We brought a car on Ebay which was described as excellent with nothing wrong - steering faulted within 24 hour?

We brought a car on Wednesday described as-



';Everything working and drives as it should, smooth gearbox, good clutch, all brakes are good, good tyres all round, no knocks or problems with suspension. Oil pressure always at 3 bar, runs nice and cool (new radiator and fan resistor fitted 鈥?MotorMec 06/09 拢260). Engine is brilliant, still tight, smooth and really goes brilliant when needed';



';To summarise everything works as normal, ready to run with nothing to spend, drives brilliant, looks superb and is brilliant fun to drive';



we travelled from Norwich to Birmingham on the train. The guy met us at the train station in a car that wasn't the one we brought and drove us to his home. We looked around the car and all seemed fine. Obviously we had no equipment to look under the car. He took us out in it round the block. All seemed well. Within 25 miles the car appeared to start knocking under the drivers feet. The steering later became loose. We made it back to Norwich.



Next day my boyfriend took it out. Within 10miles the steering faulted causing him to vear into oncoming traffic, mount the pavement and nearly knock a pedestrian over. I went to meet him when he no longer wished to drive the car for his own safety. As he turned the wheel I watched the front tyres to tell him the positioning. The driver front wheel was pointing out to the right and the passenger wheel was facing forward. Obviously not normal. We called upon a friend who owns a garage who arranged to meet us to collect the car on a trailer. The car JUST made it up the ramp but almost collapsed off due to the steering which would have caused the car to smash onto the ground. The guy who collected the car told us that we were extremely lucky to make it back to Norwich and had this happened sooner than it had it would have caused certain death or major incident.



Also on the Ebay description - in the small print so to speak - it states the following:



';You are bidding to buy the car not to view it; the car can be viewed during the auction';



The man had pre arranged a receipt on collection stating that the car was ';sold as seen via Ebay for 拢850.50';.



It also then states how the V5 would be sent to us after they were returned by the DVLA as he was transferring the number plate on the car (his personal one) back to the original.



We brought it in good faith following the description of the car on Ebay.



The car is currently awaiting to be checked out tomorrow at the garage where it will have to be lifted onto the platform as it cannot be driven on due to the steering. We will know tomorrow the exact problem of the car.



Do we have any rights on having our money refunded!?!



Please help.We brought a car on Ebay which was described as excellent with nothing wrong - steering faulted within 24 hour?
Obviously this car is not as described in the listing. He has stated it drives well and has no faults, when in actual fact, he has sold you a death trap. He will probably say it was fine when you collected it and it was 'sold as seen'. However, I'm sure your garage will confirm that such a serious steering failure could not develop in 10 miles.



I would contact Ebay first of all and explain in detail as you have here. To be honest though, I wouldn't hold out much hope, they are pretty poor at dealing with problems like this.



If you paid using PayPal, contact them as well, as they are in a position to issue a refund. I think their 'Buyer Protection' only covers values up to 拢500 though. If you paid by Cheque, and it's not too late, stop the cheque.



I think if I were you, I would also definitely phone Trading Standards. I'm not sure how the law relates to this sale as it was through Ebay, but had it been advertised in the paper for example, I think you would have had a good case for being mis-sold a totally unroadworthy vehicle.



Finally, it is well worth visiting Citizens Advice if you have no luck anywhere else. Make sure you print off a copy of the listing in case this drags on and you need proof.



My advice for the future would be NEVER buy a car off Ebay. But if you must, keep to ones that are local and arrange to get someone in the trade to view it before you bid.



Good Luck.We brought a car on Ebay which was described as excellent with nothing wrong - steering faulted within 24 hour?
The seller can tell you to sod off and there is not a lot you can do about it.

A lawyer will cost more than you paid for the car.
contact ebay. if he hasnt listed it was faulty you might have a chance ebay doing somthing
It is a private sale.



In Britain, the law regarding private sales of motor vehicles is quite clear - ';Caveat emptor'; ('let the buyer beware').



Basically, it means that it is YOUR responsibility to make sure the car is all OK before handing over the money. If you didn't, then it's too late now. The law is on the seller's side.



The only possible recourse you can have, is if you can prove (in a court of law) that the seller knew about the problem and deliberately misled you. It is very unlikely that you will be able to do that, though...