Advise needed on Horsebox situation

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Bloc

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I'd like some advise with the following situation....

I recently bought a horsebox from a friend of a friend. Old horsebox, so I was aware things may pop up, but had an MOT, a friend looked it over, said it looked in good condition for an engine of its age, all happy.

So paid, got a receipt (no 'sold as seen' mentioned), got it home. A week later, driving to the yard for loading practise, it leaks water out of the bottom and starts hissing. Someone looks over it and predicts that the radiator or gasket has gone, hence the brown liquid coolant from the bottom. There is also some white frothy water when the water is topped up in the coolant container, of which we had to put in 7 litres.

I contact the garage where it has had previous work and the latest MOT, to drop it in and have a look thinking they'll know the history of the lorry. They come back saying the water pipe needs changing, timing belt and a few other things, which is all done. After that is complete, it is still leaking, so a new radiator is mentioned. Having just bought the box, I'm reluctant to start throwing money at it, so I manage to source a second hand radiator. This is changed, and voila! They then mention that the old owner was aware of the state of the radiator, and had asked them to put in liquid that blocks up small leaks, and even mentioned there being an egg. If she'd have said to me when I was looking at the box, this or that need looking at, I could've weighed up my options, got some quotes and gone into it knowingly. But the fact that this could've happened while taking my horse out (we were due out show jumping this day, but this happened!)

So my question is, knowing that she knew this and sold me something she knew needed work doing, do I have any comeback for any of the cost of the works?

Thank you in advance
 
Bloc said:
I'd like some advise with the following situation....

I recently bought a horsebox from a friend of a friend. Old horsebox, so I was aware things may pop up, but had an MOT, a friend looked it over, said it looked in good condition for an engine of its age, all happy.

So paid, got a receipt (no 'sold as seen' mentioned), got it home. A week later, driving to the yard for loading practise, it leaks water out of the bottom and starts hissing. Someone looks over it and predicts that the radiator or gasket has gone, hence the brown liquid coolant from the bottom. There is also some white frothy water when the water is topped up in the coolant container, of which we had to put in 7 litres.

I contact the garage where it has had previous work and the latest MOT, to drop it in and have a look thinking they'll know the history of the lorry. They come back saying the water pipe needs changing, timing belt and a few other things, which is all done. After that is complete, it is still leaking, so a new radiator is mentioned. Having just bought the box, I'm reluctant to start throwing money at it, so I manage to source a second hand radiator. This is changed, and voila! They then mention that the old owner was aware of the state of the radiator, and had asked them to put in liquid that blocks up small leaks, and even mentioned there being an egg. If she'd have said to me when I was looking at the box, this or that need looking at, I could've weighed up my options, got some quotes and gone into it knowingly. But the fact that this could've happened while taking my horse out (we were due out show jumping this day, but this happened!)

So my question is, knowing that she knew this and sold me something she knew needed work doing, do I have any comeback for any of the cost of the works?

Thank you in advance
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An egg??
 
I guess you could appeal to their better nature, but seeing as you had someone look at it before buying it I doubt you will get very far. I suppose with hindsight it would have been worth speaking to the garage before parting with your money. Hopefully it will now be sorted and you can get out and have some fun.
 
No I don't think you have any come back if it's an old lorry you bought privately .
Old lorries can be money pits it's really a question of luck.
I would use rad weld instead of the egg as well .
 
wingedhorse said:
An egg??
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Its an old trick for an emergency repair on a radiator!

I dont really see you have any comeback! You dont need to put sold as seen on the invoice( No warranty either) and I assume its a private sale so all you will probably achieve if you wish to pursue it is leave your friend in a very uncomfortable position! A box getting on in years will always have issues. using a rad sealing liquid is routine and sometimes it will never leak again others it will after a while. Cant quite understand why it took till the second visit for the garage to mention it though.
Buying a secondhand radiator isnt the most cost effective thing you could have done either of course unless that was nearly new!

On the bright side at least they did not use a 'Dog Turd'
 
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Can I just ask the OP in the week the box stood before you took it to the yard did it get cold at night?
Did you get the antifreeze checked ? Did your knowledgeable friend check it had antifreeze ? Just something to think about!
 
I bought a second hand trailer during a cold snap. When I checked the floor it was solid, and the seller specifically told me that the floor was sound when asked

I got it home and after thawing the floor had soft spots.

