Last night my son sold a car to a workmate, he spent a hour & a half going over the car ,test driving it ect, he then went of to get the money to buy the car,
returned with the money,signed a paper saying it was sold as seen,
My son had told him that it needed a new wing (rust) & a new back box (exhaust).
The buyer then handed over the money & left the car here until he got it insured, Today he has told my son he wants his money back as a friend came to see the cat this morning & told him he can get him another car instead,
My son says that he will give him his money back,but would he be within his rights to keep it & say that the contract was forefilled .Or just put it down to experiance.

Well yes he would be within his rights to keep the money, the deal is done the car is sold... however, as this is a workmate and to avoid bad feeling at work I would give them the money back :-)

I would give him the money back because its not worth the bad feeling.

This is why i try to avoid selling to people i know. Not that i am dishonest or trying to pull a fast one but it saves any hassles like this. I personally wouldnt give him the money back but if its a workmate your son needs to weigh up if its worth the hassle of falling out with someone you see every day.

He hadn't taken the car away so feel that your son should give him his money back. Not worth the agro.

But that was his choice as he wanted to get insurance on it before driving it to his home.He had signed a contract & paid for it ,so in theory it now belongs to the buyer not my son .
My son will reimburse the buyer as he works with him but I wouldnt  if it was me as the deal had been finalised.

Would the buyer have given your son more money if his friend had told him what a good buy it was? I very much doubt it!

Having said that, I'd give the money back to save ill feeling at work as it's horrid to have a difficult atmosphere, but it's really not fair at all :(

I'd give the money back gladly and learn from the experience.  Chances are that if the bloke took the car he'd never be happy and would cause aggro over it.   Not worth the trouble IMHO ;)

Agree with others - NEVER mix business with friends/relatives, it rarely goes without a hitch ;)

We have been going through something like this the past week with a car of my sisters, its been parked at my parents and because we didnt want them getting calls at all hours (which you can sometimes get) my number was left. Now sisters car has a fault that shows sometimes but even the dealership where it come from said it was nothing to worry about (coil light warning) a lady came sunday she was desperate for a car when the car was started the coil warning light came on, we explained this sometimes happens even showed her stuff on the internet about it as it seams its a common problem, she aggreed that was fine said she didnt want a test drive, she payed her money and off she went. Within a hour we had a call to say car had broken down, we spoke to the garage that attenede her by the side of the road and were told it could possibly be a fuel pump and it could of gone at any time. She sent the car back to us via the aa (by this time it was nearly 3am) she kept trying to tell us the garage told her the fuel pump was connected with the coil warning light. we said we give her a refund less the cost to have the car repaired because she brough it through ebay and clicked the buy it now that leagally is a contract to buy that was then backed up by her paying us the money, but she insisted she did not own the vehice. She then started threating leagal action we did not give into her and after 4 days of txt messages phone calls to her and her dad we refunded the money less what we have been quoted to fix the car. She was made fully aware of the faults with the car she refused a test drive so in out eyes and the law we were actually well within our rights to send the car back at her expense and keep the money, but because my dad is a very reasonable man he accepeted the car back and was willing to fix it at her cost and return the car when fixed or refund her less the amount it would cost to fix.
I would say your son is well within his rights to keep the money and say he has got to have the car as he had a look around it and agreeded to buy it, if he wanted a friend to look at the car this should of been done before the point of sale (when money exchanged hands), rson told him about any faults with the car the buyer had a look around the car and took it for a test drive and was still happy to buy it. Some people expect too much when buying a 2nd hand car, if your son had not told him about the wing and exhaust then the buyer would of been well within his right to have his money back. Hope your son gets it sorted soon.

So sorry that you are having so much trouble with your family car !!!
They are such a bother to sell on arnt they ?
My son has given the money back ,he is not happy about it but feels as he works with the fella it could cause trouble in the work place.
He will now put a new wing on it & replace back box (exhaust) then put it up for sale for more money as it will then have no faults !!!
He only wants to sell it as his partner & himself are expecting a third baby any day and needed a bigger car to take 3 child seats,he loves this little car & is really not happy having to sell !!!!

He did the right thing for himself to avoid aggro and bad feeling.

I am always a staunch believer in a contract is a contract, but selling items like this from your home and lets face it cars can always have something go wrong with them, is opening up a mine field IMO.

People always think they can return to a private residence and kick up if things go wrong (even if nothing to do with the original sale) you don't have the security blanket like a garage or business has, and it is easier for people to antagonise and bully you until you cave in.

If not just giving a car to friends or family, I've always preferred to trade in at a garage/dealership.  I know you can lose a little financially, but look at the potential trouble it takes from your door, a garage/dealership won't be knocking on your door after a contract is signed it is all just finished with. :-)

Would it be better for you son to just trade in his car for a larger one?

He could have traded it in but as you say they only want to give you a few quid off the new car ,so he knew that his little car would fetch more with a private sale .
As we live in a university town there are a lot of students wanting a run around for the time that they are here so I dont think that he will have any trouble reselling it .
Its just unfair that this fella had to all intense & purpose bought the car,just had not removed it from my drive lol.