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i bought a car from a private owner and it gave trouble within 3 hours of buying it.i paid with cash and dont have a receipt . is there any thing i can do ? thanks margaret cawley
Already Tried: Phoning the person who sold it who is having nothing to do with me, says it was perfect when he sold it to me
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Unfortunately, with a private seller, it is a case of caveat emptor (buyer beware!). The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, which contains guarantees of fitness for purpose and goods being of a merchantable quality, only applies to persons selling in the course of business... e.g. motor dealers.
If the person who sold you the car made statements about the car which turned out to be false, then that would provide grounds for you to seek rescission of the contract (i.e. you get your money back and the seller gets the car back), unless you had these statements in writing, you would have a difficult time to prove that the statements (i) were made and (ii) that they formed part of the contract.
I know that this will be disappointing for you to hear, but unfortunately that is the legal position with private contracts of sale.
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Experience: BCL, LL.M, Barrister-at-Law