over the top. I havnt written or received receipts or bills of sale for years. I feel lucky, if there's even a V5 

Should I bin his receipt then, as he left it in my garage?

[manxie]

This is only my opinion, I`m not a mechanic or a lawyer...

I always do a receipt unless it`s only a couple of hundred quid? I state on mine "sold as seen and tested by...." as on our old log books it used to say "this log book is not proof of ownership" 

I think having a receipt with the above stated on it, would help with any comebacks  I`m sure we`ve all been shafted in the past (maybe even in the future) buying a "duffer" but this is the chance you take buying second hand, and if he doesn`t see that, he`s obviously a bit of a ****head !

You sold it with virtually a full MOT and if it doesn`t pass the next time, I think it`s his problem....no one else`s. Private second hand sales don`t come with a warranty 

Ooops, nearly a rant. Hang onto your receipt and forget about it is my opinion, and think about riding the XBR next month   

[xbally]

I used to work in this area of law many years ago and admittedly i am out of touch with recent  changes but my understanding is that private sales are still reliant on the old maxim "buyer beware"but in business sales the consumer has recently acquired more protection which shouldn't affect you.

[SteveC#222]

I don't know the exact state of the law but I would imagine it would be very difficult and expensive to prove that the previous owner would be liable unless it was something glaring obvious - you are not a professional mechanic.

Most professional garages would be expected to give a vehicle a good check over before offering it for sale so in that case there may be some come back as they SHOULD know what to look for.

Most private sales are 'sold as seen'  and if you can provide a long MOT to show it has been recently checked by a professional mechanic then I don't think the new owner would have much come back if they have looked over it and tested it out ( this may be slightly different if you have bought 'blind'). Providing nothing major fails in the first couple of weeks I don't think they would really have any claim as in that time if there was a problem they should have noticed it.

I think it's a case of in theory they may be able to claim but in practise I doubt it would happen.

It's this sort of litigation society that we are becoming that really gets my back up

[Moto63]

Morning chaps, interesting thread this one and luckily a point that has never personally affected me. Be interested to see if someone can come on and "put the record straight" so to speak.

[timbo]

What worries me, is that someone who works at Citizens Advice shows so little common sense 

[xbally]

From what i've heard it's advice on the cheap...some advisors have a proper background and know their stuff but some are given little training and have to refer to a script!

[CrazyFrog]

I would have thought that if you knowingly sold a bike in a dangerous condition, ie. you'd replaced the fork springs with lengths of broom handle after it's last MOT ( ) you may be end up in trouble.

However, if you sell with a recently obtained MOT, then I really don't think anything can be held against you.

Two bikes I have bought from dealers over the last year or so, with 12 months MOT, have had loose steering head bearings, which is both dangerous and an MOT failure. Patently the dealers involved don't think the MOT is worth the paper it's written on either....

[blew]

Many years ago,I bought a GPz 750 from a Kawasaki dealer.I was told to come back in a few days,once they had given it a service etc.,etc.. A few days later I left the shop on the bike,with a brand new MOT in my pocket.When I got home,I discovered that the horn didn't work and dip beam was blown.

[mthee]

Dodgy dealers? I went to a dealers to look at a used CBX550 (F2 with the nice fairing) Brake lever nearly came back to the bar, but the very lovely inboard brakes did just work. The salesman could probably smell my keenness! He briefly offered to do the work there and I could pick it up in a week or two, but then went on to promote another solution - I could take out a warranty to cover the work and with warranty work being done much faster, I could bring it back in only a couple of days and they'd knock the cost of the warranty off the asking price!
So muggins here,  nodding wisely like the Churchill dog, signs up, rides off and 2 days later rings up to book in for the brakes to be fixed under warranty, only to be told, "sorry mate, warranty doesn't cover wear and tear and that salesman's left."
Oh to be so young (easy now, Michael!) and naive again!