To break it or to fix it, i need advice

[Dan88]

Basically my car was up for sale, and somebody bought it, it then broke down on his way home and has been diagnosed as a cracked head.

Now he wants to take it to a garage and get it all fixed and us to split the bill 50/50. The quote that has come back is £1200 all in.

I sold the car for £1900, and minus £600 paying this bill means i would have got £1300 for the car. My for sale ad is here:

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... highlight=

Would i make more than £1300 by breaking it, based on the current market and people buying stuff at the moment. The only thing that wouldnt be available is the head and gasket.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.
Dan

[Quigonjay]

i'd get a break down of that 1200 first, seems a bit much too me

[dbiagioni]

Its loads of hassle to break a car, space, time etc. You have to factor in a cost for your time, parts wise you would get more than £1300 but would it pay for your time, i.e. take the part off, photo part, list part, post part. To make things worse its freezing cold at the moment. Iv broken a few mr2s and would never break another one, it just takes too much time.

The car was working when you sold it and the new buyer drove it and looked at it before handing the cash over. It is sold as seen. I would just say sorry and leave it with the new buyer, its not your responsibility.

Iv had two cars break on me on the way home after purchase, and have not pursued the seller in any way. It was my decision to buy the car, and if i wanted a guarantee i would have paid more and bought from a dealer.

£1200 is way to much, i would want to pay half of that tops.

[nikaiyo]

Iv had two cars break on me on the way home after purchase, and have not pursued the seller in any way. It was my decision to buy the car, and if i wanted a guarantee i would have paid more and bought from a dealer.

£1200 is way to much, i would want to pay half of that tops.

+1

£1200 to replace the head? Seems way way way OTT, surley cost of 2nd hand head + HG change would cover it? Spose there may be more to it due to the nature of the failiure

[rev3gtturbo]

It kinda depends on the wording on the sales paperwork.

With old cars it is a good idea for buyer and seller to have a sheet of paper that clearly says the date and time the sale occurred, with some sort of statement such as sold as seen with all known/unknown defects. Both copies of the paperwork should be signed by the buyer and the seller in case there is a dispute later.

It is important to put the time on the paperwork in case the car breaks down on the way home or the new owner gets caught by a speed camera or commits some other offence etc etc.

If you didnt do the above, I am not sure how you stand in terms of the car being "fit for purpose". You could ask the local trading standards or citizens advice bureux.

I notice you sold the car so that you could run a motorbike during the summer. Shame you couldnt run both. If you take the car back, I hope you keep it going as it would be a shame to see another mr2 broken.

[Dan88]

unfortunatly i only put a date, but i put sold as seen and test driven. a time would have been ideal then i would have covered myself 100%.

yeh it would be nice to have both, but i can only afford to own and run one, as i have a mk4 golf tdi as a daily.

ive pretty much made my mind up that i wont break it now, so fear not, with any luck she will run for another day, just got to find somewhere near ipswich that will fit a new head for less that 1200

[RENOFOXX]

good advice! i have a carbon copy book and write the date and time car reg and how much was paid,both sign at the bottom and the new owner takes the top copy (original)and i keep the carbon copy.
sorry no help to you now but it may help another time you sell something.