Any more details?

You would have to imagine that a judge would ask why you hadn't checked all the invoices prior to purchase.

Probably best to chalk it down to experience and be more careful next time, despite how galling that may be.

23 previous owners
High mileage
Paint work is poor and needs filler
Numerous dents/bits falling off
Suspension is soggy and flabby
Emissions an issue
Very poor economy, needs constant refuelling
Big and noisy exhaust
Doesn't change gear often
Upholstery is worn and saggy too
In summary, built for comfort not for speed, been ridden hard in the past and it shows, would probably benefit from major overhaul or only be useful for spare parts.....

Offers?

*just checks the office fridge*

..

A Ginsters snack pork pie and a can of Heinz tomato soup?
Might be able to stretch to a couple of bourbon biscuits at a push..

Stan, that's the funniest post I've read in a long time!

I do however think that the following might be your fault..

I'd follow boostmecoupeup advice. At least the culprit has been named and shamed.

I think the jewellery is due for rotation, too. It saves in the long run, apparently!

23 previous owners
High mileage
Paint work is poor and needs filler
Numerous dents/bits falling off
Suspension is soggy and flabby
Emissions an issue
Very poor economy, needs constant refuelling
Big and noisy exhaust
Doesn't change gear often
Upholstery is worn and saggy too
In summary, built for comfort not for speed, been ridden hard in the past and it shows, would probably benefit from major overhaul or only be useful for spare parts.....

Offers?



[/quote]

but i thought this whole thread is about things not being as advertised - i wouldnt want to make anyones expectations too high

is low-high mileage though ? In which case name your price

id go for boostmecoupeup's advice that realy piss's me off. If you go through court they will just say "HOW DO WE KNOW YOU DIDNT CHANGE THE DATE IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET MONEY FOR A NEW CAMBELT" case done. Heck if its anywhere near me ill come with you as well if you want and we could discuss it with him over a nice cup of tea

Don't spend money on solicitors. Go to the CAB. Get them to help you fill out the small claims form.

The argument is one of misrepresentation. The value of the claim is not the cost of the cambelt change but what you would have paid for the car had you known the truth. You might want to argue that you would not change the cambelt for 5 years and therefore you would want a proportion of this cost - eg. you thought it had been done a year ago, it was in fact done 4 years ago so it is 3/5 of the cost.

The decision is on the balance of probabilities, so it does not matter that he may argue you changed the invoice yourself, you just need to show that it is more likely than not that he did it - and that seems pretty straightforward.

Although no doubt trying to be helpful, I'm afraid that there are various suggestions on this thread that are misguided.

Whilst sympathising with you, Emjay is making the important point - ie. that any claim you can make would be for the difference between what you paid and what you would have paid if you had known the cambelt was done 4 year ago.

At the end of the day, on a car this age and value things are always going to need doing (not always this big I'll grant you). I think you will struggle to convince a judge that a car that is still within the expected life of the cambelt would have been worth more than £100 extra with a newer cambelt. Question is then whether it is worth the hassle?

Having read the advert, this is not so straight forward as mentioned above.

The advert states the cambelt was changed at 89k but does not mention a date.

Correct, which is why it is a question of whether on the balance of probabilities there was a misrepresentation as to the date that induced the individual to make the purchase. The misrepresentation was the verbal discussion before purchase. Evidence of that verbal discussion includes the amendment of the document.

Let's not introduce any more confusion, please. The guy already has well-intended but ultimately unhelpful advice coming out of his ears.

He's come to the right place if that's what he's after

Just out of interest, what makes your advice any better than anyone else's? Presumably you're advocating that he goes to small claims representing himself? In which case should he be unsuccessful he has the costs of the other party to pay, which will clearly put him in a better position!

I still think the best use of his time and money is just to move on and invest in a new cambelt if it bothers him that much.
Or are we suggesting that his time is completely worthless and he can fritter it away at will?

probably something to with his job, which many would consider makes his advice on legal matters better than others......

Ultimately, if the guy isn't answering the phone, I think there's no harm in physically visiting and speaking to the guy, and politely asking him if they can reach a compromise. However, this approach could easily turn unpleasant, so it's a risky strategy. Having independent observers present would certainly be wise. (But not in the way others might suggest)

The safest strategy is to go with the legal route, but this could well be costly, and not that fruitful, so it could well be a waste of more time and money.

I still maintain that hiding this thread, and asking the moderators if they can make contact and attempt to broker a compromise would be the route most likely to be fruitful.

Best of luck either way. It's a most unfortunate incident, but I think the chances of getting anything back are slim. A court is unlikely to see the importance of an age-related cambelt change, in the grand scheme of things.

If it helps, my cambelt was last changed 4 years ago, and only 13k miles ago, and I'm going to chance it for a year or two. To me, that would be less of a gamble than the other routes. Fingers crossed

For the avoidence of confusion, you cannot claim costs in the small claims court

As for a 'court' not seeing the importance of a cambelt change, this is not a stuffy, formal process, its a sit around the table and put your point of view forward to another person, who then has the responsibility of making a decision based on the evidence presented

If it were me, I would go round to the persons house and confront them about it

Failing that, I would take it to court and I am confident I would win

Its a simple process and doesnt take much time or cost much

You're quite new here, aren't you?

Are you suggesting that someone in the legal profession knows better than a bunch of strangers on the internet !! Sheeesshh

To be fair I doubt BigAlinEmbra knew about Emjay.

When he speak it is very normally worth listening is the best way to describe him I feel.

Well he's just a stranger on the internet to me. Hence my point.
If I didn't know he was in the legal profession, then how was the OP meant to know?

At the end of the day its an old car ,I never trust any old receipts or paperwork ,always buy with your eyes and ears if you're not sure take someone with you who knows,and take your time, pull it apart, because it's going to be sold as seen , I'd expect to do the belt on any car I was thinking on keeping for a long time,,I bought a rear bumper off this fellow a while back he seemed ok ,but they were breaking cars in their front garden ,if I had gone to buy a complete car ,alarm bells would have rang,,,good luck anyway

Sorry to read of troubles here.......TBH for my 2-penneth I would also get a belt done anyway on a new purchase just to be safe. Bought my LE from Iceberg himself for ease of mind of knowing Paul and his work............

FYI - I used the small claims court system a few years ago - its all done online initially. I was sceptical of getting anywhere at first but it worked brilliantly. Mrs was using our old 156 Alfa which got scratched by some workmen who had left some cable hanging over the edge of the road.....
I got photos and a quote to get it all done - soon as they received the summons notification they sent me an apology and a cheque for £1K!!! Nearly went back to get the other side done.............