I asked the seller to go halves with me on the costs of the new floor and she did so happily as she was horrified that I might think she had tried to conceal the floor damage from me. She genuinley didn't know and the freezing temperature had hidden the issue on inspection.

Anyway, my point is that it's worth asking your friend to share costs, but be prepared for a knock back.
 
Seeing as folk usually sell a vehicle because they know an expensive repair bill is just around the corner, I would take it on the chin. You had it checked out pre purchase, that was the time to raise any concerns and/or knock the price down. If all an old lorry needs is a new radiator, you're probably doing pretty well.
 
It really depends on whether you want to remain friends with this person. She has no moral or legal obligation to give you any money. The person you should be chasing is the person who checked it over and said it was ok.
 
popsdosh said:
Its an old trick for an emergency repair on a radiator!

I dont really see you have any comeback! You dont need to put sold as seen on the invoice( No warranty either) and I assume its a private sale so all you will probably achieve if you wish to pursue it is leave your friend in a very uncomfortable position! A box getting on in years will always have issues. using a rad sealing liquid is routine and sometimes it will never leak again others it will after a while. Cant quite understand why it took till the second visit for the garage to mention it though.
Buying a secondhand radiator isnt the most cost effective thing you could have done either of course unless that was nearly new!

On the bright side at least they did not use a 'Dog Turd'
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Dog turd???! Is that really a thing?
 
Unfortunately with private sales it is usually sold as seen so caveat emptor applies. If you bought from a dealer you would have some legal comeback. This is more a moral question and whether it's worth getting into an argument with a friend (who hasn't been as upfront as she might have been).
 
I think this is a classic case of 'buyer beware' - when we bought our last lorry I paid an independent mechanic to give it the once over for peace of mind, and touch wood we have had no issues.

I would just mark it down to experience….
 
It's a shame but whenever I buy a vehicle of any description I always allow an amount on top to pay for the usual repairs that second hand vehicles need
 
soulfull said:
It's a shame but whenever I buy a vehicle of any description I always allow an amount on top to pay for the usual repairs that second hand vehicles need
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This is what I did. Like you I bought a lorry I thought seemed ok and then found out it needed a big repair (£1500 lorry, £600 repair) Its just one of those things you have to budget for I guess, my logic is could I go out and buy a lorry for £2100? probably not so I still see the overall cost as acceptable to me personally as I don't plan to sell the lorry on and four wheels will get me and the ponies on the road which to me is infinitely worth it

Was the seller laughing as I drove away? probably!
 
I can never understand why people expect older vehicles to run like new ones! We bought an elderly Daf, from a mechanic, the clutch went earlyish on and apart from the horror of being towed by the mechanic :0 we accepted it as part of buying an older vehicle.
 
YorksG said:
I can never understand why people expect older vehicles to run like new ones! We bought an elderly Daf, from a mechanic, the clutch went earlyish on and apart from the horror of being towed by the mechanic :0 we accepted it as part of buying an older vehicle.
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Oh I never expected it to run like a newer one. I fully expected things to come up, but it's more that the seller knew about it and didn't mention anything. Maybe I'm just too nice as I would never have sold it to someone I knew without mentioning it.
 
wingedhorse said:
An egg??
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Yes, An old remedy. Egg white is a colloid…from which fact I shall let someone else take over. Porridge also works…apparently.

As it was a private sale, I'm afraid caveat emptor applies. I always include a covering letter with the cheque stating "I am buying on your assurance that the **** is in good working order and free from serious faults, fair wear and tear excepted" but I've never had to test that in court. If you'd got a professional mechanic to check it over and his (written) report had failed to pick up on the leaks, you could have sued him. That's why we employ experts.

Edited to say, if you ask "Are there any serious defects or anything else I should know about?" (preferably with a witness) and the seller says "none", and there are, I think you might have a case under the Misrepresentations Act. There is no obligation on the seller to disclose faults but on the other hand they must not deliberately mislead. That is fraud.
 
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Bloc said:
Oh I never expected it to run like a newer one. I fully expected things to come up, but it's more that the seller knew about it and didn't mention anything. Maybe I'm just too nice as I would never have sold it to someone I knew without mentioning it.
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Thats why I will never sell anything to a friend its not worth the risk. What did they know? maybe they had had a leak used some radweld and it was ok . You wont find many vehicles that age that have not had some radweld.
Did you establish if it had antifreeze in it?
 
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To be fair, it is quite possible that the garage have made up the bit about the old owner knowing so you don't have a go at them.
 
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