Buying and selling advice....

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xpd

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#185476 24-Nov-2015 12:46

Couple of things......

1) Pre-purchase inspections - looking to buy an import from a reputable dealer, but wondering if I should still get a pre-purchase inspection done anyway - yes / no ? :)

2) Selling our old vehicle - it does have some mechanical issues which we will disclose in the advert along with the mechanics advice (and price accordingly) , but lets say it has problem abc, and a week later xyz on the car packs up and their mechanic says it was due to problem abc - what come back would a buyer have against me as a seller - I'm no mechanic and wouldve been going off what my mechanic told me what was wrong with it and problem xyz was never thought about etc.

TIA :)

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wasabi2k

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#1433913 24-Nov-2015 13:34

Regarding 2 - unless you are in trade then my understanding is the sale is final. Good Luck, Have Fun. That's the advice I was given when I sold my last car. The buyer asked if anything goes wrong could they bring it back and I politely told them nope - you bought it, your car.

edit: I was very clear about mechanical state of the car to the best of my knowledge, it had current wof and had been serviced within 3 months.

Inphinity

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#1433921 24-Nov-2015 13:47

#1 - Yes, I would always get an independent PPI for a used vehicle
#2 - If you are selling as an individual, vehicle sales are as-is where-is unless otherwise agreed. You still must not mis-represent the vehicle or you may risk some recourse, but you are not obligated to provide a warranty of any sort, and if the car breaks down on their way home, tough you are not obligated to resolve it - unless you foolishly said something like "It's a really reliable car with no problems that will never let you down!" - in which case you might. In short, if something happens it is up to the buyer to prove the vehicle/sale was mis-represented by you. If they can't prove that, it's their problem to deal with.

Fred99

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#1433922 24-Nov-2015 13:50

As a private seller, you're not bound by the CGA which applies to dealers. So disclose known faults because IMO it's the morally correct thing to do IMO, but the only likely comeback would be if you'd deliberately hidden known faults from the buyer or done something fraudulent (fake WOF or mechanical report etc).

As for the new car, I'd definitely go for a specialist full PPI if it was something exotic, euro, and possibly also get a mechanical warranty. For a regular car, you'll have some protection either as dealer warranty or through CGA - even though in some cases people have had to fight hard when things turn to carp. If you've got a local mechanic you know/trust, I'd possibly suggest taking it to him for a quick PPI rather than AA, but it really depends what the car is. So what is it?

scuwp

3885 posts

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#1433928 24-Nov-2015 14:03

1. I would never buy a used vehicle without an independent mechanical inspection. You have 'some' protection from a licensed dealer, but I still do my due diligence.

2. My understanding is that you cannot 'mislead' a buyer. If they ask you a question you have to answer it honestly within the best of your ability. If they ask for expert advice outside your knowledge the buyer is free to get their expert to look at it at their cost. If you fail to disclose something substantive that you know or should reasonably have known, they may have grounds for a claim under the disputes resolution processes. The onus is on the buyer first and foremost to do their due diligence. For example if you invite the buyer to have the vehicle mechanically checked, and they decline, and then something goes wrong, any claim against you will unlikely to succeed.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

RUKI

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#1434597 25-Nov-2015 14:47

xpd: ..... to buy an import from a reputable dealer, but wondering if I should still get a pre-purchase inspection done ....

Checked once Mark II - fresh import - about 60K ODO - interior looked worn out -not for that low ODO.

Plugged the test tool and surprise, surprise - real ODO recorded in the Engine ECU was close to 400K :-(
Of course of course the ECU perhaps was from another vehicle and changed into that one because... because of what? The last time I've heard of Engine ECU failure was 20 years ago...

Not all makes and models have ODO recorded in the Engine ECU, but expensive cars do.

Mechanical plus Electronic Scan - must have.

Smithy100

180 posts

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#1434606 25-Nov-2015 14:59

Reminds me of the time I took an imported BMW I was going to buy off a dealer into the AA and it turned out to be THREE different cars joined together (not the usual two LOL). The only giveaway, on the face of it, was the remote boot lid cable hadn't been re-fitted, and that was what cued the AA inspector to look a little harder, as he'd seen one before.

They did a great job of it though - and no, I didn't buy it lol.

So yes - ALWAYS get it inspected, unless it's cheap money you'd just as happily gamble with; as that's effectively what you're doing if you don't.

xpd

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#1434851 25-Nov-2015 21:41

Buying side of things completed today.

Now for the fun of selling......

Thanks all for your comments :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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