Used car condemn after purchase is there anything we can do?

Question

My sister bought a car of an old mate (mechanic). She had taken her car to a garage (our family has used for years) as it was playing up. He recommended that she get rid off it as it would cost to much to fix. This guy got in touch with the other mechanic that it turn out she knew. He also said it would be a big job fixing the problem and told her that he had the perfect car. £500 and her car and this other car was hers. He also agreed to a pay for the first MOT and service for the car. 2 days later her old car was seen driving around the town. Then last month she changed jobs and decided to get the car serviced as the new job was out of the town. The car passed the service. Today she put the car in for it's MOT but not to the original garage was shut for holidays. Anyway when she went to pick the car up it had failed the MOT and the guy condemn the car. She is a careful driver as she has to young kids there is no way that she could have do that much damage. Seller is also on holiday

Answer 1

yea sue the seller report as lemon law you have i think 3 ths or something not sure do a search on it but i'm sure that's a lemon law incident she can poss get the money she paid for it back or more considering certain issues

Answer 2

depend if the guy stated "as is" when he sold the car.

that for americans, u type like your from england though so idk

Answer 3

Did the guy she bought the car off work in the garage that would do the MOT? I dont think she can get her money back for the car - its the chance you take when you buy a car privately. I would be rather suspicious about the garage doing the MOT if the scenario above applies. If this is the case I would speak to VOSA and give the name and address of the garage. IF the scenario above - with the mechanic -  applies he may have MOT'ed  the car - regardless of it being road worthy or not - and thats against the law.

Answer 4

OK, you're in Scotland.  There is NO such thing as a 'lemon law' anywhere in Great Britain - it only exists in America.

We have two systems here:

1) If you bought the car from dealer or trader, it is covered by the Trading Standards Act of 1974.  This states that the vehicle "...must be fit for the purpose for which it was designed and sold".  If it isn't, the trader is obliged to refund you, or fix the defects free of charge.  By law.

2)  If you bought the car from a private seller you have much less legal backup.  The law states 'Caveat emptor'.  This literally means, "buyer beware".  With a private sale, you have very little comeback if the vehicle is faulty - it is up to you to make sure it's all alright BEFORE you hand over the cash.

The only possible recourse you can have, is if you can prove in a court of law that the seller deliberately and knowingly hid a dangerous fault with the vehicle.  Not always easy...

Answer 5

if the car was sold private then its hard to do anything as most ppl will sell sold as seen you need to prove that he knew the car was a lemon  if sold through his garage then yes you can trading standards can help thats if you are in the uk  its always advisable to take someone with you that can check it over b4 you bye it  some mate ay  hope you can get results there are to many dodgy sellers around