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#Post#: 94308--------------------------------------------------
bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: JulianV Date: October 16, 2025, 7:35 am
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Hi, here are the facts:
I purchased a 18 year old car from a private seller. Its an old
Mazda that is prone to rust. I did not view it and I arranged
for it to be collected. I asked the seller if it had any rust
underneath and he said "no" by text message and "not as far as
he could see" verbally. The people who collected it signed a
"sold as seen" receipt on my behalf.
I have now had it inspected and there is quite bad rust on the
underneath, probably cost around £1500 plus to fix properly. As
its on the chassis, it could be said the road is unroadworthy.
It would be quite hard to see the rust just looking under the
car and he did send some videos of the underneath to me.
Do I have any legal recourse?
#Post#: 94313--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: RichardW Date: October 16, 2025, 8:03 am
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Not on a private sale; unless you can show the seller lied.
This might be possible for corrosion if for instance the car had
been for an MOT recently and failed on rust, but the seller
failed to disclose this - although this info is all publicly
available, so it's really on the buyer to check.
#Post#: 94315--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: BertB Date: October 16, 2025, 8:28 am
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Yeah this really. What does the MOT history for the vehicle say?
#Post#: 94395--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: roythebus Date: October 16, 2025, 2:47 pm
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Was he a genuine "private seller" or a motor trader masquerading
as a private seller? There's lots of them around.
#Post#: 94439--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: andy_foster Date: October 16, 2025, 7:02 pm
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If he misrepresented the car as being rust free (as opposed to
merely expressing an opinion), then IMHO he's still on the hook.
#Post#: 94480--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: disgruntchelt Date: October 17, 2025, 7:28 am
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I think the text saying no to rust gives you a good case at the
small claims court.
#Post#: 94547--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: mickR Date: October 17, 2025, 3:21 pm
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asside the issue of buying a car privately without even viewing
it 🤦‍♂️... did it have an mot? how
long ago? a proper vehicle inspection could reveal if any
current mot was correctly issued. DVSA might be interested.
as @andy said miss representation is still a thing in private
sales.
#Post#: 94576--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: JulianV Date: October 18, 2025, 3:51 am
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The mot was some 10 months ago and I do not suspect any fowl
play there.
The chap who collected it did sign a receipt that said "sold as
seen" and he did take some photos and sent to me when he
collected.
The rust is underneath and would be hard to see without a ramp.
If I issued a small claim, how would I quantify the amount?
Could I claim for the full amount? Also, how long would that
process take?
#Post#: 94579--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: mickR Date: October 18, 2025, 4:38 am
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im struggling to see how £1500 worth of rust degeneration could
possibly appear in 10 months unless it was parked in the sea.
im not sure your "collector" signing anything to do with the
sale is relevant as he was not the purchaser
#Post#: 94600--------------------------------------------------
Re: bought a car that is unroadworthy
By: JulianV Date: October 18, 2025, 7:19 am
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There was mention of corrosion on previous MOT's.
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